The Karl won't offer me land and I heard you have to be on good terms with him so how do I do that? Help would be appreciated because I don't want a house in the pale

I got a letter from a courier delivered to me when I went to a major city from the Jarl.

You need to be. Thane i think no matter whut

Try restarting Skyrim - it wouldn't let me do anything when I first downloaded it

I think you need to be thane, I didn't get it straight away but once I was in Falkreath I got the letter

You don't need to be Thane...the only quests I've done on my main was the college of winterhold questline and I got the letter after traveling to Falkreath and waiting 12 hours.. You do NOT NEED TO BE THANE TO GET THE LETTER. People need to stop spreading wrong information.

I gave him his bottle of mead and then he said he liked me and would allow me to buy property but to speak to his assistant, I went and spoke to her and she said no houses at moment but could sell me some land.

I just went straight to the Jarl (of Dawnstar, specifically) without any letter or anything and asked to buy the land and she agreed. I don't think I'm a Thane there yet, but I've completed some quests there and I sided with the Imperials who were the ones who put her on the throne in the first place.

I would like to receive a letter from one of the Jarls though...gives it slightly more immersion. Just feels like I'm missing part of the process without a proper initiation.

I didn't get a letter or anything for Falkreath, I just talked to the Steward in the Longhouse, they said they had no houses but I could buy land for $5000.

I haven't got a letter or anything, trying to become thane but I stopped getting the quests to get the assist quest. I sided with the Imperials if that means anything and can't buy the land

If by chance you killed his housecarl (for a DB contract) or gave him some other reason to hate you, the land won't be available to you. If you haven't done his quests yet, then do those and you're good to go. If you did those first, you're screwed because there's no other way to raise his disposition towards you.

He won't offer me the land, nor will he offer me Thaneship. I've done every single quest I can think of in the hold, sold food,wood, etc to all kinds of different people. Gave armor to people, did at least 5 quests from the Stewart. Still nothing...

If that is indeed the case then that's a horrendous oversight by Bethesda

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1408776-hearthfire-faqs/ read the FAQ there posted by Bethesda. It tells you what you need to do to buy the land and get started.

Thanks Zaydin.

I have done some testing and it is indeed that the death of the jarl's housecarl breaks the oppurtunity. If you become thane of the Falkreath and you complete the Contract: Kill Helvard, regardless if you were seen doing it, the Jarl acts coldly to you, just as when first met, and the option to buy the house dissapears. This seems to be a coding error where Helvards death causes a negation of Thanehood in Falkreath. Along with that disables the ability to purchase the land. Until Bethesda patches it, the only option is to revert to a save before he was killed which unfortunately for me is 60 hours back... But spread this around so that everyone knows and Bethesda can try to fix it.

Thanks for this, the word definately needs spreading

For Falkreath: You must complete the “Rare Gifts” favor, and the “Kill the Bandit Leader” favor. You may then buy land from Steward Nenya

Yeah, this is particularly bad because if you're affected by the bug, as I am, you can't get the achievement for having 3 houses without making a new file. Man, that's just ridiculous. Not too many bugs really bother me because I can just sort of ignore them, but to have a DLC where you are missing out on the opportunity to build in one location out of three... that's just not fair. Beth needs to fix this ASAP.

yeh I'd heard this but havnt been given the rare gifts quest?

This is so annoying. First day of DLC and the plot where I want to build is broken!! Bethesda needs to fix this ASAP.

I was already Thane of Falkreath but had the DB quest to kill his housecarl. Nothing is showing up for me to purchase land in Falkreath. I am able to purchase from Hjaalmarch and was forced to start my house there. I don't want to be in the snow of Dawnstar. I really wanted more of a forested area. Hjaalmarch wouldn't be as bad if it wasn't so far north.

I haven't even done the DB on my main and I still have no option to buy

Yup, no DB questlines touched, no Rare Gift quest has come up either, just the Kill the Bandit mission... Done that and been offered no more quests, besides what comes up in the inn...

I have Nenya as the Jarl's steward yet the walkthroughs that I've read said to talk to Steward Tekla. I haven't done any of the civil war quests. Could this be part of the problem? I'm not even sure if she's alive. I've had dragons and vampires attack that town and never gave it much thought.

I asked the Yarl if he had any work available, and he gave me a quest to kill a bandit leader in Embersheard mine. (it varies where the bandit is) After this, I asked the steward if he had any houses available, and he gave me the choice to buy a plot.

I don't think you have to be thane.