Do You Believe These Real Estate Superstitions?

Real estate superstitions are cultural folklore and tradition with no proof behind them. And yet many buyers, sellers and homeowners still follow them.

At Bentley's Real Estate in Greater Newburyport, we tell clients to keep the traditions that bring them comfort, and let pricing, preparation and marketing do the real work of buying or selling a house.

Follow a superstition when it makes the move feel like yours. Skip it when it starts to shrink your list of homes or fight your closing date.

Either way, it helps to know which beliefs you will run into first, which is why we start with the list.

The most common real estate superstitions

The most popular real estate superstitions are burying a St. Joseph statue, bringing bread and salt into a new home first, leaving the old broom behind, smudging with sage and choosing a lucky moving day.

Superstition	What people do	Believed result
St. Joseph statue	Sellers bury a small statue upside down near the sale sign, facing the house	A faster sale
Bread and salt	New homeowners bring bread or rice plus salt in first	Prosperity and a life full of flavor
No old broom	Buy a new broom for the new home	Old bad luck stays behind
Smudging	Burn sage and walk the smoke through each room	Negative energy and spirits leave
Moving day	Move on a Thursday; avoid rainy days, Fridays and Saturdays	Settling in smoothly
Number 13	Avoid 13 in addresses or prices	Avoiding bad luck
Blue porch ceiling	Paint the porch ceiling blue	Ghosts mistake it for water and stay away
Coins	Scatter coins in the living room or room corners	Financial good fortune
No knives	Never give knives as a housewarming gift	Friendships stay intact

If any of these matter to you, tell your agent early. Case in point: for sellers, the statue usually comes up in the first conversation.

St. Joseph and selling a home faster

Burying a statue of St. Joseph is the classic ritual for sellers in a hurry. St. Joseph is considered the patron saint of families, working people, and house sellers and buyers.

Sellers bury the statue upside down near the sale sign, facing the house, so he will want to get out faster. Then they say prayers for a quick sale.

Once the home sells, they dig him up and give him a place of honor in the next home.

A fast sale at top dollar still comes from the right price, a well-prepared home and strong marketing, so the statue works best alongside a plan.

Once the offer is accepted, attention shifts to moving day.

Moving day superstitions: bread, salt, brooms and timing

That first day in a new place carries more folklore than any other part of the process. The three beliefs we hear most:

• Bread and salt. Bread or rice represents prosperity, so the household never knows hunger. Salt is believed to keep life full of flavor and luxury.
• The old broom. According to popular belief, an old broom sweeps the bad energy of your last place into the new one.
• The day you move. Indian tradition favors an auspicious day. Rainy days, Fridays and Saturdays are considered unlucky, and Thursday is considered the luckiest day to move. Some Western beliefs avoid Friday the 13th.

A preferred moving day needs room in the schedule.

That is, closing depends on the attorney, the lender and the other party, so we raise the date before anyone signs. Long before moving day, though, some buyers have already judged the house itself.

Energy, numbers and feng shui

Some buyers read a property by its feel, its numbers or its layout, and these beliefs can change whether they make an offer.

Belief	Who it affects	What to consider
Smudging with sage	Buyers moving in, some sellers before listing	A Native American ceremony that ends with a blessing or prayer
Unlucky number 13	Addresses, prices, offers	A price or street number that adds up to an unlucky number can turn some buyers away
House direction	Buyers with cultural preferences	No one direction suits every culture
Feng shui layout	Staircases facing the front door	Some buyers pass on these layouts
Mercury retrograde	Clients who follow astrology	Some will not sign a contract during it

Numbers can affect the dollar amount a buyer will offer or accept, including the listing price. We talk through that when we price a home.

Some beliefs follow you past the sale.

Smaller household superstitions

Months after closing, a few superstitions still show up around the house. Many people avoid walking under ladders, a belief from the medieval period tied to the gallows.

Others place an acorn on a windowsill to protect the house from lightning, or hang a horseshoe over the doorway to ward off negative energy.

Pros and cons of following real estate superstitions

Looking back over all of these, following real estate superstitions makes sense when the ritual brings comfort without costing you options.

Pros	Cons
Rituals give comfort during a stressful move	A preferred moving day can clash with the closing schedule
Traditions connect a new home to family and culture	Avoiding numbers or layouts can shrink your list of homes
A new broom or smudging marks a fresh start	No superstition replaces good pricing, marketing or an inspection

That last con is where your agent comes in.

How Bentley's Real Estate works with your traditions

Bentley's Real Estate is the #1 real estate brokerage in Greater Newburyport by market share, seven years running since 2019, with 60+ agents.

We handle the practical side for you: pricing, staging, inspection questions and scheduling the closing with your attorney.

Believe in luck or not, the plan behind your sale or purchase should not depend on it.

Your move with Bentley's

Thinking about buying or selling a house in Greater Newburyport? Call us at (978) 572-1200.