NUMBERS COUNT AND CAN COST
Many
buildings do not have a 13th floor. It is twelve and then fourteen.
Where did that “unlucky” 13th floor go? In Nevada the number “7” is very popular in
residential real estate listings. When
my wife and I visited Shanghai, our hotel, the Meridien, did not have a 4th
or 13th floor. Try to find a number “13” in an Arcadia street
address.
In real
estate superstition can play a large and costly role. Number “considerations”
are very strong in high demand Asian neighborhoods. Eight is a very popular number because its
Chinese pronunciation is very similar to the word that means “wealth” and
“prosperity”. The Chinese word for “death” sounds similar to the word for
“four”. Consequently, the “eight” shows up in many Asian neighborhood property
listing prices. The number “four” is avoided in listings.
More
importantly, street address numbers can significantly affect property
marketability and values/prices. In an address “4’s” are a negative and “8’s”
are “good”. Addresses ending in “44” are really “bad”.
Brent Chang,
a successful real estate agent in Coldwell Banker’s San Marino office was
reported by the Wall Street Journal to have stated about 85% of his
Asian clients use numerology when buying or selling.
On my street
block in SW Arcadia, four homes which were subsequently torn down (to
accommodate new construction) were purchased between July 2011 and March 2012.
All of the lots were rectangular in shape and contained 16,909 to 19,451 sq.
ft. All of the properties were within 200 feet of each other. The three lots
with no numerology issues (street address nos. 21, 37, & 52 sold for $66.83
to $89.25 per lot square foot. It does not appear to be chance the fourth
property with a “44” street address
number sold for $60.48 per lot square foot, a $100,000 plus reduced
price/discount. Prior to the sale, the
seller of the “44’ property, a long time Arcadia resident and retired nurse
requested the City to allow an address change. The request was rejected by City
Council and this policy is still in effect. It could be argued an
address change from “44”” to “50” would have added tens of thousands of dollars
to the selling price.
The cities
of Sierra Madre, Pasadena, Azusa, Bradbury, Duarte, Alhambra, Temple City,
Monterey Park and Rosemead permit address number changes. The process usually
involves a completion of a request application, field inspection to confirm the
requested number change is in sequence and after approval notification of change to approx.. 13 city or
county agencies/departments. Fees charged to cover the cost of processing
ranged from $106 to $806, depending on the city. None of the cities voiced
“problems” with the process.
In Arcadia,
there are 350 homes with address numbers ending in “4”. Of those 350, 110 homes
have addresses ending in “44”. When the owners of these homes decide to sell,
they will be subject to a numerology discount costing them tens of thousands of
dollars. I think it is time for the City of Arcadia to entertain and permit
address number change requests. Costs incurred during the process can be offset
by fees charged which the homeowners would enthusiastically pay.
The home
directly across the street from our home has an “88”” address. When the property sold in 2000, the new owner
requested the address be changed from
“84” to lucky “88”. At that time the City of Arcadia approved the request. Over
the years I kind of believe our family has received good fortune by being so
close to lucky “88”.
