Patron Saint of Real Estate – Does Burying St. Joseph in your yard really work?

The Patron Saint of Real Estate

Can’t sell your house and think you need a little extra luck to get the job done?  Many will argue that ‘luck’ has nothing to do with selling real estate, but I am not convinced. If ”Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” (a quote attributed to Seneca, a Roman dramatist, philosopher & Politician from 65 AD), many of us are in a position to be lucky; just because we showed up.  Can anyone actually prove that the St. Joseph statue did not assist in the sale of a property if it sells just after one buries it?

I decided to google the facts about the Saint Joseph myth, the Patron Saint of Real Estate, and there were 120,000  results! I’m not sure when it officially started, but  for $4.95 (plus tax and shipping) you can buy one at  your local Board of Realtors shop or at www.Accoutrements.com 

People of all ages, socio-economic levels and different religions have resorted to using this tool and as I started to read up on this, I found much has been written. For those of you unfamiliar with this ritual read on. 

Saint Joseph, father of Jesus and Husband to Mary, is one of the most important Saints in the Catholic Church. So important, in fact, that he has been declared to be the patron saint and protector of the Catholic Church itself. However, many people believe that Saint Joseph is also the patron saint of real estate. Realtors, homeowners and millionaire businessmen have all used the process outlined below because they believe it will sell their home or property. Of course, we can’t promise it will work, but many people think it does.

About twenty-five years ago, when I was a newbie in residential real estate sales in a local Short Hills, NJ office, one of the older Catholic women in my office, talked about burying a statue of St. Joseph in her clients’ yard.  She believed whole-heartedly that this practice would assure a quick sale and bring good luck. As a Jewish woman and recent college graduate, I was not taught to believe in such folklore and I was skeptical of this ‘nonsense’. I found this practice to be a bit silly, and not based on something I could justify with facts or stats.  She buried the statue, the house sold shortly thereafter, and she was certain that St. Joseph was responsible. Never mind that the buyers saw a for sale sign and always loved that house when they drove by it for years.

Yesterday my business partner of 10 years, Daniel Cannizzo,

Daniel Cannizzo holds the miniature St. Joseph's Statue

came into the office telling me he went to our local Board of Realtors and purchased a little St. Joseph statue so he could help one of our clients sell her home. Not one to talk of superstitions or wive’s tales, he just thought we could use a little extra help with divine intervention from this Patron Saint of Real Estate, even though we had not tried this before.  He showed me a cute little box with a clear plastic front that protected a 4 ” inch tall plastic statue. Made in China by a company based out of Seattle, this little ‘toy’ was supposed to help one of our friends (who is also a valued client) sell a home that has been on the market for several months. Who am I to argue? We need to do whatever we can to sell this house!

On the back of the box are two crosses, that frame the words Saint Joseph, Patron Saint of Real Estate. Protector of home sellers and buyers, carpenters, families, fathers, expectant mothers, travellers, immigrants, craftsmen and working people. That covers almost everyone in my book.  Below that is a Prayer to Assist in Selling Your Home.

To invoke the full power of Saint Joseph you must bury this figure upside down near the “For Sale” sign in your yard while reciting this prayer. “Most holy St. Joseph, I beseech thee to intercede on my behalf to help me find a worthy buyer for my home, preferably one who will pay full price and waive inspection. Amen”

I found many different prayers posted on line, and it occurs to me that neither my partner or I can bury this little guy ourselves, if we reallybelieve in this prayer, because it says ‘on my behalf, help me, and my home’ so it must be done by the actual owner or seller of the house. I now wonder if our seller will think we are crazy for asking her to do this, or if she will think it is a good way to find some buyers.

Maybe she will do it and just not tell us what she thinks, or maybe she will think it is our best marketing idea yet. She has one of the original homes in Short Hills NJ dating back to 1897. To date we have tried many Realtor open houses, public Sunday open houses, beautiful brochures with dozens of photos, numerous newspaper and magazine ads, interactive floor plans and virtual tour with classical music, a for sale sign with a direct domain rider with her address http://www.21Highland.com, hundreds of postcards mailed, a tax appeal in progress, email blasts to Realtors and buyers, postings on 25+ top real estate websites, and none of this has not brought us a buyer (yet). We even tried a strategy of finding a buyer with a less expensive home to consider a ‘SWAP’ for this lovely residence, for which we got a featured story of the house in the New York Times.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/realestate/12njzo.html?_r=1&ref=realestate

Many Realtors and sellers over the years have told me how they buried a Saint Joseph statue and it worked right away. They are convinced! One of my clients buried one about 10 years ago after their home sat on the market for several weeks. I only heard about this after the fact and realized that their package must have had different instructions, because they put it upside down in the ground in the back yard near their flower bed, not near the for sale sign. Someone came to look at the house twice and they were certain the statue was doing its job. The following day the prospective buyers’ Realtor called to say they bought a different house and my clients were devastated. They went to look at (or possibly pray near) the statue and saw that the dog had found it, dug it out of its resting place, and left it on the edge of the lawn with a couple of teeth marks. They buried it again and right away they had an appointment for a showing. The buyers came twice and again they were told they decided on a different house. They were discouraged and went back to the statue once more.

Now we were confronted with a bigger problem. The dog had gotten back to digging, left Saint Joseph on the edge of their grass and before they could bury it again, the landscaper had decapitated the poor guy with his weed wacker. Not a good sign. There were no instructions on the box for what to do if Saint Joseph was accidentally injured while on the job. At this point they were too distraught to discuss it, so I bought them another one, but they never mentioned the subject again. The sight of the headless Saint Joseph had left them speechless. The house eventually sold and they laugh about it now, but at the time it was a troubling situation.

So, if nothing else is working and you think this could be another option, go ahead and buy a Saint Joseph statue. Let me know if you have any luck. But be sure that after the property has sold, you dig up the figure unless you want the property to change hands again quickly. Rumor has it that once St. Joseph gets going, it’s hard to get him to stop.  Karen Bigos – kb@trghome.com

PS – Update in October of 2010 – the house SOLD!

Tagged as: Bury St. Joseph, Daniel Cannizzo, Homes in Short Hills NJ, Karen Eastman Bigos, Patron Saint of Real Estate, Short Hills NJ Real Estate, St. Joseph, Towne Realty Group