The Shearing of the Sheep

From the OC Register, we have Jeff Collins writing about: Housing's Hail Mary.

But after two months without a buyer, Toranto hoped to enlist a higher authority in her sales campaign, entreating St. Joseph – patron saint of home seekers – to help sell her tidy two-bedroom unit at the back of a quiet complex.

On a recent weekday morning, she dug a 6-inch hole in the brick planter next to her front door, then buried a 3-inch plastic statue of St. Joseph head-first into the dirt.

"Usually, I'm skeptical about these things," said Toranto, 71, an interior designer. "But the times we're in, the market being as slow as it is ... I figured I'd give it a try."

Doesn't the lord help those who help themselves, and lower the price, or some such?

"I believe he's the patron for all us Realtors," said Century 21 agent Lourdes Carroll of La Palma. "When I go and sell a house, I take the statue and I ask the seller to ask St. Joseph for his help. … It's great to have heavenly friends."

Isn't it ever?!?

Kathy Lopez, a Washington Mutual loan consultant, said St. Joseph helped her sell her home at the height of the housing slowdown in the mid- 1990s although she did end up taking less than she paid.

And sometimes the lord giveth less than what she paid...

Way to go, St. Joe! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!