Desperate home sellers in the USA are turning to religion and calling on the supernatural in a bid to move on to a better place.
Some have tried bribery by offering speed boats, cars and even a $1,000 tab at a local bar to tempt buyers, while others have resorted to spoof music videos on YouTube.
However, instead of bringing in the creatives and home dressers, the latest ploy by sellers is divine inspiration – even if the god is pagan.
Faith has been displayed by setting up home shrines, performing exorcisms, saying prayers and even spiritual cleansing.
One seller, a Jewish homeowner from Accord, New York State, acted on a tip from her Roman Catholic neighbour and buried a figure of St Joseph in her garden. The house sold within three weeks.
Buying a St Joseph home sale kit
Similar kits are for sale online – ranging from just £8 on Ebay to nearly £50 elsewhere.
“Legend has it, that if you bury him upside down near the “For Sale” sign, in the backyard, or in a flower pot, and then say a little prayer, then your house will sell! Couldn’t hurt, right?” said one seller.
The kits include the story of St. Joseph with a picture and prayer, instructions for planting the figurine – and a small statue of the saint for planting upside down near the for sale sign.
“The tradition of burying a statue of Saint Joseph finds comes from the catholic custom of burying medals in the ground to call for God’s blessing on the area. It is not the medal, but the blessing which brings God’s power. Today homeowners of all denominations ask for St. Joseph’s help in selling and buying their homes,” said the seller.
Getting wise to burning sage
A relocation company could not shift a home in a Michigan town, so paid a local priest $1,500 to exorcise the ghost of the former owner who had died there.
Remarkably, the house sold within a short time of the exorcism.
Other more spiritual tricks estate agents try to cleanse homes of bad spirits include burning sage, a pagan ritual designed to bring peace to a troubled property.
However, according to the latest UK survey, cleaning the bathroom and kitchen are easier rituals to follow when trying to sell as burning tons of sage will not put up a smokescreen to kid buyers in to turning a blind eye to dirty habits.