Feng Shui Tips When House-Hunting Part II: Internal Environment
So you found a few properties for sale in the neighborhood that you like, located in an environment with auspicious Feng Shui energy. It’s now time to check out the internal forms of these properties and select the one that will be most supportive to you and your family.
As mentioned in Part I, you’d ideally want to have a Feng Shui assessment done on a home prior to making an offer on it. Including Feng Shui as part of the inspection process may not only save you thousands of dollars in repair and renovation costs but it could very well prevent future heartaches and regret. When it comes to Feng Shui, we must let go of the “we can fix” mentality. It’s a much wiser decision to avoid a home with negative forms than trying to “fix” the home afterward. Some negative forms are simply not fixable and worse, they may very well bring harm to the residents’ health, finances, and relationships overtime.
The screening out process requires attention to details and an expert eye. I suggest that you pore over images of the properties online first to screen out those with obvious negative features before visiting the ones that make the cut. If you can afford to add more dollars into your budget, I highly recommend that you hire a consultant to accompany you to open houses to save you from an incorrect assessment. It takes practice to train your eye and your mind to see a property the way a Feng Shui consultant does.
For those who can’t afford to hire a professional Feng Shui consultant every time they go to an open house, I’ve provided a checklist for the most basic Feng Shui guideline on what to look out for inside a property before you make an offer to buy.
1.) The Qi flow at entry
Qi is the invisible energy that enters a home through its main door to circulate and interact with the surrounding. Going in, what do you immediately see? Stand in the doorway for a couple of seconds and look around. Notice what you feel upon entering a space. Is the view directly from the door looking in obstructed by a structure such as a pillar, a staircase, a door, a corner of a wall? Does the space feel expansive or restrictive? Now, imagine you are the energy, and the house is the container. Where would you like to go? Positive qi likes to meander and circulate freely without being rushed or confined. If you feel like you’d like to head straight to the back door, the stairs, or worse, exit as soon as you enter, it’s a sign that the qi is being rushed by the space. What affects the qi of a space affects its occupants. For example, a maze-like structure brings confusion and lack of clarity to the occupants.
2.) Shape of the building
As you walk around, notice the shape of the space. An ideal living space that promotes balance, growth, and stability is one designed with symmetry and no missing corners. Each direction in Feng Shui represents different aspects of life, and a missing sector, especially in one of the cardinal directions, indicates an absence of that aspect represented by the direction. For example, a house with a missing South sector may negatively affect the occupants' mood, as South is the direction associated with joy and happy events. A square or a rectangular-shaped home is best as all its sectors are intact, whereas a U-shaped, an L-shaped, or a triangle-shaped one would be missing one or more sectors. The best way to check out the shape of a home, if the outline is not too obvious seen from the outside, is to look at its floor plan. For example, you can see in the mostly rectangular floor plan below, that the property has all its sectors. In the absence of a floor plan (I wish more real estate agents provide them at open houses), take a walk outside around the property for a better visual. You can also use Google satellite for a bird’s eye view of the property. Besides the building itself, the plot of the land and the main rooms inside the building should also be mostly square or rectangular in shape.
3.) A peaceful center
Avoid homes with stairs, bathroom, or kitchen located right in the center. The center is the heart of the home in Feng Shui and should be kept calm. An active structure such as a staircase in the center disturbs the Qi flow and may adversely affect the health and emotional state of the residents. If the center is a usable space, keep it open and free of clutter so that Qi can flow and circulate to other sectors of the house. A floor plan again will be most helpful as you can pinpoint the exact geometric center by drawing two diagonal lines from the opposite corners.
4.) Ceilings and beams
Now that you’re in the center of the property, look up around you. Ceilings should ideally be flat and even. While rounded ceilings are okay, avoid cathedral or slanted ceilings, as Qi doesn’t circulate evenly. "Perfectly vaulted ceilings" are not great, Feng Shui-wise. Exposed beams, though often considered a unique architectural detail of a home, are seen as a negative feature in Feng Shui, a “poison arrow” with harmful downward energy that can affect one’s health, especially narrowly spaced beams that resemble blades. Whether structural or decorative, existing beams are not the easiest to remove, so it's best to avoid them in the first place. If you happen to have beams above your bed or couch, take note where the invisible downward energy hits you and observe if you often experience injuries, aches or pains in that area, and avoid sleeping directly under them if possible.
5.) Ask for the home’s history
It’s always worthwhile to ask the seller’s agent for reasons why a house is on the market and if there’s any interesting history related to a property’s previous and current owners. A home that may have passed your Feng Shui check list will still carry “predecessor qi” from its previous occupants, which can linger for a long period and affect the new occupants. You’d want to choose a place that has potentials of growth from “happy qi” and avoid one with “sadness qi”.
6.) Exit view
As inside, so outside. Before you leave a site, stand in the doorway again for a couple of seconds and check out your view as you exit the property. I’ve mentioned this in my previous post as part of what to avoid in the external environment, but it’s worth repeating here. Is there a tree, an electrical pole, or a lamp post located directly across within the width of the door blocking the view? How about a sharp angle from a nearby property that looks like it’s pointing directly at the door? If so, avoid this property unless you can remove the object or relocate the door, as such an obstruction (called a “piercing heart sha” or a “poison arrow”) can bring obstacles in health and career.
Familiarize yourself with the above guideline, which has been organized in the order of entry to exit, so that you can quickly do your assessment while at an open house.
Once you find a home that satisfies the basic Feng Shui requirements, it’s time to engage the services of a Feng Shui consultant who can tell you more about the home’s natal energy, which is invisible to the eye, and how it interacts with current and future influences as well as with the surrounding land forms. Getting a proper assessment done before you continue with the buying process is one of the most worthwhile investments you can give to yourself and your family.
If you're looking for a Feng Shui consultant to help you with selecting the right home to buy in Los Angeles, Ventura, or Orange County areas, contact me here for a quote.
*This post was previously published at FunctionalFengShui.com
