If you are new at opensim, here are many infos available also about the approx. 3000 grids in opensim with many listed where one can register with region costs: https://www.hypergridbusiness.com/

Depends on which grid you're in, especially if you want to set home at your home because you have to do that in the grid in which your avatar is registered.

Some grids offer free parcels, sometimes practically permanently, sometimes for no more than a month, and then they expect you to rent a sim. In some grids, residents offer free parcels. Most grids don't have anything like this, though.