Special thanks to realtor Jennifer Davis, who wrote a great blog sharing the legend behind St. Joseph and how he is helping home sellers everywhere. We love to read about different ways that others in the real estate industry share this very interesting tradition. Jenn’s blog mentions that many St Joseph statues are still left behind even when the properties had sold, this is the exact problem EcoJoe solves! It’s great to have the eco-friendly alternative to resolve issues like this.
Here is what she wrote:
St. Joseph is the patron saint of real estate matters and home sales. In this recovering market, as some homes languish on the market, the practice of using a St. Joseph statue has become increasingly popular to aid in the sale of homes.
The custom begins with burying a St. Joseph statue upside in the front lawn. If you do not have a front lawn, a potted plant will suffice. Place the statue head down, facing east, and cover the hole. Some say his feet should be facing heaven and his head facing the home (which may not be east-facing). Some say it should face the street or face the “for sale” sign. But there is agreement that his head should be buried upside down.
There is a prayer that needs to be said at this point and that prayer usually comes with the St. Joseph packaging. When the property sells, you must dig up the statue, clean it off, and carry it to your new home where it should be kept in a place of dignity or honor (fireplace mantle, for example). I bet there are many St. Joseph statues still buried upside down and forgotten. I wonder what happened with the subsequent sale of that property?
Of course, none of the sales could be complete without a top notch real estate agent. But that is another discussion for another time. I can send you the St. Joseph prayer; simply email me at jdavis@mcguire.com.
Do you travel with your EcoJoe? If so, we would like your pics!
Special thanks to Frontera Estates for taking EcoJoe over to Barcelona! We are sure he had a blast touring Spain. Here are the two photos came back to us below.
Aren’t they cool? EcoJoe’s never been in snow before!
So send us your cool travel pics! We would love to showcase them.
AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING. We’ve been slapping ourselves to check if we were dreaming. But we weren’t! We are in the current issue of Entrepreneur Magazine! Special Thanks to Yak About It. We were fortunately enough to be on YAI’s website and selected for the mag. Thanks for everyone’s support so far! Press like these are amazing because we are not even 1-year-old yet!
A little bit more info on Yak About It:
YAK ABOUT IT–featured products all started off as ideas, ideas culminated from ordinary people like you and me. The people behind these inventive products had the courage to change their lives as they once knew them and take a risk on their dreams. This vision to bring a product to market and to start a company is not all-encompassing; it’s not a dream shared by everyone. The learning process, hard work, cash investment and time make it all the more special for inventors and independent entrepreneurs when their ideas are brought to market. The problem is that once a product is ready to sell doesn’t mean that a sale is guaranteed. It’s not that the invention or creative product is useless; rather, the product lacks awareness.
April 2010 Entrepreneur Magazine Stroke of Genius Section (Page 79)
Panicked over what last minute gift to get your client? From something you can make yourself to big ticket gifts and everything in between, you’ll find it here… Den ganzen Beitrag lesen »
12.14.2009 Green Baby Guide: The Four Wackiest Green Gifts.
Although we hardly qualify for practical baby gifts (but hey, babies do love us), we are super honored and thrilled to be listed as Green Baby Guide’s 4 Wackiest Green Gifts. Not to mention EcoJoe always loves to give any already stress out new parents some much needed relieves!
Searching for a somewhat bizarre gift for your eccentric uncle or this year’s white elephant gift exchange? The following four are somewhat functional but mostly just weird presents for your holiday list.
If someone you know is struggling to sell a house this holiday season, they may need Ecojoe—the Original Eco-Friendly St. Joseph Statue Home Selling Kit. Who the heck is St. Joseph? He’s the patron saint of real estate. For years he’s been buried in the yards of those hoping to find an interested buyer. Does anyone really need an eco-friendly, biodegradable statue of a saint? Probably not, but it is a fun gag gift that may bring stressed out homeowners a laugh.
The I Am Not a Paper Cup mug is wonderfully deceptive. Crafted from a ceramic mug and a silicone lid, it looks identical to a paper cup but is far eco-friendlier.
We’re sure you’ve been asking yourself, “How can I spoil my feline friend with eco-friendly products?” The Green Organic Eco Friendly Cat Bundle of Products is a helpful kitty gift basket that includes citrus magic litter box odor eliminator and bath wipes—among other essential cat grooming items!
Our favorite eco-friendly gift is the Elephant Poo Poo Paper Notebox. Yes, this thick, high quality note paper is made from elephant dung. Recycling the feces of large mammals has never been such fun!
Have you come across any fun eco-friendly products lately? We’d love to hear about your finds!
We got a double dose of blog mentions from by Mike Mueller: on his Active Rain blog and his www.AreWeConnected.com blog. Double the fun! We had a nice chuckle when we read the comments on the Active Rain blog.
If you are not familiar with real estate there’s a wild theory out there that may surprise you. Bury a statue of St. Joseph in the front of your house (upside down) and your house will sell faster. Really? Yeah, that’s the theory.
Buy into the theory or not, since most of those St. Joe statues are made of plastic and never dug up after the sale that’s not very “green”. That’s where Cindy Lin came up with a green solution.
EcoJoe is biodegradable. Sounds simple enough right? The company is also socially aware. Every quarter they’ll give part of their proceeds to a deserving charity. They do so by being part of 1% for the Planet alliance. This Quarter, it’s Friends of the Urban Forest
The centuries old practice of burying a statue of St. Joseph on real estate for sale is reputed to enlist the saint’s assistance in finding a buyer. Before Joseph became the patron saint of real estate, he was Jesus’s foster father on earth who taught Jesus the trade of carpentry. He always saw to it that Jesus was protected and well housed.
The tradition is about trust, belief and sincerity, not greedy intentions to make more money in a real estate transaction. Today, thousands of home sellers and real estate agents continue the tradition of calling upon St. Joseph to help sell their property with successful results.
I attended the EcoJoe “Launch Party” in San Francisco this last week and had a little fun with video. Here’s just a sample of what I captured. The videos are going viral now and I actually have people who were not at the party recording and submitting their own story!
What’s your EcoJoe Story? Let’s hear it! Record a short video and send it to me (myecojoestory@areweconnected.com) . I’ll get your story into the stream
RERockstar.com is indeed a rockstar in our opinion! Not only he wrote a blog post about EcoJoe, he also recorded a video!
A true fan Rockstar indeed.
Here is the text of the post:
EcoJoe – Here to help you sell your home.
Today, I was introduced to EcoJoe through my friend MikeMueller. It was a strange introduction, just a simple email that announced some video on Mike’s Facebook page. When I arrived, there were videos by some of the best and brightest in the real estate world, talking about EcoJoe. After watching some of my friends, peers, and people I admire in the real estate business wax poetic, I had to ask, “Who is EcoJoe?“
EcoJoe is based off the concept that burying a statue of Saint Joseph (upside down) in your yard or a flowerpot at your home while selling it, is said to help you get a fast sale. I’ve heard of many people who swear by it and others who say it’s complete hogwash. No matter your belief, the story of EcoJoe proves to be an interesting one. Founded by Cindy Lin the concept is simple – burying a plastic statue in your backyard isn’t good for the environment. Imagine thousands of plastic St. Joesph figures being found in thousands of years in yards across the world. Not very environmentally friendly, is it? So Cindy set out on a quest to develop a safe, bio-degradable answer to a centuries old tradition. The answer? EcoJoe.
Have your own thoughts about EcoJoe? Join the viral campaign to spread the good word. Have a video you’d like to submit for EcoJoe stories? Want to answer the question, “Who is EcoJoe?” Send Mike Mueller a message on Twitter or Facebook.
Want to learn more about EcoJoe? Visit the EcoJoe website.
If you’re one of the folks who has buried a statue of St. Joseph on a property in the hopes of getting it to sell faster, here’s something to think about.
Joseph was a carpenter (the actual translation is more “builder,” which means he worked with wood, clay, stone, whatever). The point being, he’s a guy who worked with natural materials.
So a plastic statue doesn’t exactly do right by him, does it? No offense to whichever Chinese company is turning them out, but a cheap plastic toy doesn’t exactly demonstrate a full measure of devotion, does it?
Further, those plastic statues are forever. They’re unnatural. Would a man who worked with wood and clay and stone approve of something like that?
One company thinks the answer is “No,” and it’s got an alternative: The $14.95 EcoJoe — a statue of St. Joseph made of clay, part of an “eco-friendly home selling kit.” Even the packaging is “printed with soy-based ink on 100% post consumer paper.”
Much more in line with what Joseph himself would use, huh?
Bay Area Home Sellers Hope For A Housing Rebound
Aug. 01, 2009, 6:57pm PST
Bay Area home sellers anticipate a busy weekend. Their properties are staged. Their real estate blogs are updated. And Sue Kwon tells us they expect an increase in foot traffic thanks to new home sales data indicating a housing rebound.
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You can also view behind the scene photos (like the one above) on our Flickr page or here below:
7.15.09. Terrylynn – Realtor who believes in Staging Blog: We get a sneak peak at EcoJoe at the Expo in Dublin, ca! 7/15/09.
Skeptics may wonder, but I started using St. Joseph statues on my listings about 15 years ago. It has become common practice for my husband, Bob, when he is putting up my signs to bury the statue. We can’t tell you for sure that if we’d forgotten the statue the house wouldn’t sell, but it certainly seems like the positive thoughts and intention don’t hurt.
When I first started buying them, they were hard to locate. Now there are three or four sources. Since I have become a green advocate, I can’t tell you how excited I am to put in my order for EcoJoe!
If someone you know is struggling to sell a house this holiday season, they may need 
The centuries old practice of burying a statue of St. Joseph on real estate for sale is reputed to enlist the saint’s assistance in finding a buyer. Before Joseph became the patron saint of real estate, he was Jesus’s foster father on earth who taught Jesus the trade of carpentry. He always saw to it that Jesus was protected and well housed.
