Feng Shui and 23 Linden Drive

If you live in the Bay Area, you can't get away from the concept of Feng Shui in real estate. Feng Shui is a Chinese belief that talks about the way things should be in order to have harmony in your life. Some people believe parts of Feng Shui is superstition and some of it is just common sense. If you're buying a home in the Bay Area, you want the home to have good Feng Shui, so if you need to sell it later, you'll be able to attract the large base of Asians in the Bay Area.

So you may be wondering how good is the Feng Shui of 23 Linden Drive in Santa Clara. Overall, the home has some pretty good Feng Shui. Many of the common things that are pointed out as negatives don't exist at this home. For example this home is not at the end of T-intersection (considered one of the worst possible locations in Feng Shui), and the when you open the front door it does not lead directly to the staircase (the staircase opens to the back hallway, an ideal facing direction).

Also among the positives, this home's lot has a slightly narrower front than back, and the road curves inward at the front of the home, both considered auspicious characteristics. Also the power lines are in the back of the home not the front, another good sign.

Another concern many Asians have is in regards to when there's a death in the home. It's a common mis-perception (even among Asians) that you shouldn't buy a home when there's been a death in the home. In actuality the superstition is that you shouldn't buy a home that has had a violent death in the home. A peaceful, calm passing, like my mom's passing after a 12 year battle with cancer, surrounded by family, is considered normal, and not a negative. The other myth that many people don't understand is in regards to disclosing deaths in a home. California only requires that a seller disclose if there's been a death in the home in the last 3 years. If there's been one prior to that, there's no requirement for a disclosure. So unless you're buying a home that's built in the last 3 years, you really have no assurance there's not been a death in that home prior to the last 3 years.

Is there a negative? Yes, there's one minor negative, and that's the guide wire that goes from the telephone pole to back yard. It intrudes only in the easement area in the back. The folks from the SVP (Silicon Valley Power) which is the Santa Clara Utilities company, have said we could have it removed and redone, so it doesn't intrude so far into the property. We could either pay to have it done or petition the city to have it done. Cost if we paid would be around $1000. It's actually not much of nuisance and doesn't really affect the feng shui of the property.