Imagine this: after many days and nights of house hunting and negotiations, you’ve finally found your dream home. Upon moving in, you begin to notice things in your environment that you never thought were there before: an electrical pylon in front of your house or the T-junction facing the entrance.

You feel the panic welling up inside as you anxiously wonder if these things could be adversely affecting the qi (energy) of your home and thus your family.

Moral of story: the better time to call in a feng shui consultant to conduct an assessment of your home is before you buy it.

Here are some guidelines to help you avoid panic attacks and build your confidence in identifying a good environment for a home.

In feng shui, the environment refers to mountains, rivers, valleys and roads. The surrounding environment of your home plays an extremely important role in determining the quality of qi that flows around and into it.

Mountains

Mountains are an extremely important feature in considering the surrounding environment of a building. They represent bodies of qi from which the environment in the area draws.

Hence, to understand what kind of qi you can tap into, the first step is to observe the type of mountain formation in the area, and its quality.

If you happen to have a mountain behind your house, then it functions as good support for the home. A mountain in this location will lend your home a sense of stability, security and family harmony.

If you do not have a mountain at the back of your house, don’t worry, it’s no biggie. But make sure the land at the back of your home does not slope downwards.

Water

Water is one of two most important features in analysing the environment. The mountain represents the yin feature of the environment, and water is its yang counterpart.

Many people assume that waterfront property has good feng shui. This is a simplistic interpretation of the significance of water that needs to be qualified.

For one, the body of water that a home faces must be calm water, to allow for a serene and smooth flow of qi. Many lakes and ponds found in most housing developments today are calm bodies of water rather than gushing monsoon drains, for example.

This type of water helps to collect qi, and is generally good to have in front of your home. The key here is to ensure that the lake is in the correct location in relation to your home.

Roads

In an urban setting, in the absence of lakes and ponds, roads can act as virtual water and carry qi towards or away from a building. In this regard, highways could be a cause for concern.

Many people are concerned about buying property, especially apartments, located close to the highway. As a general rule, you do not want to purchase an apartment that is at the same level as the highway.

If your property happens to be below an elevated highway, just ensure that the shadow of the highway does not fall on your house and you should be fine. Generally, buildings close to highways that have sound barriers are a better choice, but it would be wise not to stay too close to the highway in any case.

Another road feature is the roundabout. Contrary to popular belief, a roundabout outside your house is not considered a danger.

In fact, it is considered preferable to have one directly in front of your home. This is because a roundabout creates a virtual water formation that allows the qi to continually flow into and around the property. That’s why it’s common to find popular shopping malls or businesses located in the vicinity of a roundabout.

None Perfect

All said and done, don’t be surprised or discouraged if you find your home has a few feng shui hiccups; no building has perfect feng shui.

What you really should be looking for is a home with well-balanced feng shui.

Be sure you know what you’re looking at, and how to separate fact from fiction. Then you can take comfort in knowing how to identify real estate with good feng shui in no time.