This is a continuation of the Wednesday Series: Can [this] sell houses? Read the previous 2 posts here:

• Buy This Home and Get a New TV + Free Trip to Hawaii
• Can Brad Pitt Sell Houses?

I recently spent 2 weeks at home in Taiwan for Taiwanese New Year (Gong Si Fa Tsai to everyone!) and it’s always interesting to go back because the values of both California and Taiwan differ a lot.

There is no staging in Taiwan except for model homes. Agents show homes vacant or cluttered and people are used to it (The houses are tiny there, we all live very cluttered lives). Homes are a lot smaller and storage is always a hot topic in Asian homes. Feng Shui is also big, not only for people who are alive and also with people who are dead. People often jokes that it’s more expensive to live in Taiwan as a dead person than a live one since feng shui is a key ingredient in selecting an appropriate plot for every individual.

Feng Shui, fad or true?

(photo by Room With A View)
Feng Shui has always been sort of trendy. Feng Shui has become a trendy thing to hear about in the staging field. As I progress in the industry, I often encounter people who are on both sides. There are even publications on feng shui for cats, it’s really difficult to take something like so seriously. Some believe in staging with feng shui, some think it’s a sign of desperation.

But does feng shui really sell houses?

Luopan compass used in feng shui
(photo by musicvisionary2000)

Feng Shui expert Carole Provenzale told me that “Feng Shui is literally translated to mean “Wind/Water” and its methods seek to change the energy flow in a space to a positive one; to make a home feel warm and inviting and give it a sense of peace and harmony. Often times Realtors will work with Feng Shui Consultants to get that home off the market and get those moving trucks moving.” In our conversations, Carole told me about the experiences of her friend, a real estate agent in Florida, used Feng Shui to sell her home off successfully after it was sitting on the market day after day. Now her friend practices feng shui while selling her listings and they have work wonders for her.

In a Realty Times article, real estate Feng Shui master and former Realtor Suzee Miller believes that Feng Shui principles can overcome just about any environmental negative, except one. “No house will sell if it is overpriced,” she says.

In an Miami Herald’s interview about Feng Shui, Michael Payne, host of the HGTV channel’s Designing for the Sexes, said some of his interior design clients insist on feng shui rules that make little sense to him, including a bed marooned in the middle of a room so it wouldn’t face a door. “I find it annoying,” he said of feng shui. “Those that dabbled [in it] have fallen by the wayside.”

What do you think?

Feel free to share your thoughts at the Comment area below. I would love to hear about them! Just scroll down and that white blank box is it!

Also, read Carole’s Feng Shui guest post next Thursday!