Luxury Real Estate

By Perry & Co.

You’ve gotten the call and it goes something like this: “We’re thinking about putting our house on the market to see what will happen. We’re not sure if we really want to sell right now because of the market, but we want to know what it could sell for.” As a real estate agent, this is a call you love to get – an opportunity to work with new or former clients and show them your expertise at pricing, reviewing their home versus the competition, showing them your marketing savvy and implementation and your follow-up – and that’s all before you really go to work: negotiating that sales contract. But if they are sitting on the fence: “We’ll sell if we can get our price,” they might not really be ready to sell. And, you could take a listing that may linger.

Every real estate agent I know has their own determining factors on whether or not they want to take a listing. One such factor you may not have thought of is a Feng Shui analysis with the homeowner. Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese practice of object placement in an environment to change the energy of the space and ultimately of the people using the space; in this case, a Feng Shui analysis’ purpose is to create positive energy which leads to a home sale.

The first step in this kind of analysis is for the Feng Shui practitioner to ask the sellers some questions about their goals for selling their home. Are they looking for a quick sale so they can move before the start of the school year? Will one person have to move first and settle somewhere else while other members of the family stay put until the house sells? Are they downsizing or upsizing due to family circumstances? All of the answers will help the Feng Shui practitioner make recommendations that will help the sellers to reach their specific goals.

A most important aspect of a Feng Shui analysis with a seller is to ascertain their connectedness to their space and their willingness to say good-bye to the house as a whole, and/or to each room specifically. This process – whether formal and vocal or informal and silent – is very personal and can be deeply moving for owners but it helps them to begin to see themselves in a new way: as sellers of the home instead of its owners. New owners will be invited and welcomed in as the space is cleared; the process begins with this good-bye. It can be a very powerful experience for all family members.

A Feng Shui practitioner can give agents and sellers some guidelines for detaching from a home, but there aren’t any right ways of saying good-bye. The process should feel natural and comfortable. Some ideas include:

• having each family member write a poem, sing a song or make a drawing about an experience of being in the home and sharing that with other family members
• lighting candles and saying a blessing
• inviting friends over for a farewell party, announcing your intention of leaving the space but maintaining your circle of friends.

Once the owners have said their good-byes, there are space-clearing measures and Feng Shui practices that will help potential buyers to feel welcomed into the space.