The Patron Saint of Real Estate: Saint Joseph

Yes there is a patron saint of real estate, this is not simply a clickbait title! Whilst I was researching practises people use to attract good luck when selling I stumbled across a few examples being the usage of a Saint Joseph statue, the Patron Saint of Real Estate. I quickly popped over to Amazon to see if it is a commercialised product and there I was presented with a long list of mini statues for sale to aid in selling your property!

Where did Saint Joseph and its connection with Real Estate begin? There are quite a few stories around this topic though mostly we see the theme that Saint Joseph was the patron saint of carpenters (who happened to build houses too) and evolved to be also seen as a Patron Saint of Home Sellers. He was said to have had to move home many times with his family to relocate to new lands.

Alternatives include: “​This tradition is believed to have started with a 16th century nun named Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada (later St. Teresa of Avila). St. Teresa founded the Discalced Carmelites order of nuns in 1562, and it was her personal mission to establish many convents throughout Spain. One day as she searched for a location to build on, she discovered an ideal parcel of land. She turned to St. Joseph in prayer asking for his aid in acquiring the land; she buried a medal with his image on it in the soil and waited patiently. St. Teresa ultimately attained the land and believed it was St. Joseph who came to her assistance. The tradition of burying a medal of St. Joseph — and later a statue of the saint — gained momentum after St. Teresa’s experience.” source catholicfaithstore

Now the tradition of this statue is to be buried in the back garden thanks to the story we shared above when St. Teresa of Avila buried the medal. This practise really gathered pace in recent years (1990’s) and now many people, both religious or not, will tend to use this method in order to bring them luck when selling.

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Bank of England Money and Credit Report – March 2025

These monthly statistics on the amount of, and interest rates on, borrowing and deposits by households and businesses are used by the Bank’s policy committees to understand economic trends and developments in the UK banking system. Key points: Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals increased sharply by £9.7 billion to £13.0 billion in March,…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

Selling fast! Spruce up your home ahead of double Bank Holiday viewing rush

Average property takes 145 days to go under offer, but some get snapped up in as few as 13 days Property expert shares top tips to get your property sell-ready in hours ahead of May Bank Holiday showings Spring is house-moving time for many Brits and the double Bank Holidays in May are peak time…
Read More
Estate Agent Talk

What Manchester Homebuyers Should Know, According to Conveyancers

Buying a home in Manchester can be one of the most exciting and significant decisions in your life—but it’s also one of the most complex. Whether you’re a first-time buyer or moving up the property ladder, navigating the legal and administrative side of a home purchase can be daunting. That’s where conveyancers come in. These…
Read More
Breaking News

Housing sector ranks second for customer complaints

New research from Ventrica has revealed the revenue benefits for brands that invest in providing emotive customer experiences (CX) that consumers want. The company surveyed over 2,000 UK consumers and found that over the last 12 months, only 4 per cent of positive experiences were delivered by AI and only 18 per cent were a…
Read More
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Rightmove’s weekly mortgage tracker – 30/04/25

Rightmove’s mortgage expert Matt Smith says: “Average rates have continued to slowly come down over the last week, while the cheapest available fixed mortgage rate is a 2-year fixed rate at 3.79% for those with the largest deposits. I think lenders are now biding their time until the 8th May Bank Rate decision, and will…
Read More
sold purplebricks
Breaking News

Latest HMRC UK Property Transactions Report

Headline statistics from the latest transactions data include: The provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in March 2025 is 177,370, 104% higher than March 2024 and 62% higher than February 2025 The provisional non-seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in March 2025 is 164,650, 89% higher…
Read More