I have an idea.
How about having ONE apartment PER account? And each new character STARTS in the apartment and NOT the newbie grounds.
(I guess it should be one apt. per side per account)
And have drawers and other furnitures 'work' like a bank or a backpack so you can store things inside, since just putting it on the ground will make it go away. (or fix this so they don't delete themselves)
I think this would make things easier on the serverside and make it easier on the player's side as well.
e.g. All of the Engineer stuff my MP gets can be given to my Engi without the aid of others.
Or this is another idea. Have a postal service. So you can write 'e-mails' to other people and/or send packages to that person. For example, if I am in Rome and my friend is in Tir and I want to send that person cash or an item I found, just walk up to some kind of a terminal and put in his id and press a button and he will get it (with a message saying 'You've got mail!') There is a MMORPG with this feature and it's pretty nice. (you can send packages to your other characters as well, making muling much easier)
Just a thought.