Marilyn Zipprich

Burying a small statue of St. Joseph in the front yard of a house is a tradition that’s crept into real estate offices across the country. It’s certainly crept into the routine of Valley Realtor Marilyn Zipprich.

St. Joseph, patron saint of home and family, has long been used in real estate to help those who are buying or selling a home. It’s worked for Zipprich, who recently went back into sales after losing her job as a broker.“I’ve always leaned on the man upstairs, St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother,” she says. She started burying small St. Joseph figurines in the yards of homes she had listed for sale.

“And despite the real estate market, the homes started to sell,” she says. Zipprich petitions St. Joseph to bring her a strong buyer.

“I want the right buyer, the person who belongs in the home – not just any buyer,” she says. And sure enough, the right buyers have been coming her way.

“After it happened several times, I said, ‘St. Joseph, you help me all the time, so I’m going to make a promiseto you. Whenever I sell a house, I will donate a portion of the proceeds to St. Joseph’s Hospital.’

“I’ve been through a lot of things in my life, a lot of loss and heartache, but I’ve been able to turn those into lessons that I was meant to learn. St. Joseph has been there through it all.”