What's up with the number "four"?

You may have heard that last week, the Town of Aurora has decided to let residents apply to change their addresses if their street number “4”. Some Asian cultures consider the #4 to be unlucky.

It’s made the local news – City TV ran a segment (click here to watch), and the Toronto Star ran an Article (click here to read) last Friday.

The number “4” is not the only superstition that can affect the value of your home. A front door facing a “T” intersection is also considered unlucky by some Asian cultures. There are some Eastern cultures that prefer a kitchen on the East side of the house. Some South Asian cultures believe the number “5” is unlucky. And the list goes on!

Rightly or wrongly, all cultures have at least some superstitions, and it’s important to be aware of anything that may affect the value of a property you own or are considering to purchase.

It’s also important that your realtor is sensitive and savvy on these subtleties and can market your home appropriately, or ensure you’re aware of any issues some cultures might have with a house you’re buying. You might not be superstitious, but when you’re ready to re-sell, you might find that a whole demographic group is not interested because of a certain feature that is in conflict with their beliefs.

Of course another question would be: is the Town of Aurora confusing visitors to their Town by switching up street addresses? Late last year I had the opportunity to list a home for sale in Cornell, Markham, with the street address of #4. I spoke with the Town of Markham to understand their policy on changing house numbers, and was told that Markham used to offer it years ago, but there became too many requests and it got too crazy. In an emergency, ambulances and police need to be able to get to an address quickly. If a house were to change its address from a #4 to a “#2a”, for example, it could mistakenly result in emergency workers wasting time by knocking on the backdoor of the real #2 instead of the house next door.

I was told by the Town of Markham that it might consider changing an address if the next number is available (e.g. the street is currently numbered 4, 8, 12, etc., a 4 could be changed to a #6). Or, if a house sits on a corner, the Town might consider switching its street name address to that of the other street.

But again, this information was provided to me a year ago, so it will be interesting to see if Aurora’s decision has any impact on other cities in York Region.

http://citynews.video.citytv.com/video/45101909001/Is-The-Number-Four-On-The-Outs-In-Aurora-/

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/711189--may-the-4-s-be-with-you-not-on-aurora-s-streets