After a long day of adventuring through Skyrim's various dungeons, players want the opportunity to relax and rest in a soft bed. In Skyrim Special Edition, players can buy various houses and homesteads in the various holds. They can acquire pre-built homes and furnish them according to their liking, or construct a home themselves.
However, buying such a property is not cheap and players will need to amass a large sum of money, which they may want to use elsewhere. But using careful timing and some exploits in the game, players can get the various houses without spending a single piece of gold.
Acquire The Necessary Funds
Players must first acquire the necessary funds to buy their house of choice. This is to ensure the dialogue option to buy the house from the respective steward triggers. None of the gold amassed will be used, but players must have the required amount of gold in their inventory. If players are short on funds as they talk to the steward, the dialogue option will not trigger and they will not be able to use the exploit to buy the player house of their choice.
Completing The Prerequisites For Buying A House
Before players can buy a house or a homestead in the various Holds of Skyrim, they must first complete some prerequisites that include becoming a Thane of the Hold. Players get the opportunity to become the Thane of Whiterun as part of the Main Quest and be allowed to purchase a house, however, the other holds require players to put in some work. They must talk to the Jarl of the hold that gives players some quests to do.
Once they are completed, they must help out a few of the Hold's citizens as well to complete the requirements. These quests are quite easy and quick to do and players will have no trouble completing these requirements. The game prompts players once they are completed, after which players can talk to the jarl and become Thane of the Hold.
Learn The Slow Time Shout
The Slow Time Shout will allow players to take advantage of the game's scripts and dismiss the conversation with the steward before they can charge players for the house. One of the Words in the Shout can be found at Hag's End. However, the other two Words are quest locked and can only be learned if players complete the related quests. If players have completed the College of Winterhold questline or have at least gotten the Staff of Magnus, then they will have learned the second Word of the Shout. The final Word is encountered at Korvanjund during the Civil War questline. Players can still use the Shout if they know at least one word, but it gives players a shorter window of opportunity than using a full Shout would.
Talk To Steward And Use The Shout
Once players have completed all the prerequisites they must approach the steward of the hold in which they want to buy a house. They must proceed through the conversation of buying a house normally up until the point when they hand over the amount for the property. Players must make sure to talk to the steward near a container in which they can dump some items. In case the steward is not near such a container, they must wait for them to be so. It is crucial that players have this conversation near a container, otherwise, the glitch will not work. Players must talk to the steward until the "I'll take it" dialogue comes up, they must select it and then immediately dismiss the conversation and use the Slow Time shout.
Deposit Gold And Resume Conversation
Once players have used the shout, they must act fast and dump all their gold into the container. If they have timed it right, the game will not have charged players a single gold coin for the house. Once the gold is deposited, players must then talk to the steward again and resume the conversation while the effects of the Shout are ongoing.
If done correctly, the game will skip the part when players pay for the house and give them the key to the house. All their gold will be safe in the container right where they stored it. None of this gold will be used to pay for the house. The method requires players to be quick and timely throughout and if they are off even by a second, it will not work and players will lose their hard-earned gold. It is a good idea to save before talking to the steward.
Retrieve The Stashed Gold
After the players have gotten the key to their house, they can activate the container and take back the gold they stashed there. Using a fully unlocked Slow Time Shout makes the process much easier but it can still be done with only one Word unlocked. The process can also be used to decorate the player houses. Players must simply repeat the process and substitute the conversation for buying a house, with the conversation of buying decorations. Players can use this to buy homesteads as well as proper houses inside major hold cities.