Own Hawaii Real Estate For Only A Few Dollars

What would you do if you could own the city of Honolulu, Hawaii for $19.00, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park for $7.00, or on the high end, the JW Marriot Ihilani Resort and Spa on Oahu for $300.00?

So what is the catch? The catch is you will only own it in the virtual world, not the physical one, where all of the above places are worth millions of real dollars.

This virtual world in not at Second Life, but exists at Weblo.com This Canadian company claims that they have sold over 25,000 pieces of real estate, including about 10,000 "cities" around the world. It is like the game of Monopoly with a social networking aspect.

At Weblo you can also buy your way into politics. The Mayor of Honolulu bought his position for $19.00 and the Governor of Hawaii paid $1,301 for the honor.

Weblo.com Inc. was established in September 2006 by Rocky Mirza, an Internet entrepreneur who obtained backing from former MySpace chairman Richard Rosenblatt and $5.6 million in venture capital financing.

The company claims 72,000 members and initially sold cities for as little as $5, though the minimum price today is $25. Real estate smaller than a city or town — anything with a street address qualifies — can be bought for $2 from the company. Other property on Weblo includes copies of Internet domain names and celebrity fan sites.

For each asset, owners are given a stock Web page on Weblo to develop with everything from photos and descriptions of the property to personal blogs and video. In some ways, the Web pages are similar to those on MySpace and Facebook, allowing members to form social networking groups.

The Honolulu Advertiser

What area, landmark, or building would you like to own in Hawaii, and please tell us why.

Comments

[Evelyn]

Well, since Ihilani is already "sold," I think I'll buy Yokohama beach park and the chunk of land over there. No, there's nothing there. I would just be sure it stayed that way! :)

[Pua]

hawaii real estate, the real kind, becomes more reality for regular folks these days. if i were in the buyer's shoes, i'd still wait a little longer till sellers get more desperate. helps with finding house bargains! aloha pua

[Ken]

Hey Cheryl,
Happy New Year to you and Steve. The part of Hawaii I want to own is the Board of Water Supply for the City & County of Honolulu. On Oahu water is a valuable item, indeed.
Ken

[HawaiiVacationGifts]

Mahalo everyone for your great ideas and observations!

I would like to own Waipio Valley where the best taro has traditionally been grown for centuries, and not charge the taro farmers any property tax in exchange for fresh poi every day for the rest of my life!