Why the housing system makes people quit and possibly not come back

[TheArcticOne]

Unpopular Opinion: People should be allowed to sell their homes. But it should be in an open bidding process through the housing system, so home owners can get back their gil. Right now they have no reason to let go of a house, when doing so means they lose all the gil they put into it. You give me a way to get back my gil, or maybe even more, and I'd let go of most of my houses in a heartbeat. That's how it works IRL.

[Jojoya]

If you feel like housing in this game is designed to hold you hostage, why do you engage with it? You're only validating the effectiveness of the system by doing so and lending the impression that you're actually okay with it.

Don't forget that you can at least have an apartment and it will not demo. Engage with the system that doesn't hold you hostage instead of the one that does if you want to make a point.

Unpopular Opinion: People should be allowed to sell their homes. But it should be in an open bidding process through the housing system, so home owners can get back their gil. Right now they have no reason to let go of a house, when doing so means they lose all the gil they put into it. You give me a way to get back my gil, or maybe even more, and I'd let go of most of my houses in a heartbeat. That's how it works IRL.

SE could refund the full plot purchase price when a plot is voluntarily relinquished. It would get unused houses back into the system faster. Right now players that don't want their house have to wait 45 days to get 80% of their gil back.

I still wouldn't be in favor of player to player sales. All players should have access to a house, not just the wealthy players who can win a bidding war to pick up their 6th house. The lottery doesn't prevent the latter from happening but it makes it a lot more difficult to accomplish for those not interesting in moving to low pop worlds.