I recently did a consultation for a large apartment complex in Alhambra, CA. In this particular case my “client” was the real estate investment company who had just bought the complex rather than an individual client occupying only one of the units (as a tenant). Concerned about the predominant presence of a strong Asian community located there, my real estate investment client wanted to ensure that all “cultural requirements” were addressed during the renovations of the entire property (which included four buildings and 162 units in all).
So, you might ask, is the Feng Shui of a property someone is buying for investment purposes only (a.k.a. business gain) important? After all, the investors do not plan to live there, right?
The answer is “Yes! It is very important”. Often, what we attribute to poor management are instead poor Feng Shui issues.
When you acquire a property and you are planning to derive financial income from it, the Feng Shui of that property is also just as important.
If it is rental space (residential or commercial alike), making sure the property has good Feng Shui will assure that your tenants will always do well, and hence be able to pay their rent, reduce turn-over and be able to maintain market value. In addition, experience shows us that buildings with good Feng Shui need less maintenance because things don’t break down as much (with less headaches and expenses for the landlord). So, as you can see you can have good karma and good R.O.I. too.
If the property has good Feng Shui, your tenants will feel very comfortable in the space and will stay longer (minimizing your turn-over). Moreover, when these tenants leave, the amiable energy of the property will naturally attract more tenants faster than if the property didn’t have good Feng Shui.
Wouldn’t you say these are all valuable benefits for an investment property?
In my long career as a Feng Shui Master I have consulted numerous times for people looking to rent new spaces for both residential and commercial, and I noticed that the properties remaining vacant have often bad Feng Shui. And what does a “good” building manager do when there are vacant spaces in their building? They lower the rent to keep all the units occupied. And thou it is a standard practice, it also results in loss of income for the landlord.
It also doesn’t solve the underlying problem of the building itself, and so though people do move in, they then either aren’t happy there or do poorly and run out of funds — and end up moving out or worse, staying for free. Which, again, results in a loss of income for the landlord. This is not a management problem, it is a Feng Shui problem.
So, what did I do for my current investment company client to ensure this does not happen to them?
I gave them some sound Feng Shui recommendations on how to enhance the property overall from a Feng Shui perspective to raise the energy of all four buildings using colors, materials, water, and some minor structural improvements that will ensure not only the wellness of their occupants, but also the success of this particular investment. And if they pair this up with a good marketing team, I expect units in this complex will never be vacant for long.