I currently have the house in whiterun (cheap 8000 kinda small). Decided i wanted a nicer place to live as befits a Thane of 2 cities and a dovakhin. Im currently lvl 20 and saving up for 25000 to buy the solitude house. Which of the houses is the nicest. I know that one of them has a former murderers house. Which is nicest and Worst house out of all of them.

Well Whiterun is the cheapest and solitude is the most expensive but it and the windhelm one are the biggest markarth and riften have average size houses

Don't know (or care) which is the nicest, I only buy a house for convenience and storage which makes in my opinion the first one you can get in Whiterun the best, especially if you are going to be focusing on smithing and alchemy.

With the upgrades you have plenty of space to store gear, have an alchemy table and a full forge next door with all the trimmings and the skyforge down the street (a full forge being tanning, smelting, forge, grindstone and the armor table).

Also it is just a short hike past the skyforge to the keep where there is an enchanting table (though I believe that some of the houses do have one of these, which would be nice)

I will eventually have to check if the rest of the houses which can have enchanting tables also are close to a full smith, if so I may change later in the game or on my second play through.

Whiterun, while a bit of a rundown shack with limited room, is conveniently located.

Marakath is like a warm and cozy apartment and has everything you need in a house which makes it the one I like the most.

Solitude was a disapointment considering how much it cost though it has enough space.

Riften is ok, it has a garden outside.

Windhelm glitched on me and I was left with a partly furnished house with the grizzly stuff still there and my labs were missing so I can't comment on that one until I see it in its full glory, but it is the only house that allowed me to add an amoury.

I really want Hjerim (House in Windhelm) but the quest I need to do is currently bugged. I read what you get in Hjerim on the Wikia and it fits my character perfectly, but I'm stuck with the Solitude house.

Smallest to largest: Whiterun, Riften, Markarth, Solitude, Windhelm

I own all the houses, all fully furnished, so here's my opinion of each:

Whiterun: Nice central location, but too small for my tastes

Riften: Very quick to get to, very cozy feeling, and has a great view outback. Plus there's a rowboat with fishing roads in it and fish on the boat to harvest (good for RPing). 2 mannequins

Markarth: Somewhat of a hassle to get to. Very cool inside since its built into a mountain (and looks like it) combined with the Dwemer artifacts. Has lots of book shelf space (162 books), and it's quite large and decorated very nicely. It has a very cool entrance hall and has 3 fireplaces. 1 mannequin

Solitude: Probably the farthest away from any fast travel point making it annoying to get to. Has a nice back porch, but the inside is slightly lackluster for the price of it. Lack of storage downstairs is a disappointment and the amount of displays for weapons is also disappointing. It has 2 mannequins. Only really cool thing is the safe next to your bed upstairs

Windhelm: A little out of the way, comparable to Markarth's distance. Very large, but very open. The openness kinda disappoints me on the main floor because I feel like more could've been done there. It has a secret room housing the enchanting and alchemy tables, but has 0 storage in that room (as well as lighting) which is too bad. Very nice kitchen, and an amazing armory. 3 mannequins, huge weapon rack, full weapon display cases, and plenty of weapon plaques on the walls. The master room is quite large, but also very open. There are a lot of bugs associated with obtaining this house and you have to do the civial war quest line to get a chance at buying it.

Currently I'm using the Markarth house, but I've been thinking about moving to the Windhelm one simply because I like to change my house often. If I had to pick them in order it would go: Markarth, Windhelm/Riften (still can't decide), Solitude, and then Whiterun. Unfortunately none of these houses blow me away. I expected the one in Solitude to be amazing, but that didn't happen. Nothing is exactly wrong with any of these houses, but nothing is exactly exciting either.

whiterun is the best for strategic location though with fast travel, distance to/from locations really doesnt matter...

if ur looking for a fancy-looking house like oblivion had, dont bother. none of them are all that fancy. this is the nord homeland afterall. grey and brown is their life...

The one called Honeyside in Riften has a Porch and Garden and U can add a Alchemy and Enchanting Lab too, but Riften it is in Thieves guild Territory.

Proudspire Manor at Solitude has a Patio and u can also add a Alchemy and Enchanting Lab too, but it is in Imperial City and the people are not very nice.

Vlindrel Hall is at Marcath, has an Entryway u can also furnish and u can also add a Alchemy and Enchanting Lab too, but politics are complicated there and u will need to be on the Stormcloaks side in the Civil Wars or wait till at least level 20 to get any other chance for the house, i heard. (BTW Argis the Bulwark will be your House Carl) (There is also an abandoned house in Marcath.)

Hjerm House is at Windhelm, (and is featured in the bood and ice quest also) and u can also add a Alchemy and Enchanting Lab too, and it has an Armory! This is the town u need to go to join the Stormcloaks near the beginning.

Breezehome at Whiterun, this has a cool Loft and and u can also add a Alchemy Lab too, and it is right by all u need and thankfully near a towngate, and just outside town are stables to buy a horse nearby and a carraige to take u to major cities too. U get to have Lydia as your House Carl. She has her own furnished room already upstairs. Looks way better once furnished and is an awesome starter home for sure.

After reading everybody's comments, I think I should buy the whiterun house.

I have the solitude house but don't like it that much. Too big and it's far away from the fast travel point

I would highly recommend the Markarth house over Whiteruns. It costs 2k more, but is much larger and more interesting.

Sounds like I need the windhelm house... I had buyers remorse when I payed for the house in solitude and you can't even buy smithing stuff for it like a forge, workbench, etc. There's even an empty room downstairs where all this stuff could've fit into lol... not enough bookshelves, and the storage options were very out of place (nothing near crafting tables like alchemy lab or arcane enchanter)... wtf were the devs smoking when they made the solitude house??

Out of the 3 houses I've bought, the Markarth(sp?) house is definetly the best one for storage. plenty of book cases, and containers that are nearby crafting tables (sadly no smithing upgrades though... would be perfect if it did). I also think that city has the best look in the entire game, although it is a bit confusing to navigate at first.

I second this. I got both and the Markarth one is WAY better than Whiteruns. It is worth the effort and is worth the price

I like the Markarth house the best because of the book space. Lots of good bookshelves for all the books I find. The other houses don't have nearly enough organizable bookshelves.

Not if you fast travel to the Blue Palace... Its dang close actually

Solitude house is a disappointment for me too. Storage is in inconvenient locations, the patio door cannot be opened with the key, and the quest to explore your new house won't complete for me. Plus it's just hella out of the way. Sadly I have no save prior to buying the house Stupid on my part.

I vote Markath also. Its a nicely appointed house with plenty of storage space and has enchanting and alchemy tables. I moved all my stuff from Whiterun to Markath. Its not that hard to get to, on the right of the general store is a staircase that leads right to it.

I went with the Markath house after buying the Whiterun house. My current primary character is melee so the Whiterun house was invaluable as I leveled my smithing (and it was also a great place to dump gear to sell later when I felt like it).

I purchased and decked-out the Solitude house with another character of mine and sad to say that I was disappointed as well. The only good thing that I can say about it was the multiple entrances into the house. Those were pretty cool, especially in the morning when you walk out at the same time your neighbor does... feels neighborly, har har.

Markath is great, you have two separate rooms right next to each other for both alchemy and enchanting. The alchemy room has a barrel right next to it where you can dump all your ingredients for potion/poison-making. The sad thing is that the enchanting room doesn't have this so I use the end table just outside the door next to the mannequin. Book shelves are great. Wish it had a safe like the Solitude house though.

I married the wannabe merchant girl in Whiterun and I got her house. If/when I do the main quest I'll buy the Whiterun house, which is pretty close to hers.

I prefer the convenience of the Whiterun house. It's in a great location, though, I do see myself requiring more storage space in the future. I'm actually hoping to see some good housing mods soon. I rather like the idea of owning a house out in the wilds somewhere.

I would love to see a Whiterun House mod that did two things:

* Make it a little bigger inside and fix the hole in the roof.
* Enchanting table.

Erik, do u own more than one house at a time? i did not know we could! Thanx for tips.

turn this into a poll and we can vote which house is our favorite


And my favorite is Windhelm's because it has the most mannequins

And windhelm can be cleaned up

The Solitude house isn't too far from the Fast Travel point if you travel to the Blue Palace, it's just a few houses away.

Many are wondering about the houses. I have them all, so I made http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1288512-house-guide/ for people to read up on them.

I, too, would like it to be a bit bigger. The halls are barely wide enough to pass by that crazy house carl. I would just rather spend my cash right now on training than a new house. If I could trade in for a bigger model, that would be a different story. I can't wait for mods that allow selling homes, building new ones, buying others outside the standard selection, etc.