This is a post meant to warn other naive, first-time buyers to avoid my mistakes. This is not a complaining post; I am not looking for sympathy, but to help others.
Foreword
So this evening, through a combination of naivete and what looked like a good opportunity, my Free Company was scammed out of several million gil. While the administration is sorting out the details of whether or not what happened to us counts as a scam, and whether or not we will be reimbursed, I wanted to use our misfortune to extend a warning to potential first-time buyers of housing. While many of you may look at this and see several warning flags (which I can see in retrospect), the fact is that it happened, and I'd like to do my part to prevent it happening to others.
Notes for Buyers
If you're in the market for a house, there are a few take-aways from our story that I'd like to share.
- Ask lots of questions. I learned details afterwards from others who came to the plot to warn people that would have made the sale seem extremely shady from the start. If I'd asked questions, I might have been able to avoid it.
- Make the seller state clearly what you will get for your gil. In my case, there is a small chance that my Free Company will not be reimbursed, because the terms of the sale were not explicitly stated (the seller initiated a race of sorts, saying that the winner would "get it"). However, with a clearly stated trade agreement, the GMs will have no choice but to rule in your favor.
- 3,000,000 (3M) gil is too good to be true. Pricing for houses is not well-documented anywhere. While it is easy to surmise that larger houses go for several million gil, there is no clear notice in game of what "several" is. The house we tried to purchase went up for sale near 20,000,000 gil once the title was relinquished, which made the 3,000,000 pricetag absurd. There are also evidently a lot of fees surrounding housing and transfers and the like that are also not well-documented, and in my case, 3M gil was just enough to cover those.
- Look up the process beforehand if you don't know it. The seller in my case feigned ignorance of how to transfer ownership, and attempted to make the relinquishment look like an accident at first. I'm not even sure if there IS a process for getting a house into someone else's hands without going through the market, but these are things I could have found out if I'd looked.
- Stick to the market. If you are a first time buyer and you don't know the ins and outs of the system, avoid private sales. It is too easy for someone who knows the way things work to trick someone who doesn't. If you don't have experience with it, use the default channels.
- Please look forward to it. There are strong, partly-confirmed rumors that the housing system will be revisited prior to 3.1, which likely means in the next month or so. If you're waiting to buy a house, that will likely be the time to buy.
TL,DR: Don't let your excitement and eagerness and desire cloud your judgment. It will come around to bite you in the behind.