Hey Tom,
Just get some land protected in your town's name (Type in region protection on MineTown Wiki (Although I think it's having problems atm))
As soon as you have some roads and building made (It starts looking like a town) you can have a warp made to it (Make a pe (/pe new <message>) where you want the warp to be). You are allowed a warp to your town even if you are not a donator.
To be able to rent/sell plots to citizens you are going to need to set up your town with MCTowns!
Madster made a great guide on this thread -->
http://www.minetown.net/forum/m/672632/viewthread/2621584-simple-mctowns-way I don't think i've missed anything <object class="emojione" data="
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If you need any more help, let me know!
xXMasterJackXx
One more thing, i'd go out exploring to find a nice spot to put your town, you are not allowed to build it too close to any other towns/buildings etc, so find a nice open space!)