Both of those have been available in perpetuity, but there's a fun bonus to Hakkvild's - you can buy it with in-game gold if you do both Horns of the Reach dungeons on vet. That means that you'll only get the 'unfurnished' version, but you can get it without spending Crowns on it.

You can place furnishings in most places that you can walk when previewing the house, so Hakkvild gives you areas in the courtyard, towers, and crypts in addition to the main house. It does have a lot of doors to go through. IIRC Earthtear is more of a large open space more than anything else.

ZOS changed the policy a few months ago to deny all off-season Crown Store requests, so you're unlikely to get the Lakemire that way. Besides, the people who had gotten things that way when they did it got a completely unfurnished version, without even the furnishings that come with the 'empty' version.

Nobody knows when anything will come back, but Lakemire was out within the last year so it may not show again for a while (If anyone at ZOS is listening, please notice the number of people who are disappointed with the short release windows and the long time to return!). They've been decently consistent with two houses a month this year, but there are a lot of houses to go through before they repeat.

Buying houses for Crowns is a pretty large expense, so I'd suggest only buying a house that you are absolutely 100% sure you want to have. I'd suggest that buying one just because it's a "second choice" may not make you happy in the long run... unless you really want that one as well.

If I were to choose between Earthtear Cavern and Hakkvild's High Hall, it'd be an easy decision: Earthtear Cavern. Earthtear is exclusively crown store and on PCEU crown prices Earthtear costs more. Hakkvild's is what, a little under 4mil. gold? It does require you to complete both dungeons on vet, but if your skill level is not up-to-it, you can buy carries and it'd cost maybe 4mil. extra. So, in the worst case buying Hakkvild's with gold would cost you 8mil. gold on PC EU. If you were to undercut crown sellers, you could sell 8k crowns and get the required 8mil. gold that way. Does hakkvild's cost 8k crowns or more on crown store? Yeah. That is why I'd choose Earthtear.

Now I know the rates are off here. The going rate of crowns seems to be closer to 1500 instead of 1000, so in reality you'd need less crowns to buy it with gold. My point was more on the line of: Hakkvild's is worth it in gold but not in crowns.

Wolf_Eye wrote: »

Unless you really need a house right here and now, I would wait until the Lakehouse comes back on the market. It sounds like you have your heart set on it, and it is definitely a gorgeous house to have.

Ya, I really want the Lakemire. I spelled it wrong. Lakemire Xanmeer Manor. Wondering if I will have to wait 2 years to get it though.

I can't comment on the other two houses because I haven't explored/considered them too much in-depth, but I can tell you that Hakkvild's High Hall is amazing!! Some people complain about the small interior space but that's exactly what I like about houses: little room inside, big outdoor area. Plus, the cript is cool, the scenery as well. Though I'm a proud Nord so this might be biased The only issue for me is the lack of water, water is life, I need water in my house!

Came back to ESO, just in time. Got my Lakemire Xanmeer Manor today. w00t!