Talk:NPC/@comment-76.235.190.250-20120820013709/@comment-97.120.63.14-20120829033113

Have you tried using the query and left clicking to ensure the housing is suitable?

It requires a big enough house, a chair, table and a torch (you can use other things to fill the requirements, but these are the easiest to get), so make sure each house has those.

Once you have freed the mechanic (or the goblin), and you have an open house, you should just have to wait a little while to have them move in. If you stand near the house or the NPC they won't be able to teleport in, so you may want to have somewhere a few screens away you can safely wait (or else go adventuring in the world to kill time).