Should I obtain all the homes, and become thane of each city, before I finish the civil war questline?

I assume I should, but I also kinda wanna finish the civil war.

I don't think it affects the storyline so it's up to you. Be advised that the civil war causes some damage in the cities that has yet to be 'repaired' in one of my games (a few game months later) - IDK if it ever gets repaired. I may not even do the civil war on my 2nd character.

yeah, I hope if I finish the civil war, the appointment of a new jarl doesn't prevent me from becoming thane of that city.

Surely someone will come along who knows for sure, but I'm betting it makes no difference - I'm pretty sure I wasn't de-Thaned after some were changed.

The only toons I ever did the civil war questlines on (through the first Whiterun action), I waited a full game year on just to see if stuff changed. No. The same damage was still there. I never finished the civil war from either side.

Damn.

To get the house in Windhelm, you have to finish the civil war quest line if you side with the Empire. If you side with the Stormcloaks, you have to complete only part of the quest line.

I wondered about that. Damn.

ty very much!

Protip: You can be made Thane twice and thus get two unique weapons. Depending on which faction you side with, be made Thane before helping conquer the city and the new Jarl will also name you Thane. Obviously this won't work in every hold...