Some basic info please, about placing.....maybe

So I bought into SotA very early on (3-9-13) and have played on and off since the get go. I only have a Royal Founder Artisan level pledge so no lot, no home, so I haven't really paid much attention to housing.

As I roamed around today looking at areas I hadn't been to, I noticed that some lots are reserved but some are available. Now the available ones.....are these up for grabs? Meaning, has the owner of the town decided to allow some lots to be available while they are not on line? Will there be payment due if I take one of those spots? What about taxes, I know I'll have to pay them on the building (right), but what about on the lot?

I've tried reading posts and info about housing, but I'm still not quite getting it.

Can ya give me a quickie rundown? I feel like a mook asking about something alot of folks would give their right arm for.

 

Yes, you can claim an available lot with any deed that allows it. Tax rate is determined by the lot type. 500g/d for row, 1000 village, 200o town, 3500 city. That is the only payment. There is no payment at all if you have a tax free deed. Gold COTOs can be traded for 3500 tax credit each.

 

Thanks for the info Lazlo, appreciate it tremendously.

 

Where does one trade the COTO for tax credit?

 

"Reserved" means that a POT owner has placed the lot, but not opened it up for grabs. Often you can personally ask the governor for access to place a lot deed. This is because sometimes POT owners want to encourage development in one part of the town, rather than spread all over.

Something that Lazlo didn't mention (because few have the resources for it to matter) is that you are limited to a maximum of 3 lot claims (per account) in NPC/PRT towns. There is currently no limit to claiming POT lots.

Somewhere in the U window should be a button to add credit with either gold or COTOs. COTOs are worth 3500 gold each in tax credits. Any refunds from pulling up a lot go back into the tax credits pool; you can't convert credits back to regular gold.

 

You can save a little money by purchasing COTOs from player vendors. They usually start around 2,100 -2,300 gold per coto and you can usually find discounts for buying in larger quantities.

If you find COTOs in game, you can save around 1,400 gold per COTO and your rent money will go a little farther.

 

Press "U" in game for the tax menu. If you have the Cotos in your inventory you can choose to use them to beef up your credit, then apply that credit to the taxes on a per lot basis if I recall correctly.