When the NA demolish timer goes back...

What should I expect? I'm interested in buying my first house and I assume it's going to be easier once that timer starts again. I've never seen it happen before, so how is it going to work? Are some houses going to be immediately available once the patch is done? Are several houses going to be under that timer? What would be the best way to make it easier to buy one? Any strategies?

It depends on how active the server us/has been but considering the timer was off for so long it is plausible that there may be some houses immediately available. We are actually on the same server so I can say that my housing ward in Lavender Beds is a ghost town and has been for awhile other than the 4 other ppl in my FC who are also neighbors. Of course, that doesn't mean that housing will be immediately available when the timers turn back on...also depends on where you are planning to buy a house as some housing districts are more desirable. When I bought my first house it was in the Goblet because at the time there were a ton of houses available. I wanted badly to get into Lavender Beds but to do that I had to save up money to buy a second house more or less and relocate to where I am...but I got lucky.

When the timer resumes, any houses not visited during the pause time will resume where they left off so it will be a bit of a slow trickle of houses that come back up. Any houses that were entered during the pause timer will have their time reset, but a lot of people decide to go on break and such so you'll probably see a large chunk of houses demolished around 45 days after. If you're a new buyer, you'll still have to deal with the rng buffer before before the plot is available for a fresh purchase.

It's a necessary evil due to server limitations but I can't imagine the disappointment if you thought it was turned off and come back to your house dead XD. It's been off so long people may have stopped checking on it, that'll be a nasty surprise coming back to an expansion lol. "Welcome back, by the way you have no home and only small Goblets houses are left". 11/10 return :3.

Do they send an email to you when it's turned on?

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Originally Posted by Dustytome

When the timer resumes, any houses not visited during the pause time will resume where they left off so it will be a bit of a slow trickle of houses that come back up. Any houses that were entered during the pause timer will have their time reset, but a lot of people decide to go on break and such so you'll probably see a large chunk of houses demolished around 45 days after. If you're a new buyer, you'll still have to deal with the rng buffer before before the plot is available for a fresh purchase.

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Seems like good info, thanks :).

Question just to make sure I got this right - the house timer starts from where it was previously before it was turned off? Like if you had 10 days till demolition and then it was turned off then that person has 10 days left still when it's turned back on right?

Also while the system has been off no days of "till demolition" have been accrued, so everyone who had no days accrued before it turned off will start out at the beginning of the count down right?

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Originally Posted by Shougun

It's a necessary evil due to server limitations but I can't imagine the disappointment if you thought it was turned off and come back to your house dead XD. It's been off so long people may have stopped checking on it, that'll be a nasty surprise coming back to an expansion lol. "Welcome back, by the way you have no home and only small Goblets houses are left". 11/10 return :3.

(a)Do they send an email to you when it's turned on?


Seems like good info, thanks :).

(b) Question just to make sure I got this right - the house timer starts from where it was previously before it was turned off? Like if you had 10 days till demolition and then it was turned off then that person has 10 days left still when it's turned back on right?

(c) Also while the system has been off no days of "till demolition" have been accrued, so everyone who had no days accrued before it turned off will start out at the beginning of the count down right?

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A: I don't believe they did in the past, that's not to say they won't this time.

B: Correct, that's how it has worked in the past.

C: Yes, if you had 0 days on the timer when it was paused, you'll have 0 when it starts.

edit: The official details on it can be found here.

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Originally Posted by Dustytome

A: I don't believe they did in the past, that's not to say they won't this time.

B: Correct, that's how it has worked in the past.

C: Yes, if you had 0 days on the timer when it was paused, you'll have 0 when it starts.

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Beautiful, thanks! I don't really have a concern for myself (moving without pause into 5.0, unless some job/family issue pops up) but I thought I'd get educated on it and you seemed to be the right person to ask.

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Originally Posted by Dustytome

edit: The official details on it can be found here.

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Haha I generally check the lodestone, must not have clicked on it due to the lack of fancy pretty colors (like a lot of the titles are splashy). I must be simple - click pretty color lol.

You're going to have 2 sources for available housing once the demo timer is reactivated since it's occurring at the same time as the data center reorganization.

For the first 2 weeks, you're going to see many houses become available due to players transferring to other worlds during the free transfer period. Few of the house openings during this period are likely to be due to demolition.

Once the free transfer period ends, you'll see a trickle of house becoming available via demolition for about 4 weeks. Once 45 days has passed since the timer was reactivated, you'll see a flood of houses open up as those would be houses owned by players who quit after the timer was suspended.

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

Once the free transfer period ends, you'll see a trickle of house becoming available via demolition for about 4 weeks. Once 45 days has passed since the timer was reactivated, you'll see a flood of houses open up as those would be houses owned by players who quit after the timer was suspended.

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Wanted to emphasize Dustytome's point though since OP seems to be a first time buyer: "If you're a new buyer, you'll still have to deal with the rng buffer before before the plot is available for a fresh purchase.".

So depending on the area and size of the server certain areas will not be a flood for them if they're not prepared (like I imagine some houses opening on Shirogane Balmung and then closing within literal seconds, first time buyer will not have a hope).

(For OP) If you own a house you can transfer into another house and if you don't there is a period of time that a house isn't available for purchase even if it's technically not taken, so if you've had your eye on Shirogane housing or other desirable lots (medium/large/certain spots) it can be helpful to go pick up a small first (if even possible). If gil isn't tight at least. Usually Goblet is the least desired area so a nice place to start looking for a transfer home. The Goblet smalls being more likely to open up due to people using them often as a transfer house, also wouldn't recommend getting a medium or large as a transfer house unless gil is not a concern lol.

If you don't care about your server you can pick any house up and then use the upcoming free transfer to get some money lol. Going to a smaller server can help find more houses as well, just keep in mind many FC features will not work when you're not on it's home server and other restrictions like which market you can sell from. You cannot relocate an apartment to a house so only pick one up if you wanted it in the first place or wanted the server gil transfer bonus (can't transfer from apartment to apartment either for that matter, at least last I checked).

Another tip is if you have friends in certain housing areas you can use them for a cheap teleport to that area, might help out with house checking :). Otherwise you can check each neighboring city's aethernet and access them from there, at least after you complete introduction quests for the areas. Like you can teleport to The Goblet from Uldah's network (when you click on the big or small athertyes in the city).

So to restate a few points. Currently the timer for demolitions is paused. If a player hasnt re-entered their house(the interior - visiting the yard doesnt count) in the time since the timer was paused, then when the timer starts going again their house could be close to being removed. The system is supposed to send an email warning the owner of the plot that it is close to removal, but there have been issues with the email system in the past(if you want to keep a home and arent sure of your status then why havent you gone inside since the timer was paused?). If you were at 42 days and 6 hours before, youll be starting from 42 days and 6 hours when the timer begins counting again. And yes, the hours count. The servers check demolition timers every hour on the hour. The devs have also said that the timer will be running during part of the maintenance window where it gets restarted, meaning houses with only a couple hours left could already be gone when the servers open back up. So once the servers are open demos will be potentially happening every hour. In addition to that anyone who transfers off will have their house immediately town down. So essentially, for those first two weeks houses should be opening up left and right on many(probly most) servers. Once open, each lot will have to wait out the RNG timer. This is a hidden 6-24 hour clock per lot that prevents open purchase(while allowing transfer purchases). Some servers are anticipating as many as a few hundred lots open up during this window. If a ton become available, you can probly safely wait a day then go shopping for the plot you like the best(knowing you can always transfer later if a better one opens up). On a server where the number of plots opening up is more modest then i would expect to see a lot of people placard camping(sitting there and repeatedly trying to buy until the hidden timer runs out). This route is beyond frustrating, but it has worked to get people their homes in the past(not everyone of course, as the less placards are open the more people will be competing for them). And of course, if you dont have any particular ties to your server an off-world visit to check availability is a fair option(as would be leveling an alt just high enough to check the 3 starting cities plots).

All told, as many as a few thousand plots could open up in the near future spread amongst the servers(several servers had hundreds of open plots before demos were halted and its known that many people bought them recently just for the "free" cash with their anticipated transfer - so this estimate isnt too far fetched). I wish everyone luck in finding their starter home, dream home, or FC home - whatever theyre shopping for.

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Originally Posted by chizLemons

What should I expect? I'm interested in buying my first house and I assume it's going to be easier once that timer starts again. I've never seen it happen before, so how is it going to work? Are some houses going to be immediately available once the patch is done? Are several houses going to be under that timer? What would be the best way to make it easier to buy one? Any strategies?

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You might want to keep an eye out now given some homes are being released due to server transfers. There were two mediums available in Mist on my server recently for which one of my friends was able to purchase. And yes I suspect some will demo instantly whereas others will come online as time goes by. Demo is always at the top of the hour so you might want to use that as a reference for looking at released and demo's housing.

Thank you everyone for the info, this is really helpful! I already have enough money for a small, and I don't mind the location. I'd only relocate if we get Ishgard plots, other than that, seems I'll be looking at the Goblet a lot! :)