Yet another housing complaint. Unfortunately.

[NotAForumPerson]

Apologies if I did this wrong, I don't normally bother with forums.

Solutions first.
Off the top of my head, I have this little list of potential fixes that I've read in a number of places.

Apartments - Luxury options
Larger size.
Size expansion.
Deco number placement expansion.
Balconies for planting crops and using outdoor deco. (still instanced)
Potential FC options.

Housing
Instanced housing options. (same programming as an apartment/FC personal room but with a yard)
Housing on these little stardew valley islands.
Mog-station purchase options for INSTANCED HOUSING ONLY.

Complaints last.
You've set up another rigged system that benefits the rich.
The more money you have, the more bids you can make using FC officers.
Give money to your officers, get more than 1 bid on a single FC plot. Refunds for the "losers", no money lost.
Spread bids around your officers and you can take your pick of the winning plots while accepting a gil loss. For those with billions, this doesn't even matter. They had nothing to spend it on, anyway.

You've only further minimized the chances of newer players getting a property of their own by pitting wallet sizes against each other. This "lottery" helps with a few things, namely afk bots and scripts, but it is a solution like all that came before it. Temporary.

Do better. Listen to your players. They're a fiercely loyal bunch, many of them, and have been around for years. Some have waited that long just to have a yard for the colorful trees dropped in 4 year old treasure maps. That's sad. It shouldn't be that way. None of your players should be refused a staple part of the game, a Free Company house, for something so trivial as a limited supply of digital property.

I've put in my own bid but, considering how easily that bid can be buried in gil, my expectations are low. That also shouldn't be that way, not after having waited for so long. Many of these players are fans of Final Fantasy, of many "Squenix" titles, that want to enjoy the game.
Let them enjoy the game.

Good luck, good gaming, and good vibes.