The timer existing isn't really the problem. It has definitely damaged the market for people who seek to acquire housing to buy just to flip it for crazy prices. No one wants to see that happen again.

The timer being invisible though, is a big problem. I don't know how many hours I spent until I finally beat Placard savage, but its hardly something I enjoyed or take pride in. I think the timer being random is fine, but the countdown should be broadcast out to everyone. Sure, people will crowd the placard when the timer is almost up, but people are already doing that anyways. Better to waste people's time in small doses than the multi-hour affairs we have going on right now.

I think the goal they were trying to achieve with the timer being invisible was to discourage players from camping the placard, but that certainly hasn't been the result. So just let the timer be known to everyone. This will still prevent people from reselling the plot in the way it does now, because no one is going to throw down millions and millions of gil for a house that's even on a known but randomly generated timer.