A Feng Shui chart (click to enlarge)
Feng shui — the Chinese system of beliefs that governs building design, the calendar and numbers, and which is followed by people in other cultures, especially in East Asia — is playing more of a role in real estate deals, as Asian buyers are populating the market, said Michael Rudder, a broker at Time Equities. Feng shui has been used in the past as well, The Real Deal reported in a webcast, with brokers using unconventional methods, including a cleansing ritual used by a feng shui consultant to help sell apartments. Rudder — who first encountered feng shui in 2007 — said that since the number of Asian buyers and lessees in New York has surged this year, he and other brokers are learning just how influential it can be, the New York Times reported. Buyers often come equipped with elaborate feng shui kits to measure a property, said Rudder. With the commercial market in New York still soft, Rudder said almost all of his recent sales of office condominiums have been to foreign buyers, especially those based in Asia, where the economy is booming. “They have this huge appetite for office condos,” he said, and since they don’t want to pay rent, he has redirected his marketing plan to accommodate them. [NYT]