Upgrading your House If you already own a house, you might well wonder if it would be possible to build a larger one in its stead. The customizable house plots that came with the Age of Shadows, and the change in blocking items that Publish 19 brought, offer many possibilities to make better use of the available space for housing. Here's how to go about upgrading your home, while minimising the risks involved. Assessing the possibilities First, go to the house sign menu and check that your house is 'properly placed' (Look under Information). If your house is improperly placed, you'll be unable to re-place your original house in case the upgrade fails! If your house is 'improperly placed', it might be best not to take any chances with an upgrade attempt. There are a number of ways your house can become 'improper' (see the FAQ); so always check just before attempting the upgrade! After checking, take a stroll around your house and see in which direction you might have room to expand. Keep in mind the rules for placing houses. A good idea is to visit the location of your house on another shard. Perhaps someone else has done the work for you and performed the upgrade already! In that case, make a screenshot of the house and print that, or make a careful note about where his house is located exactly. Do take careful note of the locations of other houses in the area; their sizes and locations may differ from the ones on your shard, and the upgrade may not be possible for your house. The terrain can differ subtly from shard to shard, so what works on one shard may not work on another. Preparation Empty your house completely. You will demolish this house when attempting the upgrade, so anything in your house will fall to the ground for any passer-by to grab. Take care to remove any add-ons as well. Remove any filled water barrels you may have in or around your house, as these will block placement. Use a pitcher to remove the water from them, then pick up the empty barrel. Leftover add-ons and filled water barrels will block placement. Then, get enough gold into your bank to cover the costs for placing the new plot, or replacing your existing home (whichever costs more). Buy a House Placement Tool. Make a screenshot of your house and print it, or carefully note its location. If an upgrade turns out to be impossible, or if you have unexpected visitors, you'll be able to quickly replace your old home using the printout. You may want to consider enlisting the help of a friend. If your friend has a house tooland sufficient funds, and if he is not in the 7 day waiting period, he will be able to stand guard while you attempt the upgrade, and replace your old home if anyone else shows up. Note that he will not have to confirm placing in order to block other players from placing , so your friend will not condemn his existing home and/or be placed on a 7-day waiting period by blocking placement in your spot. Just make sure he knows that he should not confirm the house placement gump. The outline of the plot will remain and block placement for 30 seconds and then disappear, if he does not confirm the house placement. Checklist Just before you will attempt the upgrade, go through the following checklist: Is your house empty? Check for any water barrels and add-ons   Is the Moving Crate of your house empty?   Is your house still 'properly placed'?   Do you have the House Placing Tool in your pack, at the ready?   Do you have enough gold to cover the upgrade or to replace your old home if need be? Check using the House Placing Tool…   If you have a friend helping you, check that he has a House Placing Tool as well, and enough money to at least replace your old home. Make sure he knows his tasks.   Performing the actual upgrade After going through the checklist, take your friend to your house, form a party with him, and hide. Have your friend use his House Placement Tool to call up whatever house you currently have, and let him poise the outline exactly over your existing home, so that he is ready to replace it on the instant. Ask him to place the house when you tell him to over the party chat. Type the request to have your friend re-place the house into the party chat, without pressing <return>. That way, you'll just have to hit <return> to instantly signal your friend to re-place the house. If you have the Tracking skill, use it to detect other people who may be hiding nearby. If people suspect you might try an upgrade (because they saw you empty your house earlier, for example), some of them might camp your house to try and steal the spot. Be paranoid. Open the house sign menu to the Ownership page. Use the House Placement Tool and select the choice for the house or plot size that you will attempt to place. Also check for any messages such as you being unable to place a house for x hours (indicating that you're in the 7 day waiting period), or messages about the housing system being unavailable! With the outline of the selected house still at your cursor, click the Demolish House button and click Okay, after you have looked around one last time for any other players. Try and place the new house right away. If the new house cannot be placed for some reason, don't panic! Your friend is still set to block the spot instantly should the need arise, and if you see someone wander into your screen, just hit <enter> to ask your friend to do so. Calmly try to place the new house in a slightly different position, or try a slightly smaller plot size. If all else fails, re-place your old home. Using this approach and the proper preparation, upgrading a house becomes a relatively low-risk operation. Good luck enlarging your real-estate holdings!