I'll never understand how people can play 8 characters enough that they can justify owning a house or 2 for each one...

As for the argument that paying for 8 characters entitles a player to as many houses as they can get, what about those who also pay for 8 characters who can't even get one because they've all been taken by people like you? Shoe on the other foot you'd be just as pissed off as the people are now... and you cant say you wouldn't be because housing is so important to you that you have one or 2 on every character you have.