Bury a statue in the yard, recite a prayer.

Or grab a bag of rocks, sprinkle the pebbles in the soil out front.

Or how about settling on a market price, then throwing in a set of keys to a brand-new Honda?

Folks caught up in an unusually slow market for selling homes are turning to some unconventional superstitions, methods and marketing ploys these days – all with hopes of boosting their chances to secure a contract.

Not that there’s any solid evidence they’re working, at least not yet.

“I had hopes that I would stir something up in the market,” said Stan Trekell, whose own dealing allows him to offer a 2007 Honda Civic as part of any purchase of his home on Ohio Street, a place he bought two years ago.

It’s a $15,000 value that can even be traded in for credit on a new Accord, Odyssey, Ridgeline or anything else out at Jack Ellena Honda.

The move certainly has brought traffic through his front door, but only to kick the tires. After a month spent sending 500 direct-mail pieces to residents in Old West Lawrence, e-mailing appeals to another 500 professionals in real estate and related services, and spraying advertising throughout Lawrence and Topeka markets, Trekell still didn’t have a contract.

Or even an offer.

Thad Allender/Journal-World Photo St. Joseph figurine

“I just felt like somebody needed to step in and take a stand, and let the consumer know that real estate is still a great investment tool,” said Trekell, a Realtor for Realty Executives Hedges Real Estate. “Yes, the market’s beginning to cool off, but there’s no reason to panic. There’s definitely a buyer for every house. It’s just a matter of making contact with that one person.”

It may not be time to panic, but it’s easy to see how sellers might resort to nontraditional means.

According to a database maintained by the Lawrence Board of Realtors, homes listed for sale in Lawrence have spent an average of 95 days on the market so far this year. That’s from the first day listed to the signing of a contract.

Homes’ time spent on the market is a third longer than it was during the same period a year ago, when the average wait was 71 days. During the first nine months of 2004, the wait was 59 days.

Divine intervention

No wonder more and more people are stopping by Michael Martell’s Catholic bookstore, Lumena Books, looking for their prayers to be answered.

Sales of small St. Joseph statues – said to attract buyers to listed homes – continue at the rapid pace set earlier this year, despite the seasonal downturn in property listings. Some people even adhere to claims that burying the statue upside down in the yard can draw potential buyers.

“It doesn’t really surprise me,” said Martell, whose home-sales kits include a statue, prayer and brochure explaining the superstition. “Some people are kind of desperate, but most people are desperate to the point that it’s superstitious to bury a statue and believe it’s going to work. It doesn’t seem to faze them.”

Some buyers of statues conduct burial ceremonies just as they put their homes on the market, while others look for divine intervention only after a place has been listed for a month or two and without much activity.

“There’s a sense of urgency on a number of occasions: ‘We’re in the new house; we need to sell this house,'” he said. “They’ve heard that this does the trick.”

Down to earth

While Realtor Sean Williams concedes that he may need to start encouraging his clients to start stocking up on statues, he maintains there’s no substitute for realistic expectations and hard work when it comes to selling a home.

“You could put a clown out in the front yard, but if the product isn’t attractive in the marketplace it’s not going to sell any better,” he said. “Ultimately it will come down to time, money and condition. It’s reality.”

Williams’ advice: Set a reasonable price, be flexible in setting terms and – perhaps most of all – make sure the place is in pristine condition.

“It’s the garage sale axiom,” he said. “If it ain’t clean, it’s not gonna sell.”

Not much has been selling in any case, according to a report from the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce that shows sales for new and existing homes in the second quarter were off sharply in Lawrence.

While Board of Realtors data show less of a decline, the trend remains clear. Sales are down, and buyers are starting to exert their market strength.

Suzy Novotny, a Realtor for Coldwell Banker McGrew Real Estate, said that some buyers were offering contracts at $25,000 below list prices.

Against that backdrop, even she can’t avoid reaching for a little help – this time buried under “for sale” and “open house” signs in the back of her Mitsubishi Galant.

Yes, it’s a bag of rocks.

“I sprinkle them in the yards of the homes,” Novotny said of the dime-size rocks given to her by a builder she works with. “Anytime we’ve had a house sit for very long, I sprinkle the rocks in the yard. We’ve had great success.”

Maybe too much. Demand, it seems, is catching up with supply.

“I’m down to a lunch-sized baggie,” Novotny said.