The right home for you
> It's better to find out if a property suits you, feng shui-wise, before putting down hard-earned cash on the place
THESE days, more housebuyers are seeking the services of a feng shui practitioner before selecting or buying a house. It was not always like this.
In the early days, most housebuyers would simply buy the property, then get a feng shui practitioner to audit and optimise its feng shui potential.
But sometimes, we encounter such bad feng shui that no amount of renovation or cure can address it, and by then, it's too late as the property has already been paid for.
Here, I will explain what a feng shui practitioner does during a house selection process.
The first step is to evaluate the property, especially whether the surrounding form is supportive of it.
Let's say the house is a Period 8 house that faces Northeast 1 (NE1). Such a house is favourable for money and people matter.
However, it is auspicious only if the facing side has water, real or otherwise, for example a lake or a field. And the sitting side has a mountain, again real or otherwise, for example a hill or building.
Or at least that the facing and sitting sides are relatively flat.
However, if the facing side faces a mountain that is near the house, and the sitting side faces a lake, then the good quality of the house is negated by the inappropriate external form.
Here's another example of inappropriate form.
Suppose at the sitting side of the house is an empty piece of land that is at a lower level than the house. And there is a fast flowing river on the left hand side of the house when looking out of the facing side.
Furthermore, the right side of the house is at a higher level and there is a taller building sitting on it.
The empty land at the back infers a lack of support meaning that the occupants, especially the head of the house, lack support in their endeavours.
The left side is associated with the male and head of the household while the fast-flowing river suggests money and other problems, more so if the water flows away from the facing side.
The combination implies that the head of the household will be facing business challenges, or even ill health, that he may not be able to recover from.
To make matters worse, the higher land and taller building on the right means that the lady of the house is dominant and controlling, which is not a favourable situation in most cultures.
Ideally, you want a house that is supported at the back, strong on the Dragon side (left when looking out) and weaker on the Tiger (or right) side.
Next we look at the facing direction of the house. Different facing directions in different periods produce a house of different quality.
What we want to guard against especially are houses that have facing directions that are inauspicious, for example facing the Dead and Emptiness Lines.
Some practitioners believe that you can alter the facing by tilting the door but a more certain remedy involves changing the entire facing of the house.
But that can burn a big hole in your pocket and makes the aesthetics of the house unappealling.
While checking the facing side, I will also check if the facing direction of the house is beneficial to the house owners using their bazi. In Chinese astrology, a beneficial facing can boost your luck while a bad one can make matters worse.
In addition, we need to look for external ‘sha’, for example, high tension pylons that are located too close for comfort.
Some shas are acceptable as they can be blocked using costeffective measures. But some, like bad smells from a lake with rotting vegetation, cannot be blocked, and as such, the property is not a good buy.
Finally, the internal layout and internal form of the house need to be looked into also.
If the spaces in the house, for example, the main door, bedrooms, kitchen, study, etc, are in the auspicious sectors of the house, then the house-buyer will not have to do much renovation works and, in the process, save a lot of money.
You certainly do not want to spend a million ringgit on a house and then spend another half a million to “get it right”.
Other things to look out for include the amount of good natural lighting in the house and if the properly is well-ventilated. If not, then money need to be spent to make it good.
Ceiling or beam height is another important aspect. If they are too low, the occupants will feel oppressed. But there is not a lot that can be done to correct this.
There are two major benefits to using feng shui in selecting a house. The first is obvious. You get a house with good feng shui. The second, you save a lot in renovation cost!
Henry Fong is an electronic engineer by qualification and he approaches feng shui with the same analytical and investigative approach he uses in his training. Readers can write to him at lifestyle.henryfong@ thesundaily.com.