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Sell Your Real Home in a Virtual World

by Terrence O'Brien on August 6, 2007 at 03:02 PM

Sell Your Real Home in a Virtual World

In the 3-D virtual world of 'Second Life,' you can make some serious money. And not just the virtual 'Linden dollars' used as virtual currency in 'Second Life' -- we're talking real cash. Legal tender. Buckaroos. Residents of the online playground are able to sell virtual real estate, clothes and goods to other users, then trade in their Linden dollars at the end of the day for real U.S. dollars. The current exchange rate hovers somewhere around 270 Linden dollars to one U.S. dollar.

But none of this is really new. What's really big news today is that real estate firm Coldwell Banker is turning that formula around, displaying a virtual version of a real property for members of 'Second Life' to tour. A newly built $3.1 million home in Mercer Island, Washington, has been dutifully recreated inside of 'Second Life.' Instead of actually visiting the property, or flipping through photos on Coldwell's Web site, 'Second Life' users can walk through the home's different rooms as if they're really there.

We applaud this clever gimmick. Of course, no one is going to throw $3.1 million down on a home after only walking though its pixelated counterpart. But how far off are we from that sort of thing being commonplace? It's not so far fetched to imagine a future in which these virtual online worlds are so realistic that buying a house or car is done without the buyer ever seeing or touching the real thing.

Then again, we were supposed to have flying cars by now.

From Gizmag

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Tags: caldwell banker, CaldwellBanker, real estate, RealEstate, second life, SecondLife

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