creating a housing shortage
the best offense may be a good defense.
Students of Monopoly™ rules, unlike many casual players, are not only aware the official rules allow for only so many houses and hotels to be used in a game, they also know this limitation can be used to strategic advantage, particularly toward the end of a game.
Once all of either the houses or hotels have been sold, no further building of that particular structure may occur. The limitation can be a huge advantage for the player who controls a large number of buildings.
To gain such an advantage, a player may put more value on monopolies where housing is cheaper. Acquiring such an advantage may also affect how a player builds, for example, limiting the use of hotels, so as to keep control over as many houses as possible. (The effect of such manipulation can be so powerful, it has been addressed by adding a rule to some official Monopoly™ tournaments.)
A strategic Monopoly™ player MUST be completely familiar with the housing shortage rule and practice its use in various game scenarios. Strategies will include, as mentioned, refraining from building hotels to maintain control over as large a number of houses as possible, or building a hotel so as to free houses for other monopolies. Understanding the rule must also take into account that buildings that are desired by more than one player must be auctioned. This rule may affect how a player sells buildings back to the Bank, since the process will inherently subject the building to potential auction. A player may want to sell a building so as to make it available to move it to a more advantageous monopoly. It may be useful in such a process to sell buildings one at a time, so as to maintain control over a potential auction.
