Real Estate Feng Shui: Selling an Empty HouseIn real estate feng shui, an empty house can be easily staged for a quick sale. With just a few items, the house can often be shown to its greatest advantage. Sometimes less is more, especially if the house was previously :filled with furniture, photos, children's toys, and other clutter. The space and dimensions of the house are now visible, and you can enhance the Feng Shui strong points.
Set Up a VignetteYou want to create a place for the buyer to sit down and think about making an offer on the house. The best way to accomplish this is to set up a vignette with a small table and chairs. This will avoid the usual "quick walk through the house and then out the door into the car" pattern. After such a visit, the buyer then has to remember the house from a distance. Rarely can a buyer take away with them how it felt in the house and what particularly appealed to them.Instead, when you give the buyer a place to pause, sit, and discuss the house, it reinforces the welcoming feeling of the house and the strong selling points. The best place for this vignette is in the Buyer area of the house. This strengthens the chi of purchasing the house. The exception to this is if the Buyer gua turns out to be the bathroom, the garage, the laundry room, or some other less desirable room. If that is the case, then simply set up the vignette in the best room in the house. Perhaps it is the great room, or next to a window with the best view, or in a fabulous master suite, or where they can see through to several rooms at once. The location will be your subjective call, and it is a very important decision. This is the room that will help to sell the house. It is the room where the buyer will pause, spend a little extra time, and decide that this is the house for them! A word about the vignette furniture: Dress up the table with a nice cloth. Use chairs that have arms and backs. Nice chairs let the buyer relax and feel taken care of. (Much better than armless folding chairs or stools.) The table does not have to be large, but it should have at least three chairs. Put a vertical holder with the house flyers on the table. This is another incentive to pull the buyer over to this special sales spot. The small effort required to create this vignette in a vacant listing will payoff with an easier sale. You can, of course, recycle this vignette to your next vacant home on the inventory. Enhance Curb AppealMaking the mouth of chi/front door welcoming is even more important when it comes to staging a vacant house. Use all your Feng Shui techniques which we have discussed.Here's a quick review: Clear the path to the front door so that it is wide and inviting. If possible, add another stepping-stone path directly from the street to the entrance to bring the chi and the buyer straight up to the door. Make locating the house as easy as possible by using large, readable house numbers on a contrasting background. Provide a fresh front-door mat, as large as the opening. Use a doubleŽsize mat for a double-door entry. The front door needs to be visible and welcoming. Give it a fresh coat of paint or stain so that it pops! And don't forget that the "For Sale" sign is best placed in the front right corner of the lot, the Buyer's area. None of these suggestions requires maintenance by the seller or yourself Once they are set in place, they can assist an empty house to sell. Emphasize the Room of First ImpressionThe principle of emphasis on the room of first impression still holds true in an empty house.Pick the best room, the one that will sell the house. Lay down a path to the room of first impression with a runner rug. Or hang a single piece of art or a mirror on the wall in the direction you want the buyer to go. If this is truly the best room in the house, then you may place your vignette of furniture here to provide a place for the buyer to sit and appreciate the house from this vantage point. Energize the Buyer AreaDon't forget this important area for Feng Shui enhancement. This is the place to charge up the energy to bring the buyer in, even in an uninhabited house.Use wind chimes to call in the buyer in the right front corner of the house, up under the eaves outside. In the right front corner on the inside of the house, you can use another chime or a round, faceted crystal to enliven the energy for buyers. This is also an area to place a flag on the house, especially if the house sits in a cul-de-sac. If the front right section of the house is missing, such as in an L-shaped house, then complete the missing gua by placing large rocks, a birdbath, or a tree at the missing intersection-that is, where the two walls of the house would have met had the house been squared off. Use Paint to Enliven a RoomAs you are well aware from your real estate experience, painting can always make a house look and feel fresh and clean.Our Feng Shui tip in this regard is to use the paint where it will do the most good. Paint accent walls in small, boxy rooms to open them up. Use a light, bright trim color on the house to make it feel larger and give it a lift for curb appeal. Paint the front door a contrasting, brighter, or deeper tone than the trim and body of the house. If the seller is willing to commit to painting, then make it really work to sell the house as quickly and easily as possible. Leave this page Selling An Empty House
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