...Just as vague is how and where St. Joseph should be buried. Some say the statue should be placed in a hole in the backyard upside down, with his feet toward heaven, facing the home. Others say he should face the new home, be in a corner or in the front yard. Most condo owners simply stick him in a flowerpot.

But one thing is certain: When the house is sold and the deal is done, St. Joseph should be dug up and placed in a spot of honor in the new home. How many people actually follow through and unearth the saint is unknown, says Binz, but he estimates that there are "a lot of buried statues out there that people have forgotten once the house is sold."

Michelle Blake turned to St. Joseph after she and her husband purchased a new home and their small Cape Cod residence remained unsold through the usually hot spring and summer real estate seasons. "We are both Catholic, so we figured what the heck, it couldn't hurt," recalls Blake of West Chester, Pa.

After burying a statue upside down, facing the street and next to the for sale sign, Blake and her family began praying to St. Joseph daily. The house sold within two weeks.

"Who knows if it was coincidence or St. Joseph," adds Blake. "But I'll tell you that I still have the prayer to St. Joseph on my fridge and the little plastic statue on my windowsill."