how does players housing work?

[Rewhymo]

So my wife and i have been saving our gil and have enough to get a house but we have no idea what we need to do.

Does a plot need to be empty for us to buy it?

I ask because we have yet to find an empty plot.

[Anova]

Yes, you need an empty, unowned plot of land.

Most servers have had all their land plots bought. However, many players are not really using the land or have quit the game. Consequently, SE has created a system that will remove unused houses and put them back for sale if the house is not used in 45 days. This means houses will first be repossessed and put on the market starting December 25. I would start checking then.

Alternatively, you have players selling houses on pf or other places, but you will end up paying them twice: once to the player to relinquish the property at a specific time (no competition) and once more to the npc to buy the plot that the seller gave up. The existing House is destroyed in all cases. Given the fact that players will be refunded 80% of their gil back, the actual price for the lot now (if you buy early from a player) is going to be about 180% of the lot price (you can reasonably bargain for less, but there's no insurance or GM procedure if you get swindled or the seller refuses to sell after taking your gil).

Once the land is available, any player can buy it. A player simply needs to walk to the ward -> go to the empty plot -> talk to the housing sign that lists the price -> and if they have enough money, purchase it with a button click.

You can then buy and build a house of your design (again, costs additional money depending on size of lot) from the housing npcs. There is an in-game walkthrough once you purchase a house for this.