So you just joined Upland and you want to own a piece of Times Square in Manhattan, or some prime real estate in the Magnificent Mile in Chicago. Sorry to break it to you, but unless you have thousands of dollars to spend on it, you are out of luck. Many cities have already been released and completely sold out too!
Manhattan and San Francisco were two of the first cities released in the game and due to that fact, as well as the cities being recognized and famous around the world they are in high demand. One of the basic fundamentals of economics is supply and demand. When the supply is low and the demand is high prices go up. So yes, chances are you want to have properties in every city in Upland, but its probably not going to happen right away. The question is how do you get to the point where you can afford to buy the least expensive property in Manhattan (40,000 UPX as of September 2, 2021) as well as in all other cities that have sold out?
Imagine this scenario – you live in Chicago, but your favorite band is playing in Manhattan, and you want to go see them play. You need to drive to the airport, and take a flight to Manhattan. From there you need a place to stay a few night. While you are there you might want to do some sightseeing or buy a few gifts you can’t get back home. The same will be true in the Upland Metaverse! Yes, cars, stores, and renting homes will all come to Upland in due time. So wouldn’t it be nice to have to own a property with a townhouse right around the corner from Madison Square Gardens? You can rent it out while your primary residence is in Chicago, or turn it into a store that sells unique NFTs that highlight what makes Manhattan awesome. Just like in the real world not everyone could afford this, and the same is true in the Upland Metaverse, but it would be a good idea.
Unless you are investing a lot of money into Upland, its not going to happen overnight.
Start small; buy low and sell high. It sounds easy, but it can take time and it might not always work out. Upland is a busy place and there is always a lot going on. Just because people are buying and selling properties today doesn’t mean that you should. You need to have a strategy. You don’t know what other people’s strategy is so don’t feel the need to actively buy and sell if it isn’t right for you. As a newbie, you should focus most on minting properties as opposed to buying on the secondary market. The best place to start exponential growth is by being an uplander during a new city release. Your best chance to sell properties for a big markup is by minting collection properties. Even if the city is released in vanilla mode, there are lots of opportunities for this.
If you manage to mint some special properties you want to hold on to that’s great. Holding them for a medium to long term can pay off. You do need to balance that with the fact that there might be other properties that you are missing out on minting because you don’t have enough UPX. If you aren’t willing to invest additional money into the game, you really have to be conscious how you juggle these two strategies. Selling properties in high demand quickly can provide you with that UPX so you can mint more. Be wary that not all your properties may sell. When minting new properties as part of a new city release it can be quite easy to get carried away and spend every last UPX. Don’t do that. Always have some extra UPX on hand just in case you find a property for a great deal on the secondary market. If you are minting FSA properties, make sure to be conscience of their restrictions – you can have too much of a good thing.
After you sell some of your properties for a nice profit, you may want to hold off and wait for the next city release in order to repeat the same process as before. Minting properties also helps to grow your earnings. Each property pays you 17.28% annually based on the mint price. This is paid out on a 3 hour basis. Minting a property provides better earnings than if you were to buy that same property on the secondary market. Also don’t forget to take into account that when buying a property on the secondary market you pay an additional 5% transaction fee. For this reason it is recommended to primarily mint properties as you are trying to grow your net worth.
Upland doesn’t release a timeline of when new cities will be released, and for this reason its important to always be ready with UPX available. On the other hand, if you do plan on regularly investing USD or crypto into the game, we suggest setting a monthly budget. It can be easy to spend more than what you wanted. If you get to the point where you are comfortable knowing you have enough UPX available to participate in a new city release if it were to happen tomorrow, you can start buying properties on the secondary market in cities that were previously released and are sold out. Again, here is where you should start small. Buy what you can afford. There are always deals to find. Maybe you are looking to hold on to it, or maybe you think you can sell it for more in two weeks from now.
Use a site like upx.world to look up prices on the secondary market. Take a look at the city floor prices and markups. If you are just looking to break in at the minimum price, don’t disregard the markup. As you can see below, the markup on 1509 E 94th St. is lower than that of 902 Jerome St. meaning that between the two properties, E 94th St. is a better deal. If you can’t afford to spend the additional UPX for that property, chances are you aren’t ready to be buying into that city. There are several other reasons why one might prefer to buy the Jerome St. property despite the larger markup, but that is not the topic of this page. By choosing the property with a lower markup, you are ensuring that you are getting a better value on your earnings.
As you feel comfortable you can continue to buy into these new cities. For each city, there is a general collection where if you own 3 properties in that city you receive an earnings boost. Try to go for 3 properties in that city in order to get the one time collection reward and start earning a boost on the 3 properties you own.
With this strategy, slowly but surely you will work you way up to owning properties in the original Upland Cities!