By Kathryn Weber
Your surroundings can have a huge impact on your life – to the point of affecting your personal happiness, your prosperity, even the opportunities that come to you in your life — thus making your choice of home a very important one.
Because most of the important moments in our lives occur in our houses, the house itself becomes more than just four walls where we eat and sleep. That’s why careful consideration is called for if you are thinking about purchasing another home.
So what do you look for when you are considering purchasing a new home?
It comes down to two things: the tangible and the intangible. The tangible items include price, location, size, and condition. The intangible includes considerations such as location on a street, how the home is situated on the lot, its relationship to other buildings or homes, how the home flows inside, and situations such as whether the former occupants were ill, in financial trouble, etc.
These are the types of considerations that are taken into account when you want to assess the feng shui of a home. Of course, these are not all of the elements that make up a home with good feng shui, but these are some of the important considerations.
Hopefully, this will serve as a guide for helping you select a home that is right for you and your family.
1. Buy a new house or “successful” house.
A new home does not have a history, making these the optimal choice. However, if you are looking at a preowned home, buy one from someone who is moving into a bigger house, got a huge promotion and is moving, or has won the lottery and is buying a villa in Tuscany. Then, you are buying into good feng shui and positive energy.
Houses that are for sale from a divorce, a foreclosure, or where there is a serious illness, or other affliction are not the best choice. To purchase a home such as this can mean that you are buying those problems too. How so? The house might be the problem. Or, there might be a landscape or topographical element causing the difficulty. It’s best to avoid these kinds of homes.
2. Buy high or level ground.
Houses that are situated on the side of a hill or where the back slopes away from the house are “losing ground.” Better also to buy a house where the lot is wider at the back than the front. Also, try to buy a regular-shaped lot. Square or rectangle shaped lots are especially good.
3. The inside story.
Make sure bedrooms are not over a garage, kitchen, laundry room, or open space below. Also be sure there are no bathrooms over a dining area or kitchen. This can cause illness in the house. Look at the arrangement of bedrooms to bathrooms so that beds won’t share a common wall with a toilet.
4. Get support.
It’s best for land to either be level or have a rise at the back of the house. Land that falls away at the back of the house creates loss and difficulties getting recognition and promotion. If the house has a building or a hill at its back, then it is supported.
5. Open up.
If the house faces open land or has a wide, open area in front of it, then it has the “bright hall effect.” This is extremely auspicious. Think of the White House in Washington with the large expanse of lawn in the front or the front of the grand Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina.
Make sure the house is not overwhelmed by landscaping. If there is a tree too close to the house, especially if it is in line with the front door, this is not good and will prevent opportunities for the homeowner. Consider removing the tree. Likewise, if plants and shrubs look like they’re taking over the house (either planted too closely or growing on the walls), consider removing these as well and replanting elsewhere. A house should not be smothered by the landscaping. Dead trees are another “dead” giveaway that the house has declining chi.
6. Look both ways before buying.
What’s to the right and left of the house? Is there a house or building that seems to impose itself on this house? If the house or the land on your left is higher, this is good, as it is tapping the dragon energy. It is even more fortunate if the house to your left (as you look out of the house) is in the East. Is there a house with a pointed roof, a corner of the home pointed at your front door, etc., or aimed at the house?
Be sure to look at the approach to the house. Is it in a cul-de-sac? If the road ends at a straight line to the house, this is not good. Also, houses with a road behind and in front of the house suffer, and corrections can’t be made for these. Long straight driveways that end at the house, or roads that stop at the house, are another problem, but can be corrected with plants or mirrors.
7. What’s the situation?
The house should be situated on the lot correctly, which means it should not be set back behind the half-way line of the lot. It is better to sit a little forward in the lot than too far back. If the house is set further toward the back of the lot, it will always be in a “defensive” position and this can create problems in succession. Better to have a big backside. (wink)
8. What’s in the Southwest and Northwest?
These are the two most important directions in a home. The Northwest should never have an open flame, such as from a gas stove or fireplace. If there is one there, move on to another house. This is feng shui taboo. To have a home such as this is to invite severe difficulties for the man of the house.
Also, look at the SW; this is the position of the woman or mother of the house. If there is a storeroom or bathroom located here, there could be marital difficulties and unhappiness. Consult with a feng shui practitioner about this if you just love the house, but it has trouble in the SW corner.
Good luck with the purchase of your new home!
