I have said it once and I will say it again, the locales and names have been changed to protect the living.  If you are alive, you know who you are, and if you’re not, you will not care! As for me, I’m not giving anyone up.  It’s just not ethical, as anyone would plainly know. So here we go.

Once upon a time, in 1982, I was a very enthusiastic rookie Realtor!  My family attorney said, “Jimmy this is not the time to go into Realty!”  It was the aftermath of the Carter Administration and as most know who lived through those times, things were tough! Due to the idealistic notion that “Laissez-faire Economics”, first described in Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations during the late 18th century, would work in a modern capitalistic society, our country was in a bit of a pickle.  Interest rates were soaring; home sale prices were in downward spiral.  I think interest rates had leveled out at about 14.5% when I passed my real estate exam.  Against the advice of everyone I knew, I proceeded forward in my new career.

I picked a fairly good sized agency, in my neighborhood, I think my broker, may have gone to school with my parents.  It was in the shopping center, next to the “Suds-A-Rama”.  At the sales meeting, I was introduced as “the new guy”.  I also met a little, old lady named Mary with whom I would be sharing a desk apparently.  The Broker said, she was a “top producer”, and that I was to watch and listen to her carefully.  The desk we were sharing only had 3 drawers.  She said that she would use the top drawer, I would have the middle drawer, and that she had some stuff stored in the 3rd drawer.  She said not to go into the bottom drawer. I said, “Sure. No problem.”

I settled into the office routine quickly.  It did take me long to realize that when young couples walked in the office wanting to know how to purchase their first home on a FHA 203B, and then left abruptly after only 20 minutes of presentation that I was not to get discouraged.  They wre only killing time while their clothing dried at the “Suds-A-Rama”.

One day, I was late coming into the office and tripped as I got to my desk trying to answer the telephone.  The desk tipped over and when I tried to put it upright, the bottom drawer came sliding out onto the floor revealing dozens of very small St. Joseph statues.  Being very intrigued at ths point, I went to my boss and told him what had happened!  The Boss did not look happy!  He said, “Jimmy, didn’t Mary tell you not to go into that drawer?”  But Boss, “It was an accident!” I said.  The Boss looked at me and said “Accident or no, you better tell Mary and do not let her find out on her own.  You did not take one of the statues did you? Mary has them all them accounted for! ” By now, I am mystified!

Later that afternoon, Mary came into the office and I told her what happened.  She said, “Did you take one my statues?” I said, “No way!”  At this point, I burst out, and asked, “Mary, why do you have all those St. Joseph statues?”  She looked at me and said, “I’ll tell you, but you can’t tell anybody else and you can’t laugh! Do you promise?”  I said, “I would never divulge a secret.” She paused for a second to collect her thoughts and said the following, “Jimmy, these statues are my answer to the recession.  Every time, I have a home that is difficult to sell, I wait until the full moon and I say a prayer, and then I bury one of these statues in the back yard of the home I am trying to sell. Usually, in 2 or 3 weeks time the house sells!  It has kept me a top producer my entire career.”  She could tell by the look on my face that I was stunned.  I really did not know what to say and I did a good job to keep from laughing.  I never said anything about the incident again, and did not tell anyone else.  Something about the wrath of God and all that I am sure.

A short time later, I got my first waterfront listing down by the Bay, and it was a beautiful piece of property with a 30 mile view of the Bay.  It was 20% over-priced for the neighborhood and the owner knew it. Needless to say, after 5 months, the home had not sold and there were very few showings. The owner called up and wanted to know what I could to do “to push the house”.  My solution, as it still is today, “When in doubt, Open House!”  Sure enough on the weekend of the “Full Moon”, I found myself burying one of Mary’s statues in the backyard of this waterfront home.   I did a full blown “Open House” for the whole weekend to no avail. I told Mary what had happened and she said, “Just give it time and have faith.  Things happen in their own time.  By the way, you are going to repay me for that statue? Right?” She winked at me and turned away.

About 2 weeks came and went, and a young couple from Rhode Island walked into the office wanting waterfront property, and of course I showed them my listing, and they could not believe how inexpensive this property was compared to the one they had just sold in Rhode Island.  It was a cash sale, and it closed in about two weeks. As I came out of the closing, Mary was there going about her business, and she smiled at me and said, ” I never said it would sell on the night of the full moon, but the most time, I have ever had to wait was 3 weeks! I do not do this for all my listings, just the ones with problems.  You need to work hard, and have faith in those special people put here to help you.”

Now, I am not recommending this marketing strategy for all of your listings, just the special ones with problems.  So, on this Halloween, if you see someone on a full moon, weekend burying something in the back yard of a home with a “For Sale” sign on it, don’t call the police, more than likely it’s just your neighborhood Realtor!