How the housing lottery system works in FFXIV patch 6.5

One of the most complicated and ever-changing parts of Final Fantasy XIV is the housing system. Players can get their own houses in Patch 6.5, but they’ll have to go through the FFXIV housing lottery system first. It relies solely on chance, making it hard to guarantee that perfect plot of land for your MMO home.

How to bid on a house in FFXIV Patch 6.5

To bid on a house in FFXIV Patch 6.5, you need to meet some requirements first:

• Have a level 50 or higher Disciple of War or Magic job class
• Reach Grand Company Second Lieutenant rank (if buying a home for yourself)
• Reach Free Company rank six (if buying for your FC)
• Not already own more than one private house and FC estate

So long as you meet those requirements and have the Gil to spare, you’ll want to head to one of the five residential districts in your world:

• The Lavender Beds (The Black Shroud/Gridania)
• The Mist (La Noscea/Limsa Lominsa)
• The Goblet (Thanalan/Ul’dah)
• Shirogane (Kugane)
• Empyreum (Ishgardian)

From the entrance to each housing district, you can speak with the NPC there to immediately look at all 30 wards and the 60 houses available in each one. This tells you right off the bat which houses are available and which aren’t. You can then teleport to that district and find the open house.

Once you find a house you want, approach it and interact with the placard in front to enter a bid on the house. You’ll lose the Gil the house is worth temporarily but get it all back if you don’t end up winning. The FFXIV housing lottery has a five day entry period, followed by a four day result period. The placard tells you how many days remain in each period, plus how many bidders you’re competing against.

Once the time limit is up for bid entries, a winner will randomly be chosen and they’ll have the four day result period to claim the land. For the most part, you want to bid for houses you have a better chance of winning, such as competing against three people versus 30.

Housing ward differences, explained

What’s worth noting is that you can’t just bid on every single open house in the game. Unfortunately, some housing wards are designated for Free Companies only, while others are for private buyers and still more are for both.

Here are the zoning rules for the Dynamis and Materia data centers. Materia data centers. Also, for the Phantom, Sagittarius, Alpha, and Raiden worlds:

• Wards 1-9: Free Companies only
• Wards 10-24: Private buyers only
• Wards 25-30: Not available for purchase as of Patch 6.5.

For all other worlds and data centers:

• Wards 1-6: Free Companies
• Wards 7-20: Both
• Wards 21-24: Private buyers only
• Ward 25: FC only
• Wards 26-29: Both
• Ward 30: Private buyers only