The free real estate cheat in The Sims 4 lets you move into any vacant house without spending Simoleons. Open the cheat console (Ctrl+Shift+C on PC, Command+Shift+C on Mac, or hold all four shoulder buttons on console), type “testingcheats true” followed by “freerealestate on,” and all empty lots will turn green, making them free to claim.
What the Free Real Estate Cheat Does
Have you ever created the perfect Sim family only to realize your dream mansion costs 200,000 Simoleons and you’re starting with just 20,000? You’re not alone. Housing costs in The Sims 4 can drain your budget before your Sims even start their lives.
The free real estate cheat solves this problem instantly. Once activated, you can move your household into any empty residential lot without paying a single Simoleon. Houses that showed red or yellow price tags (indicating you can’t afford them) turn green. You keep your starting funds for furniture, bills, and building your Sims’ careers instead of wasting it all on a down payment.
This cheat works across all worlds and expansion packs. Whether you want a penthouse in San Myshuno, a cottage in Henford-on-Bagley, or a beachfront property in Sulani, every vacant lot becomes available.
How to Enable Cheats in The Sims 4
Before using the free real estate cheat, you need to enable cheats in your game. The method varies by platform.
For PC players: Press Ctrl + Shift + C at the same time. A text box appears at the top of your screen.
For Mac players: Press Command + Shift + C simultaneously to open the cheat console.
For Xbox players: Hold down LT + RT + LB + RB together. The cheat box will appear in the top left corner.
For PlayStation players: Press and hold L1 + R1 + L2 + R2 at the same time.
Once the console opens, type “testingcheats true” or “testingcheats on” and hit Enter. You’ll see a message confirming “Cheats are enabled.” This step is required before any other cheats will work.
Using the Free Real Estate Cheat
After enabling cheats, you can activate free housing in just seconds.
Keep the cheat console open (or reopen it using the button combinations above). Type “freerealestate on” exactly as shown, without quotation marks. Press Enter.
The cheat activates immediately. You won’t see a confirmation message, but the effect is instant. All vacant residential lots in every world will now display green price tags instead of red or yellow ones.
Navigate to the map view and select any empty house. Click the Move In button. Your household can now occupy that property without spending any money. The full starting funds remain in your household account.
You can switch between worlds using the globe icon while the cheat stays active. No need to re-enter the code each time you browse different neighborhoods.
When Free Real Estate Won’t Work
The cheat has specific limitations you should know about.
Occupied lots are off limits. You cannot move into a house where another household currently lives, even with the cheat enabled. The property must be completely vacant.
Community lots don’t qualify. The cheat only applies to residential properties. Parks, gyms, restaurants, and other community venues remain unavailable for housing, even with the cheat active.
Rental properties have different rules. In worlds like Evergreen Harbor, some properties function as rentals rather than purchases. The free real estate cheat affects these differently than standard homes.
If you want to move into an occupied house, you need to evict the current residents first. Go to Manage Households, select the household living in your desired property, and choose the evict option. Once empty, the free real estate cheat will work on that lot.
Turning Off the Free Real Estate Cheat
You may want to disable the cheat after securing your dream home.
Open the cheat console again using your platform’s button combination. Type “freerealestate off” and press Enter. All property prices return to normal immediately.
Disabling the cheat doesn’t affect houses you’ve already moved into. Your Sim keeps their home even after you turn off free real estate mode. Only future moves will cost money again.
Many players keep the cheat on throughout their entire gameplay session. There’s no penalty for leaving it active. The choice depends on your preferred play style.
Common Issues and Quick Fixes
Sometimes the cheat doesn’t seem to work properly. Here’s how to troubleshoot the most frequent problems.
Spelling mistakes break the code. The cheat is case-sensitive and must be typed exactly right. “FreeRealEstate on” works the same as “freerealestate on,” but “free real estate on” (with spaces) does not. Double-check your typing before pressing Enter.
Wrong order causes failures. You must enable testing cheats first with “testingcheats true” before “freerealestate on” will function. Skipping this step means the free real estate code won’t activate.
Quotation marks cause errors. Type the cheat code directly without any quotation marks. Some guides show quotes for clarity, but including them in the actual command will make it fail.
Console players face platform-specific issues. On Xbox and PlayStation, using cheats that require “testingcheats true” disables achievements and trophies for that specific save file. Your other saves remain unaffected. This is a deliberate game design choice, not a bug.
If you’ve entered everything correctly and the cheat still won’t activate, try restarting your game. Occasionally, the cheat console needs a fresh start to recognize commands.
Strategic Ways to Use Free Real Estate
The free real estate cheat offers more than just saving money. Smart players use it to enhance their entire Sims 4 experience.
Start with luxury, focus on story. Move your new household into an expensive mansion right away. This lets you skip the “work your way up” phase and jump straight into the gameplay you enjoy. Your Sims can focus on relationships, careers, and skills instead of saving every Simoleon for a bigger house.
Experiment with different worlds. Want to try life in every neighborhood? The cheat removes the financial barrier to moving. Experience cottage living one week and city life the next without worrying about relocation costs.
Test build styles before committing. Move into various pre-built houses to study their layouts and design choices. You’ll learn building techniques from the game’s creators without paying for the privilege.
Create multiple families across different lots. Building a connected story with several households becomes easier when housing costs don’t limit your options. Place families in specific neighborhoods to support your narrative without budget restrictions.
Save starting funds for furnishing. Even with a free house, you’ll need money for furniture, appliances, and decorations. The cheat lets you keep your initial 20,000 Simoleons for making your new space livable.
Other Useful Housing Cheats
Free real estate works great alongside other building and money cheats.
“bb.enablefreebuild” removes all placement restrictions in build mode. You can edit community lots, hidden lots, and even other households’ homes without limitations.
“motherlode” adds 50,000 Simoleons to your household funds. Use this after moving in to afford furniture and upgrades for your free mansion.
“kaching” gives you 1,000 Simoleons. It’s smaller than Motherlode but perfect for quick cash when you need to pay bills or buy a few items.
“household.autopay_bills true” automatically pays all your bills so you never risk repossession. Particularly useful when you’ve moved into an expensive estate with high utility costs.
Combining these cheats creates complete freedom in how you build and furnish your Sims’ homes. Just remember that using testing cheats on console versions disables achievements for that save file.
Why This Cheat Matters for Your Gameplay
The free real estate cheat fundamentally changes how you approach The Sims 4.
New players often spend hours grinding for money to afford a decent house. This process can feel tedious and takes time away from the actual fun of the game. The cheat eliminates this barrier.
Experienced players use it to set up complex scenarios quickly. Want to create a rags-to-riches challenge? Start in a mansion, then “lose everything” through roleplay. Need to populate a neighborhood with diverse families? The cheat speeds up the process dramatically.
Creative builders benefit too. You can move test families into your custom builds to see how they function in actual gameplay without sacrificing your main save file’s resources.
The cheat respects your time. The Sims 4 has hundreds of hours of content. Spending 20 of those hours saving for a house you could claim instantly seems unnecessary unless that’s specifically the challenge you want.
Final Thoughts
The free real estate cheat in The Sims 4 removes one of the game’s biggest early obstacles. You get immediate access to any vacant house in any world without spending your starting funds.
Enable it in seconds with “testingcheats true” followed by “freerealestate on.” Turn it off just as quickly when you want standard housing costs again. The cheat works on PC, Mac, Xbox, and PlayStation with minor differences in how you open the console.
Remember the main limitation: you can only claim empty houses. Occupied lots require you to evict the current residents first.
Use this cheat to focus on the parts of The Sims 4 you actually enjoy. Whether that’s building relationships, advancing careers, or just seeing how your Sims live in a multi-million Simoleon estate, you deserve to play the way you want.
FAQs
Does the free real estate cheat work on console versions?
Yes, the cheat works on Xbox and PlayStation exactly like the PC and Mac versions. The only difference is how you open the cheat console. Hold all four shoulder buttons simultaneously, then enter the same cheat codes. Note that enabling testing cheats disables achievements on console for that specific save file.
Can I use free real estate to move into community lots?
No, the cheat only applies to residential properties. You cannot move your Sims into gyms, libraries, restaurants, or other community venues. If you want to convert a community lot to residential, use the build mode lot type selector first, then apply the free real estate cheat.
Will I lose my house if I turn off the cheat?
No, turning off the cheat with “freerealestate off” only affects future moves. Your Sim keeps any house they’ve already moved into, even after you disable free real estate mode. The cheat only determines whether you pay during the moving process.
Why does my cheat say “command failed”?
This usually means you haven’t enabled testing cheats first. You must type “testingcheats true” before “freerealestate on” will work. If you’ve done this and still get errors, check for spelling mistakes or extra spaces in your command.
Can I move into Malcolm Landgraab’s mansion?
Only if you evict him first. The free real estate cheat doesn’t work on occupied lots. Go to Manage Households, select Malcolm’s household, and choose the evict option. Once the house is empty, you can move in using the cheat.
