A surge in Chinese investment in American real estate has given agents a new puzzle to solve: the principles of feng shui and numerology.
The realization that these principles have a strong influence on Chinese buyers has led to a subtle swift in the marketing strategies of not only agents, but builders and developers also. From setting aside homes and apartments with specific numeric addresses for Chinese buyers to organizing feng shui ceremonies before laying a building’s foundation stone, the developers are using every trick in the book to woo their prospective clients. Many real estate agencies have even teamed up with construction companies to introduce housing developments targeting specifically Chinese buyers.
Feng Shui is basically about ensuring the flow of positive energy in a house. A building’s design should be such that energy not enters into it, but stays there and makes the surroundings feel lively. It is not necessary that all the feng shui principles should be followed right from the building’s construction. Most of the “bad” feng shui influences can be fixed by making small changes in the house’s design. So before you put the house on the market and go out looking for Chinese buyers, it is wise to invest a little in making the property feng shui-friendly.
Numerology can also influence a Chinese buyer’s decision. For example, if a home or apartment has an address with the number 4, it’s likely to attract a lot less Chinese buyers than those having the number 8.
What to do when a home’s “bad” feng shui can’t be fixed at all? The real estate agents can still sell it to Chinese buyers, especially to those who are looking for a bargain deal from the investment perspective. However, the agents would need to focus a lot on explaining the advantages of purchasing a home with bad feng shui. A Chinese buyer would be more interested in knowing how much increase in home equity he can hope for over the next few years.
Learning the basics is easy. For example, everybody knows that a cluttered house can’t have positive energy flowing freely so it should be decluttered and look clean and specious. However, mastering Feng Shui could sometimes be difficult, especially for those who have no prior experience. Instead of investing lots of energy and time in learning a completely new subject, it is better to hire professional feng shui consultants to do the job. If you are targeting Chinese buyers, you should conduct not only a home inspection for the purpose of checking the property’s condition, but also a feng shui inspection with help of a consultant. A little investment may prove to be a major gain.
Though, feng shui would not be the only deciding factor for Chinese buyers, there is no harm learning the basics and tweaking a home’s design a little bit to suit these principals.
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