Summer has finally arrived and not only temperatures run hot. The Real Estate market in New England is especially active at this time of the year, too. However, although many homes go fast, there are always a few that seem to be stuck, often without any obvious reasons when other homes in the neighborhood are selling within days.

In Feng Shui we evaluate a house and its property for sufficient Qi (pronounce “chee”). Qi is the living energy of all beings but also for the land and even a house.

If a house does not sell something is wrong with the Qi of the house:

There is simply not enough Qi: If one comes home after an exhausting day at work, the house is hopefully a source of energy for rejuvenation. After a good night’s sleep one should feel rested and fresh, geared up for new challenges. However, if one feels tired or beaten-up, a deficiency of Qi is likely.

Not enough Qi means the whole land energy is low or depressed. This might happen at a dead end street or bottle neck shaped property. Just as the owner feels tired and uninspired this energetic impression is easily influencing visitors and potential buyers.

On a larger scale, the property itself and the surrounding landscape carry significant patterns of Qi. In Traditional Feng Shui the surrounding characteristics are described with 4 animals: the Tortoise giving protection from the back, the Dragon and Tiger offering support from the sides and the Phoenix opening the view in the front. Additional water in the front optimizes the appearance of the Phoenix.

In this context a slow moving river is seen as an optimal source of renewing energy, not too fast rushing by too quickly, yet not stagnant either. Similar effects can be observed with streets. Slowly moving traffic is beneficial, whereas dead end streets lack the ongoing energy exchange.

The set-up or Qi flow violates some major Feng Shui principles: Violation of major Qi principles are in the line of :

• Clutter in front of the house.
• High obstacles in front of the house (bushs, trees, garages) blocking the Qi flow from the street.
• Abandonment of the front door as the main entry point i.e. no path to the front etc.
• Property opposite of graveyards, hospitals, churches especially with steep towers, police and firestations. All these places often are carrying major amounts of heavy energy, of sorrow and pain and radiate the pattern into the close vicinity.
• Houses at T-crossings with accelerated energy running against it.

Two days ago I passed a house we had looked at 4 years ago ourselves here in Portland. It is a John Calvin Stevens home, a beautiful house itself but next to a high building, very close without an appropriate minimum distance. This house is on the market for the forth time within the last years and always seems to take a while until it has finally found a new owner. However, as long as the invasion of the neighbor building energy and its threat is not resolved, this cycle of unsatisfying ownerships will go on.

The Qi is weak because it is drained: Drained Qi means even though there seems to be sufficient energy, it is taken away again. Reasons might be Geopathic stress (Geo = the earth, pathology = study of illness, Geopathic stress = stress caused by degenerating earth energies), either of the property or of the house itself. These can be major energy grids as well as blockages of the energy flow within the landscape.

There are other obstacles hindering the sale: When a house does not sell we should ask a number of questions:

• Why is the house being sold in the first place? Is it a financially motivated decision, a move for private reasons, etc.
• Do the involved parties agree on this step? We often find that one of the parners is not ready or willing to move etc.
• How long have the owners been there. Is there a special attachment? Once in a while it seems that owners have taken such good care of a house, it does not want to let them go…
• Long lasting memories connected with the house can also block the letting go process and hold back.
• We have also found cases where the energies of former owners or people who died there seem to disturb any success.
• In some cases the land had been used for sacred ceremonies e.g. as a burial ground. These are the most difficult situations. As a practitioner, I always seek permission to deal with these issues first, before imposing any other changes.

Whatever the reason for the “stuck” house not selling might be, here are some ideas on how to work:

• Try to find out what the amount of Qi is. Do people feel exhausted in the house, what are the sleeping patterns? Are the plants doing well? We use specific house energy tools deveoped in Germany to shield a whole building from Qi drains in general, from Geopathic stress but also to bring in additional energy in cases of low Qi levels.
• Important: Make sure the owners are ready to sell. The process is much easier when the people are truly ready to let go and move on.
• Dowsing instruments such as pendulums or European tensors can help to identify obstacles and find the right procedure to overcome them. Use flower essences to enhance the process of separation. Honeysuckle is a remedy to support letting former attachment go. We ourselves use South American and Australian essences which have a number of special flowers addressing stagnation and disturbed energy situations.
• Put a few drops in a room fountain or spray a waterbottle with the chosen remedy around the house. A few days of application is usually sufficient to change the patterns.
• Always searching for the latest technology we are presently using computer technology to change the energy of a space. Our QXCI (Quantum Xerroid Consciousness Interface) biofeedback computer is a radionics device and can be used over distance to regularly send healing impulses to a building to clear it and improve the Qi.
• A tricky topic, but I’d still like to address it: Check for spiritual energies of people who either might have lived in the house, might have died in it or might be connected otherwise with the location. In this case it is helpful to have some experienced assistance.
• Find out about blockages and major energy flows in the close vicinity. These forces are catagorized as elementals, as beings connected with the land, with the plant kingdom or the air and water quality. Major environmental projects such as power lines, roadwork, or major construction sites create ruptures through natural earth meridians and produce land trauma situations.
• Clearing the space is always a good start. The same way a house is cleaned and set up neatly before put on the market, an energetic cleanse with sage is warmly recommended.
• It often helps to find a way to communicate with the house and offer appreciation and acknowledgement for its past function and service. This alone can initiate a shift.
• Call a dowser or energy worker for assistance if you feel you need help.
• Anything increasing the attention to a house helps. That’s why there are colourful “For Sale” signs in front of the house, and sometimes, in addition, at the beginning of a street. Moving objects like kites and flags whirling in the wind draw the attention and pull in with it more Qi. (By the way, there are recommendations within Feng Shui circles that the “For Sale” signs is more effective when placed on the right side of the front door (approaching the door). An explaination might be that the Qi naturally moves about 3/5 towards the right, to the Yang side, the more active side of a space.)