Whether you check your horoscope every day, meditate, believe in a higher power, or don’t generally give it much thought, with the changing of the leaves (and let’s be honest, the appearance of jack-o-lanterns on neighbourhood steps) seems to come something of a rapprochement with the spiritual world.
On the other hand, the real estate world can seem pretty cut-and-dried. When you’re dealing with numbers and square footage and paint colours daily, you feel as far from the supernatural as you can get.
It may surprise you to know that many buyers and sellers, and even their agents, use what might be considered ‘unorthodox’ methods to try and make the right sale. Beyond installing new appliances or redoing the landscaping, many people do, in fact, turn to the spiritual and the supernatural to get a home ready to put on the market – or in hopes that it will sell faster. In my thirteen years in real estate, I have seen it all.
Perhaps one of the best-known practices is the burial of a Saint Joseph statue. Joseph, husband to Mary and stepfather to Jesus, has long been associated with the home, and it’s said that if you bury his statue on your property (exact location and instructions vary depending on who you talk to), your house will definitely sell. I don’t think any scientific studies have been done to prove or disprove it, but it worked for my sister in 2005, anyway!
If Catholic saints aren’t your thing, maybe you’re more interested in Eastern philosophies. Many stagers and homeowners swear by the art of Feng Shui in preparing a home for sale – a quick Google search will give you lists of tips and even links to Realtors who specialize in it. It’s hard to argue with wanting each room to have a good energy flow when potential buyers walk into it.
Speaking of the buyer’s experience in a room, many people believe that colours themselves have spiritual meaning and energy. There’s certainly a psychological justification to this – consider how colours are used in packaging and advertising to encourage buying behaviours – but maybe there’s a more profound spiritual truth to it. Perhaps it’s time to shop for new accessories in specific colours if the energy seems a bit off, even with the help of Feng Shui.
If none of those are quite doing it for you, a bit of a crossover between the by-the-numbers real estate world and the supernatural might be your thing: numerology. From simple things like not listing on Friday the 13th to more involved practices like finding out what specific numbers represent before setting your listing price, there might be something to consider in the numbers you associate with your home when you put it on the market.
Of course, I can’t personally vouch for any of these practices, but when a home won’t sell – or you’re keen to start a sale off on the best foot possible – it can’t hurt to call in a little extra help, can it? It might be something to meditate on, anyway