Through my years of working in real estate, I have often shown properties and have heard buyers say that a certain characteristic of the house does not exhibit good feng shui.  Feng Shui broadly defined is an ancient Chinese system of aesthetics believed to use the laws of  Heaven and Earth to help improve life by receiving positive Ch’i or energy.  I have heard all kinds of talk about the positioning of the front of the house or the front stairway, whether there is a turn in the stairway, what is the shape of the lot (I have my own personal story about this which I will share with you at a later time), and on and on.

When a buyer feels that certain aspects of the house present bad feng shui, he/she may walk away from the house and never return.  I am certainly not a feng shui expert by any means, but I find the whole concept fascinating.  In fact, if you read anything about feng shui, it actually makes sense.  It’s about establishing balance and harmony within your home, your office, your life, etc.  For example, one of the feng shui concepts involves not having clutter in your home.  This makes perfect sense.  If you think about it, clutter does disrupt balance and harmony….it is overwhelming and can often serve to distract or disrupt you from achieving what you set out to achieve. 

In researching the subject of feng shui, I found an incredibly pertinent article called, “What to look for in a new home or your present one?”  And I wanted to share a few of the highlights and tips with you…..

• Look at the history of the home and its previous occupants.  If the home has had many owners who only held it for a short time and the fate of the previous owners has not been good – divorce, bankruptcy, health problems - it may not be good news.  That being said, sometimes a high turnover rate can be the result of a house having such good energy that nearly every owner has become successful in a fairly short period of time of living there and has gone on to bigger and better houses.  
• The back garden should be larger than the front, look for balance.  Most people are indeed looking for a home with a larger backyard than front, and this supports that theory.
• When buying a new house, try to find one with a regular shaped property like a rectangle or square. Avoid properties that have odd looking designs.  (This is where my story comes in.)
• Take a look at the ground around the property; a good house with good energy will have healthy trees and plants around and plenty of wildlife.
• Avoid a house with a straight road running towards the front of the house or at the end of a T-junction. 
• Stay away from swimming pools, gazebos, patios, ponds or any other structure in the garden that dwarf the house; try and do everything in proportion to the house, garden or room.
• Avoid having a long narrow path leading to your front door and instead have a windy path which is not straight. Do not plant trees too close to the front door as this won’t allow the Ch’i to freely enter the home.
• Try not to choose a house with a spiral staircase as it turns positive energy into negative.
• Stay away from properties riddled with beams; they carry a lot of weight and are disruptive to the world of feng shui.
• If you can see the back door from the front door in a straight line, ideally you should place something in between – or if there is a door, close it.

The good news about many of these tips is that if the house exhibits some of these characteristics, they can be rectified by often inexpensive and easy remedies.  What are your thoughts after reading some of these tips?  (And for even more tips, click here.)  Are you a believer in the feng shui of real estate?  I can’t wait to hear….