How FC Housing could have been

Basic, small land plots are free (or charged a minimal rent)

The free houses are essentially larger inn rooms, with basic furniture and furnishings such as a table, chairs, and benches. Nothing can be moved or added.
Customization options are what are under the tiered pricing system

For every 1 million gil, you unlock the ability to change one feature of the building (windows, color, doors) or to add a room to the house.
For every 500,000 gil, you unlock the ability to place 10 pieces of furniture.
You can pay 15 million gil to increase the size of the house to medium, and 50 million for the large size. (Prior investments could count towards these sums)

Benefits:
Poor FCs have a place to call their own while they farm up gil to unlock customization of the house.

FCs can see their progress being unlocked, rather than throwing money into a deposit box into something that (for most casual players) is not going to materialize for 2-3 months as prices gradually drop.

Cons:
It's a much harder sell to put a huge price tag on small features like moving furniture and placing furnishings.

It would've been more difficult to code a system like this.

I've created this thread because we should not only be upset by the outrageous, casual-unfriendly pricing on FC housing, but by the fact that it could have been avoided.