Therefore you cannot come up with a solution. You are trying to use American norms and logic to a problem that defies your understanding.

"Does it mean that getting a wife must be strictly timed to coincide with getting a house?"
Essentially yes. A man must have his own dwelling so that he may start a family. The "timing", structure, and living arrangements vary from culture to culture.
In this country, some parents can't get their 30 year old sons off the couch and away from "Call of Duty" long enough to get dressed and get a job. In the third world, children are often put to work as early as possible. My family traditions are full of such tales.

The "master of the house" if he's widowed varies from culture to culture. Growing up, I knew that a widowed man often had a number of suitors all clamoring to be the "lady of the house". A wifeless house had advantages of women willing to help out and do the "women's work" to show their suitability to take the place of the former wife. Again, this varies from culture to culture. However, I read once that statistically, after the age of 30, widows tend to outnumber widowers, with the gap increasing by age, As widows get older, the pool of potential second husbands tends to dwindle.

"while marriage assures that the child bride has a house"
There are no assurances in life, especially in third world cultures. In some societies, women cannot own property. If her husband dies, she may loose her home. Childbirth is difficult and often dangerous. In impoverished cultures, infant and wife mortality can be much higher than you would be used to. Even in this country, death during childbirth is rare, but not unheard of. An old friend of mine died in such a way. She was healthy and by all accounts had a normal pregnancy. Despite this, she passed away due to cardiac arrest during labor. She was 28.


I have my terms confused in the case of "bridewealth". I stand corrected. However, the two terms are related, as shown in this article: https://anthropologyguide.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/bride-wealth-and-dowry.html

"Dowry" is an old word, while "bridewealth" (also known as "bride price") seems to be a newer term.
"Bride price can be compared to dowry, which is paid to the groom, or used by the bride to help establish the new household and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage."
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bride_price