This past Sturday the sellers of my new listing asked me to join them in a ceremony to bury a small statue of Saint Joseph in their back yard.  I had heard of sellers burying the replicas, but never participated in the actual event.

As a boy I attended a Catholic grammer school that I referred to as CCC (Catholic concentration camp).  The nuns that taught at Saint Ann's were draconian in their discipline methods.  To them a time-out meant putting the ruler in the other hand before the punishment continued.

I'm not sure when Saint Joseph entered the real estate business.  As a youth, we prayed to him when we couldn't find something.  It seemed he was the patron saint for those with poor memories.  To this day when I can't locate my car keys, I ask him to come to the rescue.

Fortunately, my clients felt Saint Joseph was necessary but not sufficient to locate a buyer in a very challenging buyers market that is bloated with competition, short sales, and REO properties.  The sellers bought the statue only after obtaining an appraisal, and implementing several staging suggestions.

M/M Seller painted the entire interior of their home.  The front walkway was refinished to give a strong first impression.  The house was professionally cleaned including the windows.  The sellers rented two storage containers and pre-packed the excess furniture and wall hangings.

The selling strategy is to begin below appraisal and then reduce the property until an acceptable offer appears.  The philosophy is money is made when you buy a property.  When you sell, only the market determines the price.  In other words, lose a dollar when you sell, and negotiate stronger when you buy.

Saint Joseph statues are available in most markets.  But, to this day, I'll never forget the nuns wise advice that, "God helps those who help themselves".  In other words, bury the statue after the painting, staging and proper pricing is complete.