According to the Auction.com and Juwai.com, it is going to be a lot easier for Chinese buyers to purchase American real estate online. The number of Feng Shui aware buyers looking at U.S. property is about to increase substantially.
Read the press release here:
SHANGHAI and IRVINE, Calif., May 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Juwai.com, the No. 1 Chinese international property portal, and Auction.com, the leading online real estate marketplace, have signed a partnership that will bring American commercial real estate auctions to investors from China.
The agreement will see US real estate listings from Auction.com advertised on Juwai.com in Chinese, where they will be immediately accessible to Juwai.com’s 2.6 million monthly Chinese-speaking users – in mainland China and around the world.
Juwai.com will also use its team of 15 journalists to develop content that educates Chinese consumers on the real estate auction process.
Initially, the partnership will focus on commercial properties – multi-family units, hotels, retail and office buildings – listed for sale on Auction.com. But given the high level of interest in US residential properties from Chinese buyers, residential homes will likely be added to the mix as well.
Juwai.com has signed similar international partnerships with LuxuryPortfolio.com, LuxuryHomes.com and The Real Estate Channel, and Chinese partnerships with China’s number one finance website, jrj.com and most popular luxury shopping portal, VIP.com. For a full list of Juwai.com partners, see: http://list.juwai.com/our-partners
“Over $48 billion in foreign capital was invested in US commercial real estate in 2014, and China was second only to Canada in the amount of CRE investment,” said Auction.com CEO and Co-Founder Jeffrey Frieden. “Our strategy has always been to leverage the global reach of the Internet to deliver the largest number of prospective buyers for our sellers. So we’re excited to partner with Juwai.com, which has the largest audience of Chinese international property buyers, and will help us effectively target Chinese-speaking investors in mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and even in the US.”
Simon Henry, co-CEO of Juwai.com, said:
“Auction.com will help us give Chinese buyers more of what they are looking for, exclusive commercial listings that are accessible to them online – in China and in their own language.
“Chinese buyers don’t want to be disadvantaged because of their language or physical distance from the US. We help educate cross-border buyers by providing access and information on global real estate buying practices.
“Auction.com is a great addition to our global partners who understand the value of international buyers.
“Real estate auctions are new to most Chinese, and we believe they will embrace this new opportunity when they learn more about it.”
ABOUT AUCTION.COM
Auction.com, LLC, is the nation’s leading online real estate marketplace. Founded in 2007, the company has sold over $30 billion in residential and commercial real estate assets. Auction.com has over 900 employees and headquarters in Irvine and Silicon Valley,California as well as offices in Austin and Plano, Texas, Atlanta, Denver, New York and Miami. Visit www.auction.com for more information.
ABOUT JUWAI.COM
Juwai.com is the recent winner of the “most influential international property site in China 2014″ award from the country’s peak e-commerce body. As the No. 1 Chinese international property portal, Juwai.com receives 2.6 million monthly visits from Chinese-speaking consumers in 315 cities in China and 48 countries around the world. The site showcases 2.5 million real estate listings from 89 countries. The company is headquartered in Shanghai, with offices in Hong Kong. For info or to advertise: http://list.juwai.com.
It is well-known that the Feng Shui for a cul-de-sac home is bad. Though I typically advise against living in such a home, I have figured out how to make lemonade out of lemons (or good Feng Shui out of bad, in this case).
In years past, home builders could charge a premium for homes at the end of cul-de-sacs. With more buyers aware of Feng Shui, that is simply no longer the case.
Unaware buyers may covet a home on a cul-de-sac because it provides a larger lot and reduced drive-through traffic so that children can play. Unfortunately, many of those who have lived in a cul-de-sac home have paid the price in more ways than one.
Basic Feng Shui Advice
When possible, avoid cul-de-sac homes. It’s really that simple.
When I work with home builders, I advise against site plans that include cul-de-sacs, especially in Feng Shui aware areas, because they typically have to reduce their price to sell the homes. Moreover, city planners avoid them because they promote a reliance on cars, as public transportation is more difficult to service these areas.
If you are looking at purchasing a home on a cul-de-sac, I would advise against it because the overwhelming energy you will experience is chaotic and stale.
But what if you already own and live in a cul-de-sac home?
Most of my clients living in cul-de-sac homes came to me experiencing problems making and keeping money and have had poor health. Fortunately, I solved their problems, just as I will for you.
Own a Cul-de-Sac Home? Your Options
If you already live in a home on a cul-de-sac, you have essentially two Feng Shui options:
1. Sell the home, likely to someone who is not aware of Feng Shui.
2. Harness and transform the Feng Shui energy flowing to your home such that it can nourish you rather than deplete you. This isn’t the easy option, but it is sometimes the only option given individual situations.
I am going to focus on the second option so that we can work on some cures to your cul-de-sac Feng Shui.
Negative Chi of Cul-de-Sacs
First, let’s talk about why cul-de-sac homes have such bad Feng Shui.
While any home on a cul-de-sac is bad Feng Shui, the homes in the red area get the fastest moving negative Chi.
Think of a street like a river, where water flows down from a source. Chi (or Qi) is water’s equivalent, flowing down a street from its source toward your cul-de-sac. Chi is Feng Shui energy. Just like water, it can be clean and refreshing or dirty and unhealthy.
Water nourishes while it also erodes. It provides life-giving energy to plants while also slowly eating away at the banks of the river. Chi works in much the same way, as it provides life-giving energy to you in your home, it also erodes your Bagua over time.
As water flows to a dam, it churns chaotically and over time gets stale. Sediment collects, creating mud that grows like a cancer. So, too, does Chi as it flows to a cul-de-sac. While the energy is worst at the home at the end of the cul-de-sac, all of the surrounding homes must share dirty, chaotic and stale energy that erodes at their Baguas over time.
Energy that makes its way into your cul-de-sac home is not calm, refreshing energy that you need to kickstart the creative cycle of your Bagua. Instead, it is fast, chaotic, used up energy that needs to be slowed, regulated and refreshed.
Energy Transformation
If you intend to live in a home at a cul-de-sac (or a home on a T-intersection or dead end), improve its incoming Feng Shui energy much as you would regulate and filter dam water for drinking.
Start by slowing the energy coming at your home. Do this by utilizing landscaping effects such as tall shrubs, walls, fences or even sturdy posts near your front curb (this also helps prevent unsuspecting car drivers from ending up in your living room).
Next, add some water and wind features between the tall curbside landscaping and the doorway. Try utilizing a pond, pool, birdbath, or water fountain. Any calm water feature will do. You could also add a windmill or other moving garden elements. Adding these elements filters and refreshes your incoming Chi.
You can use Feng Shui to protect your home from negative energy by adding strong posts and refresh the energy with a water feature.
Now, create a winding pathway from the cul-de-sac to your front door that navigates its way through the landscaping effects at the curb and through your water or wind features to your doorway. This re-creates the calm flowing river effect, with your new filtration system working to slow and refresh the Chi.
Ensure that your doorway and the front of your home is well-lit. Depending on your home, you may want to paint your door a particular color. These steps attract positive Feng Shui energy.
As I suggest with T-intersection homes, try using a convex Bagua mirror at your doorway to bounce away any negative energy that sneaks through. It doesn’t need to be visible from outside.
Place your convex Bagua mirror above your door on the interior wall facing toward the street. Yes, you won’t actually see the mirror.
Lastly, make sure you have followed all of the steps to Feng Shui the inside of your home according to the Bagua. Doing so will ensure that your career, relationships, wealth, love, health and all other areas of importance are well-nourished by your newly-refreshed Chi.
Next Steps
You deserve to live a life of abundant wealth and health. Make sure that your home is providing for you.
If you run into any problems along the way or are looking for some professional guidance, contact me. I pride myself in adding harmony and balance while not making it look like a Chinese restaurant exploded in your home. You can get a consultation in-person or virtually via video chat.
I am a 3rd generation Feng Shui expert and have helped thousands of people add harmony and balance to their homes and offices the Feng Shui way. As your consultant, you will be able to get one-on-one advice for how to attract positive energy and improve your life with Feng Shui. I offer in-home and virtual services. Contact me today!
You’ve found the perfect home that literally just hit the MLS. If you don’t make an offer right now, someone else surely will. Make the offer quick, right?
Just be sure you give yourself an opportunity to back out of the sale in case you’ve missed a major Feng Shui no-no with the property.
Feng Shui Problems When Buying a Home
Sometimes our better judgement misses major things like front doors that open to stairways, T-intersections or cul-de-sacs.
And believe me, I get inquiries all the time that start with, “We just bought this house and it has this major Feng Shui problem. What can I do?”
My first thought in some cases is that they should have had a clause to allow them to have a Feng Shui expert inspect the property prior to closing.
Think nobody does this? Think again.
Who Uses Feng Shui Contingencies?
Wealthy Chinese buyers are snatching up homes like crazy in places like Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco. They are spending billions of dollars for investment purposes and to establish residency for immigration or for in-state college tuition requirements.
In fact, many real estate agents are adding a new term to their lexicon: “feng shui contingency.” That’s because prior to closing, some Chinese buyers are requesting to have a Feng Shui master or consultant approve the house as part of an inspection.
I get this request frequently.
Feng Shui Clause
Simply include a clause in your contract that says, “contingent upon inspections.” Simple, right?
For all the sellers know, you could be hiring your cat to review the home. It just gives you an opportunity to back out of the sale if your Feng Shui consultant (or any other inspector) suggests against a purchase for something major. Moreover, you can get some ideas for how to compensate for the minor Feng Shui issues ahead of time.
Next Steps
As a 3rd generation Feng Shui expert, I have helped thousands of people add harmony and balance to their homes and offices the Feng Shui way. As your consultant, you will be able to get one-on-one feedback about the homes you are looking at. I offer in-home and virtual services, including listing reviews. Contact me today!
Increasing foreign investment into U.S. homes and shifting demographics has forced home builders to consider this untapped energy.
By Jessie Kim
Communities across the country are experiencing an influx of potential buyers that have a certain sixth-sense about an unseen energy. They’re not interested in square footage and upgrades. It’s about this energy. They will often walk in and immediately out of a model home – without saying a word – if this energy isn’t right. Basic model designs that had been popular for years are no longer top sellers. Large cul-de-sac or corner lots sometimes require a discount rather than fetching their normal premium. What is to blame for these recent trends? Foreign investments? Shifting demographics? Maybe FengShui is to blame.
Just what is FengShui, though? Literally translated, FengShui means wind-water. That says a lot about the 3,000 year old Asian practice of FengShui, even as it is used today in home layout and design in the United States.
FengShui is all about the flow of energy, much like how water flows and wind blows. When you open up the front door to a house, how would an incoming stream of water or a gust of wind flow around and blow through the house? Would it make its way through every room or would it stagnate and collect all in one area? We cannot survive without the energizing nature of water and air. As these are two of the main elements to the building blocks of our human existence, so too is a similar energy referred to inFengShui as Chi or Qi.
In FengShui, we see the front door of a home as the mouth of incoming energy. From there, an ideal flow of life-giving Chi would cycle through different areas of the home represented by important elements to our existence, starting with the front door: water, wood, fire, earth and metal.
Think of it this way: Chi that flows into your home starts by energizing water. Water, in turn, nourishes wood trees. Wood then fuels fire. Fire rejuvenates earth. Over time, earth and its processes create metal. To renew the cycle, metal gives water a path through which to flow.
This is what is called a creative cycle in FengShui and it should flow in a clockwise motion in a home’s layout, starting with the front door. A well-energized and free-flowing creative cycle will provide harmony and balance in the lives of its occupants. This is where the placement of doors, stairs and walls in the floor plan can be crucial for the energy flow.
Moreover, it is important to have items representing these elements in corresponding areas of the home. For instance, a stove or fireplace in the fire area is ideal. When staging a model home, small trees could be placed in the wood area. Metal picture frames could be placed on walls in the metal area.
When one element is overpowering the home, however, it could have disastrous effects. Too many items representing fire, for instance, causes FengShui energy to “burn up.” In turn, residents feel burned out and get hot-tempered. Arguments can flare up. Too many items representing water in the home, on the other hand, will give residents the feeling of drowning, which can be overwhelming. That feeling will eventually translate into a lack of motivation. Rarely will projects get started, let alone be seen through completion by residents of such a home.
In FengShui, it is all about creating balance. Creating a balanced energy in homes is important so that future residents living in the space can live healthy, harmonious and fruitful lives.
When potential buyers walk into a model home, they need to feel like it is a home where they can be creative, can be active, can be good at what they do, can get the recognition they deserve and can have happy and healthy relationships with their friends and loved ones. From site design to staging with proper FengShui in mind, a model home will make prospective buyers feel a positive and relaxing energy that is crucial to health and prosperity. It will be like a refreshing drink of water or a rejuvenating breath of cool air. Whether they believe in it or not, FengShui energy will invite buyers in to experience more of their future home – without saying a word.
Ms. FengShui, Jessie Kim, is a 3rd generation FengShui consultant who primarily works with developers. She can be reached at [email protected] or visit https://www.MsFengShui.com.
The following article is from a news story that aired Saturday 6/7/2014 on NPR (National Public Radio) regarding Feng Shui and its use in new home developments and in selling existing homes. Jessie Kim of Ms. Feng Shui was quoted in the story with a few Feng Shui tips. You can download the audio here.
To Sell A House In California, It Might Need Good Feng Shui
by MILES BRYAN
About 40 miles east of Los Angeles, houses in the new College Park subdivision are designed to have good feng shui. Miles Bryan/NPR
If you leave Los Angeles, Calif., on Interstate 10 and head east for about 40 miles, you’ll run into a quintessentially suburban phenomenon: the opening of a subdivision.
At one such development called College Park in Chino, Calif., the lawns are bright green, the D.J. is spinning classic rock and a lot of the conversations are in Mandarin. Among those looking for a house is Eddie Yung. He lives in China now, but he’s moving to California.
The number of Chinese buying homes in the U.S. has more than doubled since 2007, with most of those sales in Southern California. Some are buying for investment purposes — prices are positively cheap compared to the market in Beijing or Shanghai — and others are planning to start a life in the states.
Marketing to those Chinese buyers has meant learning about what customers want in a house’s design, says Mark Torres, a division president for Lennar Homes, the company that’s building the subdivision.
“We consider feng shui elements in all our designs,” Torres says. “Everything from the water-fire elements and making sure that we don’t have those types of conflicts [and] designing the entry of the homes to keep all that positive energy in the home.”
In a house with good feng shui, the staircase leads away from the front door so the energy doesn’t rush out before it can do good for the house. Courtesy of Jessie Kim
Just a few miles from College Park is the town of Chino Hills, which Lisa Dutton calls home. But her house has feng shui problems. It’s had issues since she bought it from a Chinese seller 15 years ago.
“As he was moving out, he told us the reason he was moving was the house didn’t have good chi,” Dutton says. “We had no idea what chi was! Had no idea whatsoever. So, we bought the house.”
Dutton’s house had been on the market for 30 months, but she was getting nothing but lowball offers.
“At first I was offended because I thought, ‘Wow, my house is beautiful. What’s wrong? Why is someone just walking right out the door?’ ” she says.
Jessie Kim, a feng shui consultant, has the answer to those questions. Standing in the foyer of Dutton’s house, she points out the problem.
“When you open up the front door and then you have a stairway coming right at you, things like to go to the lowest point,” Kim says.
For a lot of Americans, a big fancy staircase is a status statement. But if you are into feng shui, Kim says that’s a non-starter.
“You don’t want all the energy that are upstairs being rushed out to the front door,” Kim explains. “You don’t want those things lining up.”
To help, she put a red rug below the stairs to channel the energy back up and installed a fountain in the lawn to balance the water element. She also added a big welcome mat outside the front of the door to invite in positive energy.
“It should be welcoming,” Kim says. “None of those, ‘Wipe your paws,’ or, ‘Don’t come in here,’ those funny doormat sayings. You don’t want to do that.”
With these changes, the offers started rolling in. Dutton says she’s just closed on a deal with a Chinese couple worth almost $100,000 more than her previous best offer.
Back at the grand opening of College Park, Eddie Yung is taking a break from walking through model homes and enjoying some complimentary lo mein. He’s looked around in other Los Angeles suburbs but he likes the house he saw here. In fact, he’s going to sign a deposit on one.
That was the fourth home sold at College Park before noon. When the chi is flowing in the right direction, the money will too.
In case you hadn’t heard, Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco proved that, despite the character she plays on TV, she may actually be one of the smarter actors on the cast.
She and husband Ryan Sweeting reportedly hired a Feng Shui consultant to cleanse the old marital home of Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom not long after they closed escrow.
The 27-year-old actress is probably best known for her role as Penny in the award-winning comedy The Big Bang Theory. Her husband is Bahamian-born American professional tennis player Ryan Sweeting.
The Purchase
The two bought Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom’s home in Tarzana, CA for $5.5 M shortly after the two split in December of last year.
Sadly, the marriage of Kardashian and Odom got frigid when the 34-year-old professional basketball player was caught engaging in… extramarital activities. Evidently, he was also not willing to accept professional help for his drug addiction.
So, it would make sense to rid the home of the negative energy that may have been causing such a toxic marriage with a Feng Shui cleansing, right? Unfortunately, I think that there is a lot more to it than that.
The Cleansing
According to a source for In Touch Weekly magazine, “Kaley and Ryan hired a Feng Shui expert to restore the positive energy. Kaley doesn’t want their future affected by anything left behind.”
Smart girl. Particularly with negative energy like the Kardashian/Odom home, a Feng Shui cleansing is a great start to putting things right again. When combined with an ideally situated and laid-out home, proper interior decorating according to Feng Shui Bagua principles should keep the positive energy flowing for Kaley and Ryan, right?
Feng Shui Success?
Based upon her recent successes, it wouldn’t surprise me if Kaley has been utilizing Feng Shui for several years.
For instance, she has a hit TV show that has won several awards. And it wasn’t her first. But how about more recently?
Sweeting proposed to Cuoco a few days after they made a significant red carpet debut together at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards. The couple got married on December 31st, 2013 (perhaps the rush was for a tax deduction).
As she told Cosmopolitan magazine, “I admit it happened fast, but that’s who I am. When we met, I knew he was the one.”
“[At the wedding], I felt like a rock star and a bad**s. What was amazing in that room, it was so full of love. It was like nothing I’d ever been to before, and it was exactly what we wanted it to be. It was the eighth wonder of the world, the greatest wedding of all time,” she added.
Unfortunately, that may be where the good news stops for Kaley. As a big fan of The Big Bang Theory and Kaley, in particular, what I have to point out next saddens me.
The Property
My feeling is that Kaley (and even Khloe) should have gotten some quality Feng Shui advice on the home before before making their purchases. First off, it is at the end of a cul-de-sac, which is where energy can become overwhelming and destructive.
The front door can’t be seen from the street. Hidden houses have the opposite effect as the cul-de-sac, where not enough energy comes in. Also, the front door faces a hill, resulting in a potentially uphill battle for the Career Area.
How about a fire pit in the Relationship Corner? Only if the residents want fiery relationships with her spouses.
The Interior
There are also reports that Kaley has kept at least some of the furnishings that Khloe and Lamar had in their home. Pictures have surfaced showing her with the same couch pillows and blankets as those seen in pictures that Khloe had been crying on earlier.
So, I took a look at some interior listing pictures. If the reports on the furnishings are true, I have some free advice for both the Big Bang star as well as for Khloe when she furnishes her new home.
In the home, you could find a sad and lonely portrait of Marilyn Monroe, as well as a painting of a single woman dancing. Keeping these items in the home may result in a sad and lonely outcome for its residents, as it did for Khloe & Lamar.
The home also had a floating Buddha head in the foyer and detached angel wings. You never want to have detached body parts, especially of religious symbols. A complete Buddha should be placed higher, as if on an alter. The ideal spot is in the Helpful People Corner.
Kaley’s Next Steps
If Kaley were my client, I would suggest she throw it all out and start over again. Don’t do a cleansing and keep all of the innately harmful elements in the home. Unfortunately, Feng Shui doesn’t work like that.
So, Kaley, if you’re reading… call me. We’ll make sure to keep your life and career harmonious and balanced through Feng Shui. You are a great actress and I really want you to remain successful and happy.
It is my hope that Khloe Kardashian also finds a peaceful and happy life, perhaps through Feng Shui.
Celebrity Use of Feng Shui
Celebrity use of Feng Shui is nothing new. Steven Spielberg, Courtney Cox, George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey are but a few that practice the 3,000 year old art and science.
One of the richest men in the world, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, is also a fan of Feng Shui. His home is located such that the hill behind it offers protection and boosts his Fame & Reputation Area. In front of the home is Lake Washington, which enhances the Career Area of his house. He also has a dragon and tiger on each side of the home, which are used to attract Chi, or Feng Shui energy, and to provide protection.
Billionaire investor and real estate mogul Donald Trump says, “I don’t have to believe in Feng Shui. I do it because it makes me money.” Trump used Feng Shui principles in the construction of Trump International Hotel & Tower by placing it so that it faced Central Park in New York. He believed it would increase positive Chi for prosperity and success.
Your Next Steps
If you, too, are looking to create a harmonious and balanced life through Feng Shui, start with your home.
Spend some time learning about the Feng Shui Bagua to ensure proper Chi flow in your home or office.
Does your home have the negative energy or harmful elements that I pointed out in Kaley’s new home? If so, contact me to inquire about a Space Clearing and/or Feng Shui Consultation because the disharmony caused by such negative or destructively-flowing energy can be very dangerous to your health, career, marriage, fertility, etc.
Chinese herbal medicine didn't work. Acupuncture didn't work. The month after you helped me Feng Shui my home, I'm pregnant!!! And it all made so much sense. Woo-hoo!!!
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