Ask St. Joseph to help you sell your house? Have you heard about how sellers are praying to St. Joseph to help them sell their homes? Here in heavily Catholic Cincinnati, Ohio, it is common practice for home sellers and many Realtors to employ the good works of St. Joseph to help sell Real Estate during this difficult buyers market.
Although this was not a chapter in my education towards becoming a Certified Residential Specialist, so many of my sellers have told me that they have buried St. Joseph and said their prayers to help me sell their Real Estate. A recent seller, who had had her home on the market for more than 6 months with another Realtor, then switched to work with me, buried the St. Joseph a few weeks after I committed to selling their home. It worked! They sold their house in just 34 days! I’d like to think my marketing and positioning helped, and they agreed, but did not think twice about getting extra help from St. Joseph.
Don’t know much about this catholic strategy to selling real estate? Read on to learn more. Perhaps this can aid you in your sales as well. If it doesn’t work immediately , give me a call and we will see if we can freshen up your listing with creative marketing to develop some new interest!
A history:
Saint Joseph is petitioned by many conservative Catholics as one who grants an easy death, but in the wider world of Catholic folk-magic, he is the Patron Saint of real estate matters and home sales. The reason given for this belief is that he was a carpenter who taught his step-son Jesus the carpentering trade, and he always saw to it that Jesus was well housed.
The custom of burying a statue of Saint Joseph upside down in the yard while one's house is for sale goes back to the 1930’s in the United States.
The picture of Saint Joseph shown here is a detail from a typical holy card and shows the Saint at his carpenter's work bench, holding the infant Jesus. On the work bench is a carpenter's try-square and a wooden box plane; the bench is also outfitted with a vise. Saint Joseph holds a long stalk of Lily flowers in the crook of his left arm.
The following is the text of a real estate prayer to Saint Joseph:
PRAYER TO SAINT JOSEPH FOR SELLING A HOUSE
O, Saint Joseph,
you who taught our Lord
the carpenter's trade,
and saw to it
that he was always properly housed,
hear my earnest plea.
I want you to help me now
as you helped your foster-child Jesus,
and as you have helped many others
in the matter of housing.
I wish to sell this [house/property]
quickly, easily, and profitably
and I implore you to grant my wish
by bringing me a good buyer,
one who is eager, compliant, and honest,
and by letting nothing impede the
rapid conclusion of the sale.
Dear Saint Joseph,
I know you would do this for me
out of the goodness of your heart
and in your own good time,
but my need is very great now
and so I must make you hurry
on my behalf.
Saint Joseph, I am going to place you
in a difficult position
with your head in darkness
and you will suffer as our Lord suffered,
until this [house/property] is sold.
Then, Saint Joseph, i swear
before the cross and God Almighty,
that i will redeem you
and you will receive my gratitude
and a place of honor in my home.
Amen.
Now take up the statue of Saint Joseph and dig a hole in your back yard. If there is no back yard, use the front yard. If there is no yard at all, dig a hole in a large potted plant. Bury the statue upside down, head downward, facing east, in the hole and cover it over.
When the property sells, you MUST dig up the statue, clean it, and carry it with you to your new home, where it should be kept in a place of honor.
Just last week, I buried St. Joseph at a property I am working very hard to sell! Along with a fresh marketing blitz, I thought that St. Joseph could help us see the sale through. If you or a friend are looking for a great home in Mt. Washington on a private cul-de-sac street, check out the photos of our latest St. Joseph sighting.
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