Home Buying Superstitions
Buying a new home? Ensure your house brings you good luck for years to come with these bits of ancient folklore.
Haunted houses are a staple of spooky Halloween stories. Horror movies are filled with tales of unsuspecting families who move into the wrong house and pay the ultimate price.
Movies aside, most home-buyers don’t give much thought to whether actual ghosts might inhabit their dream home, but the folklore of various countries, ancient and modern, is full of advice to pick a place that will bring good fortune, and ensure it stays that way. If you’re in the market a new home, you might be interested to know what some cultures believe brings good luck to a house.
Finding the Right Place
- According to the Chinese philosophical system of feng shui, a house must have windows the east side to face the sunrise, or it’s bad luck.
- The Chinese also believe that moving into a home that sits on a curved road or faces a “T” intersection will bring bad fortune.
- Also in China, home buyers are warned to avoid homes with the number four in the address, because the word for “four” sounds like the word for death in both Cantonese and Mandarin.
Buying It
- Look for homes that have the number eight somewhere in the list price. In China, this is said to be good luck.
- In the Philippines, the date a property is transferred matters. To ensure that things keep looking up for you, make sure the closing date includes a number that, when written, ends with the pen stroke pointing toward the top of the page rather than the bottom, such as 0, 3, 5, or 8.
Moving in
- In India, it is said to be bad luck to move into a new house on a Friday or Saturday, or on a rainy day. Thursday is considered the luckiest day to move in.
- Always buy a new broom for a new house. According to popular belief, bringing an old broom to a new home will bring along all of the bad luck you want to leave behind, whereas a new broom signifies a fresh start.
- In addition to your new broom, be sure to bring bread and salt with you when you first enter your new home. Sprinkling some of the salt in front of the door is said to keep evil spirits away.
- Never carry a hoe into the house. It’s considered bad luck. If you accidentally do so, immediately walk backwards through the same door to reverse the bad luck.
- Stuffing fennel into your keyhole or hanging it over the door is said to protect your home from witches.
- A southern legend claims that painting your front porch “haint” blue (a shade of blue-green) will ward off ghosts. The ghosts, which can’t cross water, mistake the blue color for water and stay away.
- The ancient Norse believed that placing an acorn on a windowsill would protect the house from being struck by lightning.
- In the Philippines, it is believed that scattering coins around the living room of a new home will ensure financial prosperity.
- Nailing an evergreen branch to the rafters of a new home is said to bring good luck.
- Hanging up an empty hornets’ nest is also said to attract good luck.
Join The Discussion
Ever hear of any of these superstitions?
Share your experience in the comments below.
Jaime McLeod
Jaime McLeod is a longtime journalist who has written for a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including MTV.com. She enjoys the outdoors, growing and eating organic food, and is interested in all aspects of natural wellness.
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Jaime McLeod#molongui-disabled-link
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I would like to live in this haunted house. I am not afraid of ghost, see something strange things going on etc….
Hey, I was born with a gift. I can sense what the spirit feels. You can always live in a home that’s haunted and feel at home. Just let the spirits know that’s you mean them know harm. Tell them that you are not asking them to leave. You’re just asking for your space and you don’t want them in your space and you want be in theirs.
Also, in Cuban/latin culture I’ve seen putting an upside down broom behind your front door keeps out unwanted visitors, and a full glass of water on top of the fridge absorbs bad energy and bad spirits.
Amen!!!
Funny I heard my Grandmother says some of these things especially about the broom & salt. Not surprised cause she was a big believer of the Farmers Almanac for the weather perdictions
The first things in a new home are : a loaf bread (you won’t go hungry)
a dollar bill ( you won’t be broke) and a Bible ( God will keep you safe)
Did this 44 years ago and still going strong.
I have moved many times in my life. Sometimes I moved myself and sometimes I hired professional movers. It was from the professionals I first heard it was bad luck to move a broom. Some would refuse to move it and one mover offered to buy us a new broom rather than move the old one.
I would rather keep out the space aliens than keep out ghosts (by painting the porch blue). Space aliens don’t like orange. Paint your porch That color instead.
To Each His Own… It is your home and your beliefs.
as a Pagan myself I can say that painting your front door red will keep bad from entering your home and that mixing salt and pepper and circling your property edges will protect your home as well 🙂
Pray for God to bless your home and it’s occupants. Pray for a peaceful home. That is all that you need.
Amen!
I have found that YOUR world is everything YOU believe. I am considering moving to FL to be nearer my family. THANKS! for putting all this info into one article. It will make my search so much easier.
My Mom always told me to never take your old mop or broom with you. Always buy a new mop and broom and begin with a fresh start.
it`s bad luck to be superstitious
My Mom gave us a little bottle containing salt, sugar and flour to insure we would always have something to eat. My Mom-in-law stopped at the front door and rolled two quarters into the front hall so that we would always have money. I still think of that and enjoy the customs of our family. We’ve lived in the house happily for 27 years.
I have heard that the Asian people think that painting your main front door red is good luck. It is supposed to be positive for prosperity and openness to new ideas. Also, the number 8 is supposed to be connected to prosperity. 8 in the address or adding up all the numbers, like numerology, to equal 8. Who knows?