Quote Originally Posted by Almagnus1 View Post
The main idea I'm looking at is how it would be possible to allow for someone other than whomever got there first (or relo'd there first) to have a shot at getting the house
I don't think this is the proper approach. I think the timer is a bad idea, and has done a lot of damage to a lot of peoples play experiences. I do not think expanding on this "hurry up and wait" style is an idea deserving of any merit.

I think that people sweeping the wards for open houses should be rewarded by getting their pick of the openings, so long as they can afford them. If the open mansion is 500 mil, it's not the first person to get there. It's the first person to get there with 500 mil. IE a large, active, deserving FC or highly enterprising player who was checking hourly for a house.