Would you buy a house on Friday 13?
Superstitions can be a deciding factor when hunting for the perfect home. Here, estate agents reveal some of the most unusual superstitious behavior they’ve seen.
Ben Everest, partner at LDG: “The number eight is considered lucky in Chinese culture, so we see a lot of offers incorporating that figure, e.g. one property on the market for £595,000 went under offer at £5,888,888.”
Jo Eccles, director of Sourcing Property: “We have a surprising number of buyers who won’t exchange or complete on Friday 13 due to superstition.
“We also once had a client who wouldn’t buy property with certain door numbers – to the point where she wouldn’t even view a property which had the wrong door number, even if it was perfect. In the end, we settled with a compromise where the residents in the Mayfair block she bought gave permission for her to remove the flat number from her door, and also from the letterbox in the communal hallway.”
Camilla Dell, director of Black Brick: “Asian buyers, particularly the Chinese, are superstitious about numbers which greatly impacts on a property search. The majority of these buyers won’t purchase anything with the numbers 4, 17, 19, and 53. However, properties numbered 1, 2, 6, 8, and 68 are deemed lucky, and are therefore desirable. Believe it or not, these things can significantly influence the search and what property we end up securing for our clients.”
Julia Price, sales and marketing director at Pentland Homes: “A couple who have recently moved into a property at our development in Kent have purchased over 20 homes, and say they have only had good experiences living in even numbered properties, compared to their experiences in odd ones.”
Camilla Dell, director of Black Brick: “Vastu Shastra is an ancient doctrine that bases its designs on directional alignments, and is hugely important to our Indian client base. The vast majority of London properties do not comply with Vastu, making finding the right property almost an impossible task. Many of our Indian clients will therefore buy off plan, so they can influence the positioning of certain rooms to ensure they face in the right direction.”
Richard Barber, partner at W.A.Ellis: “Historically, feng shui has played a matter of importance for Chinese buyers. They much prefer waterside properties as this indicates positive feng shui and creates a feeling of harmony and nourishment within the property.”
