Posted by Redline on May 03, 1999 at 13:21:18:
Piper: “Me…I’d rather sell on terms.”.
Man, you are priceless! LOL!
RL
St Joseph Statue (Monday Morning Giggle) - Posted by Sandy FL
Posted by Sandy FL on May 03, 1999 at 07:54:19:
Have you guys heard the legend? The story goes that supposedly distraught homeowners who have had trouble selling their homes would bury a statue of St Joseph (head down) in the backyard of the house, and that within a short period of time they would find a buyer. Sort of a divine intervention thing. Hey, you never know. I was thinking about this recently when I overheard one acquaintance was telling another about the statue thing. Only problem is, the parcel he is trying to sell is a oceanfront high rise condo (i.e., no backyard). We thought, maybe it will work in a potted plant… ?
Can we take this a step farther? Is there anyone who has good juju for buying property?? I heard that McCorkle used to stand in the front yard of his intended aquisiton, spread his arms and say “This property, it shall be mine.” Not that I want to emulate McCorkle. Or look insane. Just wanted to share some levity on this gorgeous Florida Monday morning. =)
Sandy
Oh by the way some clever person made the ‘legend’ into a web page, I wonder how many of these sellers are really motivated… haha
http://www.stjosephstatue.com/letters.htm
Re: St Joseph Statue (Monday Morning Giggle) - Posted by Linda
Posted by Linda on May 04, 1999 at 08:47:30:
Our house has been on the market since December.
Needless to say we’re getting rather impatient. This is the longest it ever took us to sell a rehab. So, one of our friends suggested St. Joseph. I went to the local religious store and asked. He wasn’t suprised, said they sell them all the time and they never fail. He said to bury St. Joseph in the front yard standing facing the street to welcome the buyer. If the house has been on the market for a while, bury him upside down. Then he gave me the prayer card. You are to say the prayer for nine days and whatever you ask for will come to you. The card states it has never been known to fail. Well… It’s been 15 days now and no sale. (we did have an offer after 8 days, but that fell through because of a problem selling their existing home). So I guess I’m the only person this doesn’t work for! If it weren’t for bad luck we’d have no luck on this house!!!
–at least I was only out $1.50 for the statue and prayer card!!
Dennis’ response … - Posted by CarolFL
Posted by CarolFL on May 03, 1999 at 19:15:52:
And for the ones who make your deals miserable …
plant a pepper plant with their name on a piece of paper planted under the plant. When the plant dies…
Carol
True Story - Posted by HR
Posted by HR on May 03, 1999 at 19:01:21:
Sandy,
When I bought my house, the woman who was selling was a nice, kindly old Italian woman. A real Italian Yat (local slang here in Nawlins for the true local who says, Where ya’t darlin’? Kind of a cross between Fr. Guido and a fat, pudgy white lady. I’m part Italian, I can appreciate it). Anyway, as we near the closing date, stuff starts disappearing… fireplace covers, closet organizers, etc. Everything not specifically named in the contract (but which was still “attached” to the property) she started to pack and haul off. (learned a lesson there).
At first, I though, No big deal. I stole the house, she can have some of the trinkets. But the trinkets started to really add up! I was getting pi$$ed. Finally, I do the walk thru the day of the close, and there, in the front yard, is a HUGE hole.
I lost it. I said to her realtor, this is it. Now shes taking shrubbery, this is the last straw, I want X,Y,Z compensation for all these things taken. Even the realtor was surprised and miffed.
Turns out Ol’ Miss Francis had buried St. Joe in the front yard, and lost him. Night before the sale, she had her boys pull the pickups onto the front yard, headlights blasting, and until 2 am they dug everywhere looking for old St. Joe. Never did find him.
She was distraught at the act of sale that she could not honor him: after you bury him, you do have to dig him up, you know, and honor him for his kindness. She left the poor old man buried. Upside down no less. Well, she said, if I ever did find him, I was to send him to her at the time 100 miles away.
Never did find St. Joe. I have a hunch, though, I just might. 
Soon I will be landscaping the front yard (in preparation for my sale of this house this summer) and Old Joe may show up. Want to lay some bets?
The Catholic bookstore here, I recently found out, sells St. Joseph statues for just this purpose. Want one? lol. I’m more inclined to use a Budda, personally, but I am a recovering Catholic.
HR
PS. this kindly old woman, how my wife said “Make sure you don’t take advantage of her” lied about more stuff with this house than you would believe. Some really big stuff too. Just goes to show you, even when they plant St. Joe and bake cookies, you always got to watch your back. Even grandma lies like sin when playing the house game.
Re: St Joseph Statue (Monday Morning Giggle) - Posted by SCook85
Posted by SCook85 on May 03, 1999 at 15:43:14:
If it works I’ll by them by the dozen. Better yet I might have a new business. I’ll buy a banner from JP and sell the statue’s myself. LOL!!!
SCook85
Re: St Joseph Statue (Monday Morning Giggle) - Posted by JPiper
Posted by JPiper on May 03, 1999 at 12:48:04:
As Redline mentions below?the statue is supposed to be in the front yard, not the back yard. Sheesh, there’s a lot of bad info out there!
I’ve seen this used several times over the years?.it always worked.
I once marketed a house according to a horary chart (astrological chart) defining the correct time to list the property. It sold in 5 days in a buyer’s market?.all cash.
Of course, terms always work for a fast sale.
JPiper
Someone should have told McCorkle… - Posted by John Behle
Posted by John Behle on May 03, 1999 at 12:06:50:
…that the prison wasn’t for sale. He must have stood too near that one day when he said “this property shall be mine”. 
Good Grief! My Realtor has one - Posted by Rosie(CA)
Posted by Rosie(CA) on May 03, 1999 at 11:33:33:
My house is for sale and my realtor produced one of those statues in its box!! I refused on 2 occasions to bury it in the yard.
I don’t go for hocus pocus, unless…
If you bury one in the yard of a house you want to buy, unbeknownst to the owner, will that make them sell to you (cheap)?
Maybe I outta borrow that thing…
Re: St Joseph Statue (Monday Morning Giggle) - Posted by Carmen
Posted by Carmen on May 03, 1999 at 10:37:16:
Laugh, if you must, but my mother told me that if you hang a STOLEN (great lesson, huh?) St. Francis upside down in a dark place, you will meet your future husband/wife within a few weeks. She swears she knows people who did this, and it worked for them. So why not bury St. Joseph? The rationale is, they hate that position so much, they will work for you so that you get them out! Of course, you must return it/unbury it once the “miracle” is peformed…
So, are we the “butt” of the joke? - Posted by Michael Murray
Posted by Michael Murray on May 03, 1999 at 10:24:27:
How do people come up with these things? I can just picture the scene in my mind, hundreds of years ago, when this was first tried; “Darn! The house is not selling, what to do? What to do?” Then, uncle guru sits bolt upright in his chair and proclaims, “Hey! I know! Lets bury a statue of St. Joseph in the back yard with his butt sticking up” The kids say “COOL”, the father says, “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that? (slaps his forehead) I mean, duhhh! It’s so obvious, I can’t believe I missed it!” Then, since the house sold right after that, everyone was convinced it was because St. Joe went South, that the deal didn’t. Actually, the real reason that the house sold to the next couple looking at it was, they were in the back yard and noticed the two shiny brown bumps sticking out of the grass and the husband whispers to the wife “Look, honey, a leprechaun is going for the gold, lets buy this place quick!” And now you know the rest of the story!
Deal with it ;^)
Michael Murray
Re: St Joseph Statue (Monday Morning Giggle) - Posted by Tim
Posted by Tim on May 03, 1999 at 08:33:19:
My in-laws (very catholic folks) swear by this method. They have sold their last several homes (personal and investment property) in a matter of days of putting St. Joe out.
You missed the most important part though. You should always remember where you buried the statue so you can retrieve it after the house is sold. I am not sure what happens if you don’t, but it is supposed NO-NO to leave the statute buried after you have sold.
Tim
$1.50?! %&*@! - Posted by HR
Posted by HR on May 04, 1999 at 15:36:20:
A buck 50? I just paid 6 bucks for the one I’m sendin’ to Sandy!!! What gives? Even the religious are out to make a buck?
Linda, you must have bought the “cheaper” St. Joe; that’s why it’s not working. Pay more and you shall receive. And while you’re at it, I know of some indulgences you may be interested in too…
(I hope you realize I’m not poking fun at you personally, Linda; just this wonderfully, whacky part of human nature and Catholicism in particular).
I swear to God: on the box, it shows a picture of a big beautiful house and lawn with a realtor sign that say, SOLD!. The box tells me that this is “The authentic St. Joseph.” On the back of the box it says, “Can’t sell home? Ask St. Joseph… He’s helped 1000s! Call me for quick cash at 123-4567” (Ok, so it doesnt have the call me part, but it was beginning to sound like my classified ad. lol)
Here is my favorite part. There is a picture of a guy digging in the ground. Below it says, “Faith can move mountains… And Homes!!!” LMAO!
The only problem: in this picture, it looks like he is digging IN THE BACK YARD! Could this be the source of your apparent failure, Linda?
I’m inclined to go back and get another one to glue to the top of my monitor (Joe is a little guy: about 2" tall and weighing little.) This is so wonderfully campy, how could you not have one on your monitor as a re investor?
In fact, JP, want to start selling them at creonline? I’ll only charge a 20% mark-up. LOL
HR
Does the name P.T. Barnum come to mind? - Posted by Michael Murray
Posted by Michael Murray on May 04, 1999 at 15:09:33:
No offense, LOL
Cookies and crime - Posted by John Behle
Posted by John Behle on May 04, 1999 at 11:43:07:
If my eyes weren’t opened before, they opened with a particular experience.
I had the sweetest little old lady try and rip me off years ago. I asked her if there were an appraisal on the property she was trying to sell me as a real estate broker. She said no problem.
I guess it’s much easier and quicker to take an existing appraisal for the amount you need and white out and substitute (then photocopy) the subject property than it is to get a new appraisal. I call that “appraisal DuJour”.
Re: Someone should have told McCorkle… - Posted by ScottE
Posted by ScottE on May 03, 1999 at 12:26:28:
Wee Willie sure was a motivated buyer! You know, when a guy’s that motivated, why should the AG’s office and the warden stand in his way?!!
Re: Someone should have told McCorkle… - Posted by JohnBoy
Posted by JohnBoy on May 03, 1999 at 12:15:43:
Yeah…and I’ll bet he never considered what all the closing costs were going to run him on that deal either with all the court costs and attorney fees involved! LOL
Re: Good Grief! My Realtor has one - Posted by Sandy FL
Posted by Sandy FL on May 03, 1999 at 11:40:11:
I got it.
I think I just figured it out.
I will bury a statue of Carelton Sheets in the backyard of the next house I want to buy, NO MONEY DOWN.
Re: St Joseph Statue - Posted by SandY FL
Posted by SandY FL on May 03, 1999 at 10:49:51:
Carmen… Pisan!
Tell me, what else is important? Does it need to be buried in the special protecting bag, as the web page seems to indicate? I am sure that the one sold there comes with a whole set of instructions. But personally I would probably go to the local bible supply store and pick one up. I am sure the clerks would get a kick out of my question.
Actually I am not [all the way] making fun of this. I might test this thing out! And what better place to ask other homesellers of their results, than here??