Foreclosure: Bad Feng Shui?

Over the past several months like never before in my twelve year career as a Feng Shui Master have I been asked for counseling on behalf of both owners and real estate brokers on how to expedite the sale of houses that have been sitting on the market for many months and also, on part of the concern buyers, how good it is for them to buy a house that has seen foreclosures issues. nnThese are treacherous and touchy territories— and in all cases the answer is not strictly straightforward for at times dealing with deep and drastic changes such as facing a foreclosure on a home or property brings to surface aspects of Feng Shui that one has only studied in theory and the intricacies of the way it effects one’s life is just simply very surprising-- but I’ll attempt to answer these concerns as best I can to try and help give some possible clarity.nnConsidering the current real estate situation where more and more houses are being placed on the market seemingly by the minute, to have good Feng Shui or bad Feng Shui can make a significant difference in how fast or slow the process goes. This doesn’t mean that a good Feng Shui house can sell significantly above its market value, but it will sell faster than those with bad Feng Shui. And those that will be left on the market are those that will need the most “fixing.” The good news is that fixing can be done both before or after the sale. This is the “all purpose” of Feng Shui, how to fix properties that have bad Feng Shui and make it good. Since most houses are still not designed following Feng Shui principles (really, haven’t we learned yet?) there is room for improvements. Lots of it.nnAnd this leads us to the crucial question: With all these available houses–- many of which are in short sale or foreclosure-- how safe is it to buy any of them? And how do we buy a property that isn’t going to be bad for us?nnThe answer is: you really do not know unless you take a qualified Feng Shui Master with you when scouting for property. nnI know all too well the emotional attachment that people can feel towards a property they like, especially if it comes with a very convenient sticker price. For many years I have conducted pre-purchase consultations with clients who were familiar with my work and knew the advantages they were going to obtain by following my recommendations-– or the disadvantages of not following them, so that they will trust me enough to understand that if I said “not good” it meant “not good.”nnSo, in this vastly populated market, how do we know what’s good and what’s not?nnThe rule of thumb in the past has ALWAYS been, “If a house is in foreclosure it means it has some deeply rooted Feng Shui problems.” Such problems have caused the previous owners to be vulnerable (to the state of the economy, poor decision making, drop in income, you name it) so that their Qi (life-force energy) hasn’t been supported and/or neither has their livelihood. I often heard it referred to as the “previous owner’s curse--” and prospect buyers would shy away from buying a real estate property fearing the “bad karma” created from purchasing a house where somebody else had suffer a misfortune (i.e. a foreclosure). As romantic as this notion may seem, people’s energy can be released from a building very easily. That’s not the real problem.nnBut if the reason of the misfortune is rooted in Feng Shui problems, such problems will remain and effect occupant after occupant until the Feng Shui is corrected. Now, there are a variety of situations-- some problems are caused by the design, some by the orientation, some by the lay-out-- so addressing each individually is rather impossible in an article such as this. However, I can tell you briefly that the solution can be as simple as switching the bedrooms, or as complicated as gutting the entire building (luckily this last option is extremely rare). It really depends on what you’re starting with. And the same idea applies to any kind of commercial building, not just residential.nnHowever, if you’re planning to buy a house that has been foreclosed on (or a business that is in trouble), I strongly suggest you also plan to budget for Feng Shui improvements. The budget will be strongly effected by the number of improvements necessary, and these can only be estimated with an on-site view by a well-trained Feng Shui Master. I recommend to have the visit before acquiring the property so that you’ll be able to evaluate the extent of the improvements necessary to turn it from bad to good and to evaluate if it is worth it or if it is better for you to move on to the next building (which may still be foreclosing, but may need less expensive improvements).nnKeeping these things in mind you can still find the best property for your home or business or make that much-desired real estate sale— even in these stressful times.