if Iknew it was staged that way, as someone who is not Christian, I would be put off. Like you said if it was someone's actual house It wouldn't bother me at all

I think I'd be more offended that they think I'd consider paying $50K for anything from Aaron's...

Thanks, cpartist. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks it's weird.

LOL, jannicone. Actually, the $149K is without the lovely Aaron's furnishings. The market is so overheated here that the average sale price for a unit in this complex has been going up about 10K a month since the first of the year. They're about 30% over appraisal now.

We have a neighbor who puts up a giant illuminated Star of David every year at Christmas on the side of his house. The home is located in the middle of the Bible belt. We assumed the owner must be Jewish. No. It turns out the owner is Christian. He said it was easier to make a six pointed star.

I visited my nephew in another city a few weeks ago. His fiancé had just decorated the great room. There was a collection of decorative crosses on the wall. Now, these are not religious people. My other nephew, who is anything but politically correct, asked his brother about all of the crosses. Turns out, the fiancé just liked the collection. It had no religious meaning.

Having said that, I really think it's a good idea to avoid anyone wondering about it. If you are selling your house, take down personal items including items of faith. You want to sell your house, not convert someone or demonstrate your religious views. Make it easy on everyone.

Could the sellers be into Feng Shui? Some FS books advise using religious objects as a way to counter bad energies of the place. If the townhouse was a foreclosure and then just sat empty with no one making it his real home, I could see someone considering it a bad karma. Not that I'd consider the profit from the resale a bad Feng Shui.

It's interesting you should say that, lana_roma. I looked at the place when they were trying to do a short sale before the foreclosure and at that time although the occupants and their stuff were gone, the courtyard had a large pergola covered with jasmine, but lit up with skull lights, and not cute dia de los muertos sort of things.

That was the one major change the first buyer made, to rip all that out.

Maybe it is full of bad energy of some sort. I just didn't like the ill-advised kitchen update when I saw it. Can't say I felt any nameless evil.

The skull lights might as well be a clue to what kind of vibes the former owners imbued the place with. It would be interesting to know if the subsequent owners had any particular experiences with that townhome. A casual visitor might feel just fine and sense nothing "creepy" in such a place, but if there were certain incidents or persistent mishaps, it could also indicate the not-so-great energies of the place.

I have seen several houses with a lot of crosses, and even worse those wall transfers with bible verses slapped all over the walls. As a non-religious person I find a lot of that artwork to be off putting. It wouldn't be a deal breaker as those things are removable, but I have a tough time picturing living in a home covered in religious artwork.

No evening showings for vampires, then. ; )

Hello Mr. Realtor, I'd like to look at the property after the sun has gone down. BTW, did the previous owner leave any mirrors behind?

Emma, that sort of thing doesn't bother me at all if it's the personal property of the current owner. I just find it puzzling to put it into a place being staged like a model.

Sealavender and homechef, I guess they'd better also ask about whether there's society garlic in the landscaping. :-)

If they would fall for religion, then maybe they will fall for the $49K overprice.......

What about possible apparitions? Poltergeist?

That could explain the overkill with the crosses... But I'm sure the holding company would keep it top secret.

Disclaimer: I firmly believe ghosts and spirits exist. My family and I had my Grandpa's ghost appearing at night in our apartment for a few weeks after his death at our home. He peacefully ceased returning once the 40 days passed.

Ideally if selling you want to depersonalize and that includes religious symbols. Now having said that, we had a stone buddha sitting in our front hallway. It went with our asian and craftsman furniture and didn't seem to hurt us selling the house. We did remove it after someone mentioned the house felt too asian, but it turned out the person who bought the house, had seen it with buddha.

Funny about the Star of David on the side of the house!

Could be the staggers don't see crosses as a religious item. Just a decorative one. I have seen large ornate crosses mixed with graduating sizes of crosses on walls in the decor mags and Pinterest. Looks very nice, and uses up a lot of space on an empty wall.

I've seen lots of houses decorated with an assortment of various style crosses. I think it's a "look" promoted by Hobby Lobby, T.J.Maxx, HomeGoods, and other stores where decorations can be purchased. I would never read any meaning into a bunch of religious artifacts grouped together.

I do recall when we were house hunting years ago visiting a house with some religious pictures that seemed a bit "off" to me having been raised in an area with many Catholics and few Mormons. When we went into the basement I was even more intrigued by the shelves stocked with canned and dry goods. I commented on how it was a little strange. The agent explained to ignorant me that Mormons are supposed to keep a food supply. It explained the religious images.

Didn't influence my thoughts about the house. It was a no go because of the pink faux marble master bath and other reasons.

Well, from Hobby Lobby they definitely have a religious meaning.

These weren't grouped together, just scattered around in various rooms of the house.

Well, from Hobby Lobby they definitely have a religious meaning.

These weren't grouped together, just scattered around in various rooms of the house.

Amateur ghostbusters, perhaps? :D

We once bought a house from a family that were hard core roman catholics. In the area under breakfast bar overhang (where barstools would normally be) they had a full on religious shrine/altar (crucifx, holy water, chalice, incense, candles, a kneeler, the whole 9-yards). Seriously it would not have been out of place in El Escorial. It struck me as definitely the kind of thing that would put off a lot of potential buyers. And the homeowner was a realtor.

See, that I would have understood--it's a corporate holding company adding that to the decor when putting the place on the market that I find weird.

So far the psychic disturbances theory makes as much sense as anything.

The Corporation didn't add that decor, it was done by a designer that the company hired. Some one person who was clueless/biased/just dumb or whatever. I'm sure that if someone from the corporate office reviewed the listing, it was done just by scanning the online pictures and the religious symbolism was missed.

Well, whatever the reason it evidently worked. I see the listing is "sale pending" after only ten days.

ETA Religious symbols or not, it's a good testimony to the benefits of a very thorough cleaning and adding lots more light to a property. They really didn't do anything, but it looks so much better I had to go back to an old saved listing to be sure they hadn't made any updates. Also, the only other unit to sell for close to that price had a very total ikea modern style update of the kitchen, all baths, etc. They did a very good job of using psuedo ikea furniture to give a similar vibe although it still has the mid-90s fake corian kitchen and no bath updates at all. They just lighted the heck out of everything so that when you go into the baths the brightness gives them a bleached out, minimalist effect.

Or maybe they just buried St Joseph upside down in one of the planting beds. :)