When you need a miracle to sell your house...

Hopefully you don't literally need a miracle to sell your house, but maybe just a bit of saintly help?  Well, then I've got good news for you: there's a long standing tradition of invoking St Joseph to help sell a property (yes, that St. Joseph).

The tradition seems to have began with communities of nuns burying a St Joseph medallion on a property they hoped to buy for a convent.  Over time the medal was replaced with little statues, and then at some point transferred to the sale side of a property transaction rather than the purchase. 

The tradition's specifics vary a bit depending on who you ask, but essentially you take a small statue of St. Joseph and bury it on the property until it sells and then dig it up and take it with you.  Some say it should be in the backyard or that the location doesn't matter, others say beside the real estate sign.  Likewise, some say upside down and others say horizontally with the head - and thus the praying hands of St Joseph - pointing toward the house.  The only thing that is consistent is that it should be buried.

If you want to try this next time you're selling a property,  you should be able to easily find a statue or even a "St Joseph Home Selling Kit" in a gift shop or online at someplace like Amazon.

Not surprisingly, there are also lots of [other superstitions related to the house], including some that people lean on when it's time to sell or buy - things like numbers in the address, days of the week to close, and so on.

Have you ever used the St Joseph statue when selling?  Are there any other traditions that you have used?  Or is it all just hokey nonsense? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below.