Dear Master Cecil,

My sister is planning to purchase a house which is under construction and there is a river just behind it. After the boundary of the house, we still have 10 feet road and the river is about 60 feet away.

Few kilometer away, there is a big hill which is consider the back tortoise by a fengshui master that she consulted. According to him this is a good house as it have a 40 years of luck.

But I am worried for her because most of the feng shui books says river on your back of your house is bad. The said house is facing South East.

She is the breadwinner and her birth date is 7th August 1977 ( 5.10pm ).

Please advise.

Thank you.

1. Since I believe she (could) be in Malaysia; it is worth considering getting expert help i.e. from a Geomancer in your country.

2. As frankly, short description(s) like what you had mentioned; is difficult to evaluate upon the limited information given. As it is also looking at whether the river is parallel to; curved in or outwards; which direction the water flows in relation to her new home.

3. Usually, there is another element: especially for older homes close to a river is the concern of white termites - this is controllable and not Feng Shui.