how to get a bigger house on animal crossing

For many dedicated residents of their virtual island paradises in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the journey from a modest tent to a sprawling, multi-room estate is a core and deeply satisfying progression. The house is not just a place to store your endless collection of fish and fossils; it is a canvas for creativity, a trophy of your hard work, and a personal sanctuary. Understanding how to expand your home efficiently and strategically is key to unlocking the full potential of your island life. This guide will walk you through the essential steps and advanced strategies for securing that coveted bigger house.

Table of Contents

Understanding the Housing Upgrade Path
The Role of Tom Nook and Loans
Strategic Bells Farming Techniques
Expansion Order: A Room-by-Room Guide
Advanced Strategies for the Aspiring Tycoon
The Final Stretch: The Basement and Second Floor
Living Large in Your Expanded Home

Understanding the Housing Upgrade Path

Your housing journey begins with a simple tent. After a short period, Tom Nook will offer to upgrade this tent into a proper house, a small 4x4 square dwelling. This initial upgrade sets you on a predetermined path of expansions. Each subsequent upgrade adds significant square footage in the form of new rooms or additional floors. The sequence is fixed: from the initial house, you add a main room expansion, then a back room, a left room, a right room, a second floor, and finally a basement. Each of these stages requires paying off a loan to Tom Nook before the next becomes available.

The Role of Tom Nook and Loans

Tom Nook, the tanuki entrepreneur, is your sole point of contact for all housing matters. He provides the loans for each upgrade through his Nook Miles program initially, and later solely with Bells. Contrary to real-world anxiety about debt, these loans are interest-free and have no repayment deadline. You cannot default. This system is designed to be a long-term goal, not a punitive burden. Repayment is made directly to him, or via the ABD machine in the Resident Services building. Once a loan is fully paid, you must speak to Tom Nook to immediately initiate the next upgrade, which will be completed by the next day at 5 AM.

Strategic Bells Farming Techniques

Accumulating Bells is the primary challenge in the quest for a bigger house. Several methods prove highly effective. Fishing and catching bugs, especially on mystery island tours or during evening hours, remains a steady income source, with rare specimens like the Coelacanth or Atlas Moth fetching high prices. Diving for sea creatures introduced in updates offers a lucrative and respawn-rich activity. Planting a large, organized orchard of non-native fruit trees is one of the most reliable long-term investments; selling fruit that is not native to your island yields five times the value of your native fruit. The Stalk Market, buying and selling turnips, presents the highest risk-reward scenario, capable of generating millions of Bells with careful timing and online community help.

Expansion Order: A Room-by-Room Guide

After the initial house, the first loan pays for an expansion of your main room, making it a 6x6 space. This is a crucial upgrade for breathing room and furniture placement. The next three upgrades add entirely new rooms: the back room, the left-side room, and the right-side room. Each is a 6x6 addition. There is no mandatory order for these three side rooms; you can choose which to build next based on your design plans. A common strategy is to prioritize the room that will house a specific set, like a kitchen or bathroom, allowing for more complete interior design earlier in the game. Each room adds not just space but also new opportunities to increase your Happy Home Academy score.

Advanced Strategies for the Aspiring Tycoon

Beyond daily activities, efficient players employ advanced tactics. Time traveling, the practice of manually changing your Nintendo Switch's clock to skip ahead, can accelerate construction and allow for multiple rounds of turnip selling or fruit harvesting in a single real-world day. This is a controversial but effective method. Utilizing online communities to sell high-demand items, like crafted rare furniture or hybrid flowers, for Bell tips can be very profitable. Furthermore, focusing on completing Nook Miles+ tasks consistently provides a steady stream of both Miles and Bells, which can be converted or used directly for smaller loan payments.

The Final Stretch: The Basement and Second Floor

The two most expensive upgrades are the second floor and the basement. Each costs 2,498,000 Bells. These additions transform your home into a true mansion, offering massive 10x10 and 8x8 spaces respectively. The order is up to you, but both represent the pinnacle of home ownership. The basement often becomes a themed recreational space—a game room, cinema, or secret laboratory. The second floor is perfect for a lavish bedroom, a study, or an art gallery. Funding these requires serious commitment to Bell-making activities, often making the Stalk Market or large-scale fruit farming essential.

Living Large in Your Expanded Home

Securing the final loan payment is a monumental achievement. With a fully upgraded house, you possess over 100 squares of interior design space across six main rooms, plus the attic and basement storage expansions. The true endgame begins here: crafting, cataloging, and arranging furniture to create a truly personalized home. The Happy Home Academy will provide daily feedback and eventually award you with a gold trophy for a consistently high score. Your bigger house becomes the centerpiece of your island, a testament to your dedication, and a limitless playground for your creativity, finally allowing you to display all those collected treasures in a worthy setting.

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