[sschuler1]

My cousin told me about this many years ago when she was selling their house. They were on the market for quite a long time with no offers. She put St. Joseph in the ground, and within two months had sold their house. But it has been such a long time ago since she told me I wasn't sure if I had done it correctly. The statue that I purchased didn't have any instructions in the box. Are you sure it's supposed to face the house Nanci? I thought she told me he should face the road?

[nanci2539]

I buried mine facing the house. I've heard storeis from a home selling within weeks to homes not sellling for a year. From facing the house to the road to upside down to right side up,

My home sold in less than three months. I never said the prayer but once in a while would remind St. Joseph that I wanted to sell the house!

[mikey]

We just did the same thing in WY. We have had several friends that said it worked for them. Who knows if it works, but in today's market , I do not think that it can hurt anything.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Muncle

Last evening I noticed several of my neighbors in the street out front. Didn't know what was happening, latest gossip, etc, so I went out to chat. When I got there, the conversation kinda waned and the group thinned out quickly. I later discovered that several of them had been burying statues of St. Joseph in my front lawn. Does that mean anything?

I wouldn't worry about it at all Munc. However you might want to switch brands on your deodorant and mouth wash.

[Terra Ridge]

sschuler, I too buried St Joseph in my yard...TWO YEARS AGO! I figured it wouldn't hurt. The directions that came with him said upside down facing the direction you wanted to move to. Mine is pointing south east since that is where TV is in location to Milford, MI. For almost a year I said the prayer and many others along with it. I too have a very unique property (ranch home with acreage on a lake). My price is great but I can no longer compete with the high end homes in forclosure here. I don't know how the market is in Plymouth but nothing is happening in Milford. I am now working on Plan C and will keep working the way down the alphabet until I get to V!

If I were you, I would take any offer made. It may seem low now but in six months you will be sorry. If anyone would have told me that today I would be begging someone to buy at a hundred grand less than we put it on the market at I would have said they were nuts. But that is were the prices are now. I only have had one offer in all these months and the buyers backed out on me.

Like I said.....on to Plan C!
Let me know if you want me to pm you the prayer.

[SteveFromNY]

Frankly, my wife did all of this too. It was something she'd heard at work and I think it's ridiculous.
We had much better luck after we dug him up and lowered the price. Our house was on the market for over a year, and our listing agent (to get the listing I am sure) comped us much higher than we even thought we should get. But hey, he's the pro - so we went with it. As the time went by, we lowered the price and his listing expired. Another agent brought us a buyer (in January) who'd been looking for 2 years for the perfect house. I asked why didn't you come see it last year? Of course the answer was "It was priced too high". So, after another year of mortgage payments, I sold (I hope - we have a tentative closing date of next Thursday) to someone who would have bought my house a year before but I had it listed too high. By the way, we actually got the price we originally had in our heads before the "professional" blinded us with dollar signs.
So dig up poor St Joseph and set a price that works in today's market!

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by SteveFromNY

Frankly, my wife did all of this too. It was something she'd heard at work and I think it's ridiculous.
We had much better luck after we dug him up and lowered the price. Our house was on the market for over a year, and our listing agent (to get the listing I am sure) comped us much higher than we even thought we should get. But hey, he's the pro - so we went with it. As the time went by, we lowered the price and his listing expired. Another agent brought us a buyer (in January) who'd been looking for 2 years for the perfect house. I asked why didn't you come see it last year? Of course the answer was "It was priced too high". So, after another year of mortgage payments, I sold (I hope - we have a tentative closing date of next Thursday) to someone who would have bought my house a year before but I had it listed too high. By the way, we actually got the price we originally had in our heads before the "professional" blinded us with dollar signs.
So dig up poor St Joseph and set a price that works in today's market!

ABSOLUTELY AGREE STEVE!

[sschuler1]

Terra Ridge, sorry to hear you aren't having any luck in Milford. The one offer we had was so low that it was ridiculous. They had the nerve to tell our realtor that we should be happy because we don't owe that much on our mortgage. Can you believe that? We have had a lot of lookers, but they are all looking for a bigger house. You would think they could see from the listing that it is only 1650 square feet! I think with the price of gas that people want to move closer to work, so I think we should be able to sell this year. Milford would be tough because of the distance from the city. Hang in there! By the way, I have been making up my own prayers. I don't think St. Joseph will mind if my prayers are little different! Thanks

[Muncle]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

[/color]

ABSOLUTELY AGREE STEVE!

You guys just don't have faith in the old ways. I buried a strip of bacon in my back yard and it removed all the warts from the statue of St. Joseph I had buried in the front yard.


There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Muncle

You guys just don't have faith in the old ways. I buried a strip of bacon in my back yard and it removed all the warts from the statue of St. Joseph I had buried in the front yard.


There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Muncle, Muncle, Muncle!

[SteveFromNY]

Originally Posted by Muncle

You guys just don't have faith in the old ways. I buried a strip of bacon in my back yard and it removed all the warts from the statue of St. Joseph I had buried in the front yard.


There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Wait a minute Muncle! I also use bacon to remove the warts from my St Joseph statues. I just don't think it helps sell houses.

[Shirleevee]

I just received a catalog and lo and behold they are selling St. Joseph statues to help sell your home. It may have been Walter Drake or Trends. I had never heard of this before.

Shirleevee

[Muncle]

Originally Posted by SteveFromNY

Wait a minute Muncle! I also use bacon to remove the warts from my St Joseph statues. I just don't think it helps sell houses.

But you have to admit, Steve. The statue looked maahvalous.

[SteveFromNY]

Originally Posted by Muncle

But you have to admit, Steve. The statue looked maahvalous.

Yes it does, yes it does.

;D

[clekr]

We closed today on our home in CT. We'll be down to TV in July to buy. We sold our house in 9 days w/o an agent. The bit of advise I would offer to all those lamenting that they can not sell - you must be realistic about the price; particularly in a declining market.

We started with a professional appraisal. Not an option by the agent who would list it. We did pay $300 for this, to a firm who regularly does this for the banks, etc. We were very disappointed that it was valued at $40K less than we thought it was worth. But, when we viewed the comparables I could not disagree. However, (at the advise of the appraiser) we listed it at $20K more than the appraised value. And, we sold it for $10K more than the appraisal. Again, 9 days, no agent. The closing was delayed 90 days by mutual agreement. Today similar houses are LISTED at $20K to $30K less than we sold for.

Get an appraisal. Be realistic. It is not worth what you want it to be worth, but what the market says it's worth.