How does housing work?

Howdy there.

Me and a friend of mine were looking to invest in a private house but we've got no idea how the system really works.

Any advice?

Hello and welcome to the game. There's a number of good guides you can read when you have the time. I'll go over the main points here and you're free to put any questions you have that pop up as you read the guides and explore your options.
http://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Category:Housing

First, to register for the house, you need to complete the Lv.5 to Lv.15 quest, Where the Heart Is, for the city state you wish to build in (Limsa, Gridania, Ul'dah). Most players do all 3 just to unlock the aethernet teleports to those districts.

Once you finish the quest, you can buy land and build a house. Be warned that the land cost is separate from the building costs, so you will have to pay twice (once to buy the land, and a smaller sum to build the house). You can't do anything with the land until you buy the house. So you can't just build a yard for the view or make a garden (i tried).

The house appears in a pre-determined place and you can't really move it. You can also vary the exterior and roof by material (wood, composite, stone), and the design changes slightly depending on size. Unfortunately, houses only really have 6 possible varieties for each size so I really recommend you explore the housing districts to see which lot and appearance you really want. You can add fences, a roof decoration (variety of chimneys and weathervanes), and an exterior decoration (outdoor canopy). Be aware that there is a "housing association" that controls which kinds of fences, chimneys, and canopies you can put up for each city state. Essentially, cities only allow certain types, so you have to build Riviera style for Limsa, Oasis for Ul'dah, and Glade for Gridania.

For furnishings and Interior Decorations, you have a lot more freedom to play around with. Be aware there are 40 furnishings allowed in the yard and at most 100 furnishings in a small house (the number was increased from 50 to 100 for small houses fyi). Medium houses have room for 150 furnishings, and large houses can hold 200.

My biggest concern for your plan is that only one person can own a house. I don't know if the eternal bond lets your significant other gain access to your house, but it seems unlikely since they're allowing divorces and SE customer support doesn't want to start policing and crime investigating for stolen property after a divorce. If your partner is in the same FC as you though, you can give them authority to edit and move property in the house.

FC houses also allow individual fc members to build an additional private room for 300k gil. Private housing does not have this option, so you will technically be missing 1 or 2 rooms that way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anova

Once you finish the quest, you can buy land and build a house.

... provided that you meet the other two criteria: You have to be level 50 and a Second Lieutenant in your Grand Company.

(Edit: These requirements are for a Personal house. For an FC house, the requirement is that your FC be at least Rank 6.)

Hmmm so there's no system in place to share a house or it's benefits?

That's disappointing, I'd hoped given the Ceremony System they'd have something in place for that. It would have been nice to invest in a house and decorate it for a nice bit of fun but it looks like we might need to settle for a Free Company Room or two somewhere.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KurganLoweena

Hmmm so there's no system in place to share a house or it's benefits?

That's disappointing, I'd hoped given the Ceremony System they'd have something in place for that.

They've said that that part is in the works.