03-02-2008, 09:11 PM
Reported by: Brendan Keefe
Photographed by: 9News
Web produced by: Laura Hornsby
In this market, many home sellers are praying for a miracle, and that's exactly what purveyors of St. Joseph Real Estate Kits are purporting to offer. Bury a little plastic statue of the saint under your for sale sign, and your prayers will be answered.
It's an underground movement for home sellers who otherwise don't have a prayer.
"They're probably just desperate to try anything at this point," said Sandy Mahoney. "I know I was."
Sandy Mahoney's childhood home in Delhi sat on the market for months before a friend suggested a little divine intervention: burying St. Joseph in the front yard.
"I'm Catholic, and I always did believe in the power of the saints," said Mahoney. "And when she suggested it, I thought, it can't hurt!"
Shortly after she buried the statue, a buyer dug up enough money to make an offer.
"In fact, showings kind of increased after that, so I really think it worked," Mahoney said.
St. Joseph is definitely selling one thing: the statue itself. Millions are purchased every year, mostly online.
On eBay, there are more than five dozen listings for St. Joseph Real Estate Kits.
StJosephStatue.com offers what it calls the "underground real estate agent kit" for $9.95. The company's phone number? 1-888-bury-joe.
Real estate agents will take all the help they can get in this market.
"I had an agent who actually bought [them] by the case," said Karen Schlosser with the Board of Realtors. "She did it on all of her listings and there were other agents in the office who did the same. I love it, it's that they want to add a positive element to the sale of their home."
The president of Cincinnati's Board of Realtors half-jokingly keeps both a crystal ball and a magic wand on her desk.
"Sellers are looking for that one extra edge they can give their property, and they go to the St. Joseph Statue [like a Hail Mary]. It doesn't hurt. It can only possibly help," Schlosser said.
Online suppliers report a surge in purchases from secular customers and even non-Christians.
A Cleveland man posted this video on YouTube after he successfully employed St. Joseph to sell his mother's home; they are Jewish.
Believers say it's not about superstition or luck.
"Does it come from your heart, does it come from your faith?" 9 News anchor Brendan Keefe asked Mahoney.
"The faith comes when I see it working for me," Mahoney replied.
And so the saints go marching in.
Mahoney is burying the same statue that sold her father's house to sell her home in Indiana.
"Make sure I get it deep enough, I don't want his feet to stick out," she commands. "He'll stay there until it's sold."
"We had it listed for six months last year. I didn't bury the statue, and nothing happened."
Now, she's burying St. Joseph religiously.
Selling her own home with a statue and a prayer: "Please bring us an acceptable offer. When escrow closes, we will dig you up and display you in a place of honor in our new home."
The strangest story comes from the book St. Joseph, My Real Estate Agent. The author recounts the tale of an impatient seller who kept moving the statue around his yard, and finally, frustrated, threw it in the garbage. The next week, the man opened the newspaper to read the headline, "Local Dump Has Been Sold."
The lesson? Don't trash the idea!
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.asp...3a1efb0ecb
Photographed by: 9News
Web produced by: Laura Hornsby
In this market, many home sellers are praying for a miracle, and that's exactly what purveyors of St. Joseph Real Estate Kits are purporting to offer. Bury a little plastic statue of the saint under your for sale sign, and your prayers will be answered.
It's an underground movement for home sellers who otherwise don't have a prayer.
"They're probably just desperate to try anything at this point," said Sandy Mahoney. "I know I was."
Sandy Mahoney's childhood home in Delhi sat on the market for months before a friend suggested a little divine intervention: burying St. Joseph in the front yard.
"I'm Catholic, and I always did believe in the power of the saints," said Mahoney. "And when she suggested it, I thought, it can't hurt!"
Shortly after she buried the statue, a buyer dug up enough money to make an offer.
"In fact, showings kind of increased after that, so I really think it worked," Mahoney said.
St. Joseph is definitely selling one thing: the statue itself. Millions are purchased every year, mostly online.
On eBay, there are more than five dozen listings for St. Joseph Real Estate Kits.
StJosephStatue.com offers what it calls the "underground real estate agent kit" for $9.95. The company's phone number? 1-888-bury-joe.
Real estate agents will take all the help they can get in this market.
"I had an agent who actually bought [them] by the case," said Karen Schlosser with the Board of Realtors. "She did it on all of her listings and there were other agents in the office who did the same. I love it, it's that they want to add a positive element to the sale of their home."
The president of Cincinnati's Board of Realtors half-jokingly keeps both a crystal ball and a magic wand on her desk.
"Sellers are looking for that one extra edge they can give their property, and they go to the St. Joseph Statue [like a Hail Mary]. It doesn't hurt. It can only possibly help," Schlosser said.
Online suppliers report a surge in purchases from secular customers and even non-Christians.
A Cleveland man posted this video on YouTube after he successfully employed St. Joseph to sell his mother's home; they are Jewish.
Believers say it's not about superstition or luck.
"Does it come from your heart, does it come from your faith?" 9 News anchor Brendan Keefe asked Mahoney.
"The faith comes when I see it working for me," Mahoney replied.
And so the saints go marching in.
Mahoney is burying the same statue that sold her father's house to sell her home in Indiana.
"Make sure I get it deep enough, I don't want his feet to stick out," she commands. "He'll stay there until it's sold."
"We had it listed for six months last year. I didn't bury the statue, and nothing happened."
Now, she's burying St. Joseph religiously.
Selling her own home with a statue and a prayer: "Please bring us an acceptable offer. When escrow closes, we will dig you up and display you in a place of honor in our new home."
The strangest story comes from the book St. Joseph, My Real Estate Agent. The author recounts the tale of an impatient seller who kept moving the statue around his yard, and finally, frustrated, threw it in the garbage. The next week, the man opened the newspaper to read the headline, "Local Dump Has Been Sold."
The lesson? Don't trash the idea!
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.asp...3a1efb0ecb