How Can Feng Shui Quickly Change Your Life & The Value of Your Home?

Calgary Real Estate Podcast with Eric Mortimer

You may have heard of the ancient art of feng shui, but do you know what it can do for your life and your home? Today I’ve brought on an expert to explain. How can your home’s exterior improve your health, wealth, and relationships? Feng shui expert Myrna Brown joins us today to explain. First of all, what is feng shui? In Myrna’s words, feng shui is a “way of looking at our physical environments, and seeing how we can manipulate them so that we feel better in them.” As you could imagine, feng shui is a vast subject. So today we’ll just be covering how this ancient art can be applied to the outside of a home. Implementing feng shui into your home can help you when it comes time to list, but it can also benefit you while you’re still living in a property. There are three pillars in feng shui. The first pertains to everything from the curb to your home’s front door. This area is especially critical in real estate because first impressions are vital. Buyers will often drive by a property they’ve seen online to solidify their opinion of it, so a potential buyer’s first impression based on your home’s exterior could determine whether they end up submitting an offer or walking away. But what constitutes a good (or bad) exterior? To start, if a home is obscured by large trees or if the entryway is overly dark, buyers may tend to shy away. Things that look gloomy will make it more difficult for buyers to feel engaged or enlivened by a space. “When you change your space, you can change your life.” Myrna says it’s best to avoid planting a tree in line with the front door or any large, front-facing windows. Instead, she recommends adding lighting and removing excessive foliage to make the home feel more inviting. Curb appeal can make a huge difference in a property’s energy and value. In feng shui, transitional spaces (like that between the curb and front door) should welcome you gently from the outside world back into your home. A property’s exterior can often reflect the transitions a person is going through in their life, and it can also serve as a means of improving those transitions. For example, when Myrna was in high school, her father was nearing retirement and was feeling quite stressed. He was, in her words, trying to block out the world. He allowed a small hedge in front of their home to become wildly overgrown. This sent out a clear message to the world outside of their property: Stay out. It may be subconscious, but people understand such messages when looking at the spaces we encounter in our lives. Interestingly enough, as Myrna’s father proceeded into retirement and his stress levels went down, the hedge began to shrink as well. This is a clear example of how feng shui can impact your attitude and the way you approach what’s happening in your life. When you change your space, you can change your life. If you’d like to know more about what Myrna does, feel free to reach out to her at [phone] or at [e-mail]. And, as always, if you have any other questions or would like more information from me, please give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.