confused about the house in Windhelm - Spoilers

[Kentucky_Fried]

I was reading this: http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Hjerim

So far I have not done any civil war quests or joined a side. I want to own this house and not have to join a side to get it or be thane of the city. This is the only house I don't own and I wanted to own them all before making some lucky Skyrim chick my ♥♥♥♥♥.

That wiki says,

In order to purchase Hjerim, you must have completed the Rescue From Fort Neugrad quest if you've joined the Stormcloaks.
If Falkreath was given to the Stormcloaks in Season Unending before you recieved the Rescue From Fort Neugrad quest in the Stormcloaks Civil War questline or you completed the Civil War questline as part of the Legion,then you must complete Blood on the Ice in order to purchase the House.

Any way to get to buy this house and be thane without joining sides?

[malek1013]

I don't believe there is since the Thane title has to come straight from Ulfric himself. :/

If there is though (without a console command) I'd be very curious as to what it is.

[Kentucky_Fried]

Originally Posted by malek1013

I don't believe there is since the Thane title has to come straight from Ulfric himself. :/

If there is though (without a console command) I'd be very curious as to what it is.

See.. if he acts as any other Jarl that is o.k... he could still give me quests and grant me Thane status like any other Jarl without forcing me to join his Stormcloak side it seems to me.

But I don't know if that's the case.. I haven't tried it.

[Kradath]

The faction quests shouldn't hinder you from getting the houses as the dead jarls, ulfric as well, get replaced by new ones that offer the same things, I just bought my Windhelm house today after having defeated Ulfric some days ago.

Always talk to the right hand of the Jarls who is moving about in the vicinity. They are the ones selling your the houses.

[_Depression]

Originally Posted by Kentucky_Fried

See.. if he acts as any other Jarl that is o.k... he could still give me quests and grant me Thane status like any other Jarl without forcing me to join his Stormcloak side it seems to me.

But I don't know if that's the case.. I haven't tried it.

Unfortunately, he's less the Jarl and more the leader of the Stormcloaks who just happens to have his headquarters in Windhelm. There isn't a similar issue with Imperials because even though the Jarl of Solitude is loyal to the Empire, she isn't part of them.

[malek1013]

Originally Posted by Kentucky_Fried

See.. if he acts as any other Jarl that is o.k... he could still give me quests and grant me Thane status like any other Jarl without forcing me to join his Stormcloak side it seems to me.

But I don't know if that's the case.. I haven't tried it.

I have. I've solved the murders in Windhelm, I've donated to the poor and did every single mother-lovin' side quest I could get on there but Ulfric couldn't see past his war planning table. I then joined the Storm Cloaks as the last resort and he declared me thane by mas smurdering Imperials to regain a fort.

So I don't think it's possible unless either...

A - You join the Stormcloaks.
B - You join the Imperials and ride the chain out to the end and get Ulfric put down and a new Jarl put in place. (Hello Playthrough number 2)

[Kentucky_Fried]

O.k... I joined the Imperials, followed it through to the end, took Ulfric's head off and left the city, then returned ( so the city is all clean after the battle) talked to the new jarl who offered me Thane if I did 5 tasks for his people.. the 5 tasks were already done.. talked to the steward Jorlief for the house and.. it's a no go.. lil sucker tells me there is a house for sale but the house is not ready to be sold after some unpleasant business took place there.

I have no clue what to do next.

[Planeforger]

Originally Posted by Kentucky_Fried

O.k... I joined the Imperials, followed it through to the end, took Ulfric's head off and left the city, then returned ( so the city is all clean after the battle) talked to the new jarl who offered me Thane if I did 5 tasks for his people.. the 5 tasks were already done.. talked to the steward Jorlief for the house and.. it's a no go.. lil sucker tells me there is a house for sale but the house is not ready to be sold after some unpleasant business took place there.

I have no clue what to do next.

Have you solved the murders? The house was buyable for me as soon as the Stormcloaks had been crushed, so I'm guessing that that's the only other quest you need to do.

[Kentucky_Fried]

Originally Posted by Planeforger

Have you solved the murders? The house was buyable for me as soon as the Stormcloaks had been crushed, so I'm guessing that that's the only other quest you need to do.

I haven't solved the murders. I never got the quest to solve the murders.

I have read that if you don't get the quest with the stormcloak civil war quests then you will get it as soon as you first unlock the house.. which I cannot do cus the guy wont sell it to me.

any other way to start this quest? or get the guy to sell me the house?

Please help cus at this point the game is BROKEN and I just wasted 2 weeks of my life.

[Worstluck]

Originally Posted by Kentucky_Fried

I haven't solved the murders. I never got the quest to solve the murders.

I have read that if you don't get the quest with the stormcloak civil war quests then you will get it as soon as you first unlock the house.. which I cannot do cus the guy wont sell it to me.

any other way to start this quest? or get the guy to sell me the house?

Please help cus at this point the game is BROKEN and I just wasted 2 weeks of my life.

The murder quest will start at night, past 10-11 pm or so. You have to travel back and forth to the city at least four times. For me, I got it on the fourth time of traveling to the city, and got there around 11:30 at night. It will be in the graveyard area.

You must do this quest in order to get the house, however it can be a buggy quest. Keep traveling back and forth, it should start. You also have to either join the Stormcloaks and take Falkreath or join the imperials and replace Ulfric.

EDIT: I will also add that whatever you do, before decorating it, make sure to pay to have cleaned up. I believe if you add furniture before it's cleaned, the nasty stuff stays there forever.

[Daenerys]

Originally Posted by Worstluck

The murder quest will start at night, past 10-11 pm or so. You have to travel back and forth to the city at least four times. For me, I got it on the fourth time of traveling to the city, and got there around 11:30 at night. It will be in the graveyard area.

You must do this quest in order to get the house, however it can be a buggy quest. Keep traveling back and forth, it should start. You also have to either join the Stormcloaks and take Falkreath or join the imperials and replace Ulfric.

EDIT: I will also add that whatever you do, before decorating it, make sure to pay to have cleaned up. I believe if you add furniture before it's cleaned, the nasty stuff stays there forever.

Blood on the Ice is one of the, if not the, single most bugged quest in the game. There are documented cases of near a dozen different ways to break the god damn thing. Some of which there is NO fix, not even with console commands. If the murder in the graveyard doesn't ever trigger for you, and you've entered/exited the city a whackload of times, you can try one/both of the following:

1) Go see Jorleif, Ulfrics Steward in the Palace. Open the console and click on him. Then type:
setstage a7b33 10
completequest ms11
completequest ms11b

It worked for me. Note: The setstage a7b33 10 part is trying to buy the house, so you will still need to have the cash on you.

2) Open the console and click on Jorleif. Engage in a conversation with him. Wait for him to finish speaking his opening line. Open the console while your topic menu is open, and type "say WindhelmHouseReply1".

If these don't work, pretty sure you won't be able to buy the house. You MAY if you join the Imperials and completely destroy the Stormcloaks, but I'm not sure.

[Kentucky_Fried]

Thanks Worstluck i'll try that..

I have been reading this thread: http://forums.steampowered.com/forum....php?t=2246991

and it does have walk arounds for getting the house but i want this to start legit if possible.

I'm also thinking there should be a console code to trigger/reset the murder in the graveyard to happen again ..

Is it possible this happened before I joined the legion and was not aware of it? Then after the battle where i killed Ulfric the scene got cleaned up? I didn't spend a lot of time in Windhelm before...could i have just missed it?

this page http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Blood_on_the_Ice says if i finish with the legion you cannot finish the quest..

It will take me a whole day to do over but perhaps i should go back to a save before i joined the legion and try to get the quest then.. then rejion the legion and do it all over.. grrrr.. all this for a house and a woman.. i think i prefer hookers.

[Daenerys]

I've fiddled around with that quest for the better part of a day. There's a counter that updates everytime you enter windhelm. Best I can tell, if you don't visit windhelm AND start the quest at the exact correct entry number...you're screwed. The murder scene will just vanish and shaft you out of the best house in the game(imo).

Most of the console suggestions people list, they haven't actually tried themselves. Most notably the setstage MS11 one. (ms11 = blood on the ice quest). They assume it would work, which it should, but it does not.

Make a save or two and try what I suggested in my last post.

Hope it works :S

Edit: I've bought the windhelm house once when I joined the stormcloaks(you can buy it like 5 quests into the chain) and once when I joined the imperials(unfortunately you MUST complete the chain and get a new Jarl of Windhelm to buy Hjerim, if you go this route).

[Kentucky_Fried]

Originally Posted by Daenerys

Edit: I've bought the windhelm house once when I joined the stormcloaks(you can buy it like 5 quests into the chain) and once when I joined the imperials(unfortunately you MUST complete the chain and get a new Jarl of Windhelm to buy Hjerim, if you go this route).

yeah thats where i am now.. completed the chain for the Imperials and talked to the new jarl to get the house/thane quest line.

I just tried waiting 24 hours at a time and exiting then re-entering Windhelm and going to the grave yard.. waited from 9 to 2 am in the graveyard each time.. tried it 4 times and nada.

I'll have to go back before I joined the Imperials to try to get the quest and house.

[banished_one]

that's whay you get for moving into The Murder House