Buyers Try to Clear Out Bad Vibes

Foreclosed homes may have a lot of negative energy lurking, from missing appliances, dirty carpets, cracked walls, and any number of other problems from not being cared for properly from the previous home owner.

The foreclosure crisis has sparked an increase in an unusual business: More buyers are asking for ritual house cleansings before they move in to rid the home of it’s bad auras.

Witches, psychics, priests, and feng shui consultants are being asked to come in to homes to bless or exorcise the homes of their bad spirits. Sellers are joining in too, in the hopes of trying to sell their home faster.

One buyer in Salem, Mass., two weeks before closing had a witch and warlock visit his three-story home to clang bells and spray holy water to cleanse the bad aura and break up the negative energy in the home. They poured kosher salt on doorways and raised iron swords at windows to keep evil spirits away.

"It's not entities or ghosts that we're dealing with anymore," Julie Belmont, who refers to herself as an intuitive, told The Wall Street Journal. "With foreclosures, a lot of it is energy imprints from past discussions, arguments, money problems. All of that is absorbed by the house."

Real estate pro Tamara Dorris in Sacramento, Calif., is a believer in feng shui for speeding up the sale of a property. For example, she placed a jade plant, which is believed to bring financial luck, in a designated “prosperity corner” in one home.

"Within two weeks, I had two offers," she says. "Most homes have at least one or two prosperity flaws. Foreclosed homes have five or six flaws."

Source: “The Housing Slump Has Salem on a Witch Hunt Again -- Buyers Worried About Bad Vibes From Foreclosed Homes Seek a Cleansing,” The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 13, 2011)