Currently we have ghost towns, both city and towns, with alot of empty space in the game.

Basically you would have lots in which players can build house, huts, merchant tents, or guild halls. Building and repairs would be done by crafters.

The key is having lots to build on and upkeep to prevent AFK and delete accounts from clogging up the world. If a house isn't repaired in a month time frame than it is destroyed and all items inside go back to the player. A crafter and walk by and repair the house without players being present. The player would simply place gil in the repair cost fund along with mats if they wished.