Divine Intervention to Sell Homes

For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why.

As most of you know, I've started the process of becoming a real estate investor. For background, see these posts:

• My Road to Becoming a Landlord


• My Process for Determining a Suitable Rental Property


• Real Estate 101: Why You Should NOT Invest In Real Estate

And, as most of you also know, I write a weekly post on Sundays about money and the Bible.

So, when the two subjects came together in an article recently, I just HAD to post on it. :)

This piece from AOL Real Estate talks about the tradition of burying a statue of St. Joseph in your yard to help your house sell faster. It tells the story of a lady whose home sat on the market for a year. Then she buried a statue (given to her in a kit -- yes a KIT -- by a friend) in her yard and it sold in three weeks. Some highlights:

She took the palm-size St. Joseph figurine and followed the instructions: She buried it upside down, 6 feet from the back door, and read a prayer afterward. Three weeks later, an interested buyer made an offer on the house. The sale closed in December 2011.
 
"How can I not believe?" Berkowitz said.

And the seller had this comment, which I thought was funny:

She does feel a little guilty about participating in a Christian tradition. "I feel like a traitor because I'm Jewish," Berkowitz said with a laugh.

You have probably heard of the St. Joseph statue superstition. Obviously there's no way to say that this practice does or doesn't work (who could prove it either way?), but it does seem fair to call it a superstition. But I guess people who do it think "what could it hurt?" and that's my take as well. If it floats your boat, why not try it? I personally have never done so and I don't think it helps, but then again, what could it hurt?

Thoughts?

Comments

[Ben @ Bedrock PF]

Great post! My thoughts are that God will use anything or anyone necessary to open our eyes to his presence. Like the parable in the Bible of the sower and the seed (Luke 8:5)...God is always planting the seed.

[Diane]

I heard about this for the first time earlier this year and I think it worked for the person who told me she did it (It was also around St. Joseph's Day so maybe that helped also).

[Adrienne]

My husband and I were just talking about this. We do the same here! We sold our home in 2008 within a few months. None of the other homes within several blocks (that we considered competition) have sold since. They were all eventually pulled off the market. Of course, our home was well maintained and showed very well. But pricing,specs, etc were very similar to the others. We plan to do the same again in 2013 when we sell our current home. To be honest, I don't pray that our home sells quickly. But I do pray that I'll be with my husband as soon as possible. He's military and has a report no later than date. My son and I are left to sell the house when has to leave. Using the St Joseph statue does give me a little peace of mind though.

[Matt]

When we sold our house 12 years ago (the market was hot)my wife thought our asking price was way high and laughed when the realator said the asking price. The house went on the market on wednesday, 4 people saw it on thursday and friday we had an offer. Sold. Full asking price but wanted all the appliance. No problem and no St. Joe statue.

However, God knew I was a little stressed in that we had an offer accepted on another house and there was no provision to back out of the deal if our other house did not sell. It was a big leap of faith for me at the time that I knew God would provide and he did.

Then again when I became a confirmed Catholic I did take the confirmation name of Joseph becasue I really like what he stood for as a saint and both my son's middle name are Joseph so maybe St. Joe was looking after us after all.

When your house is not selling there may be a reason that it is not selling. There is a plan and it may not be yours. Maybe the time is not right or maybe you need a little faith boost or who knows.

It is hard to hear God direction with all the noise of this world and it is even harder when things are not going your way.

[Norman]

I don't buy into superstitions. I've sold numerous houses over the years and never did partake in such superstitious nonsense.

[Catherine]

Innefective idolatry doesn't sell houses.

I don't expect a journalist at AOL Real Estate to be an expert on relition, but burying a statue of St. Joseph is NOT a Christian tradition.

[Mark]

I'm thinking the whole statue thing could invite evil spirits into the process or into your life. I wouldn't want to go there.