While the real estate agents were drafting requests for the seller to make repairs to the property before the sale, they received an unexpected update from the listing agent.
Virginia BEACH, Va. — The sale of a condo in Virginia Beach became complicated after the seller learned about the career of the potential homebuyer, real estate agents close to the situation told 13News Now.
On May 18, Dr. Raven Baxter posted the following on social media:
“My real estate agent’s BROKER just called me on a Friday at 9 pm to tell me that the seller doesn’t want to sell me a house because I’m BLACK. This is after the inspection, contract agreement, and down payment. Honey , I am either buying your house or buying YOUR BLOCK CHOOSE ONE.”
On May 31, The New York Times published an article detailing how Dr. Baxter, a black woman, made an offer on an Oceanfront condo and how the seller, an older white woman, attempted to back out of the deal after learning of his career.
Dr. Baxter, a molecular biologist and science educator, was featured on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in 2022. She has over 100,000 social media followers on X, formerly known as Twitter. Her post about the condo deal has reached more than 11 million people and garnered more than 140,000 likes and nearly 10,000 reposts.
The property in question is located between the Old Beach and North End neighborhoods, near the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
Rob Resh with 757 Realty told 13News Now that Dr. Baxter contacted her team the week of May 6 to help her find a home in the Virginia Beach area. Shortly after, they did a virtual tour of the house for Dr. Baxter, who then had Resh’s team write an offer on the property.
Around the time they were drafting a request for the seller to make some repairs and additions to the property before the sale, including a new air conditioning unit, a 757 Realty broker received an unexpected update from the home’s listing agent. on Friday. may 17th.
“When he made that call to the Berkshire Hathaway agent, she said, ‘Wait a minute (broker), there’s something I need to share with you. She said, ‘My client told me you might want to wait until I get there.'” “Submit any request on a paper form, to ask for anything, because my client has told me that she doesn’t want to sell the house to her client because she is black,” Resh said.
Public records show the owner of the property is a woman named Jane Walker.
A woman who answered the door to the home declined to comment for this story.
The listing agents for the property did not return communication to 13News Now for this story.
According to Resh, his team advised Dr. Baxter to seek support from the Virginia Office of Fair Housing, which could neither confirm nor deny to 13News Now the existence of an active investigation into the matter.
However, a spokesperson for the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation shared that in fiscal year 2024, the Virginia Office of Fair Housing had investigated 316 complaints across the state. Of those 316, about 20% occurred in the Tidewater region.
“Discriminatory actions were most frequently reported in protected classes of disability, race or sex,” said communications director John Robertson IV.
“The Virginia Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to discriminate in residential housing on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, older age, familial status, disability, source of funds, sexual orientation, gender identity, or legal status. military”.
Resh added that Dr. Baxter, who is a client of 757 Realty, is still pursuing the sale of the condo.
“(Dr. Baxter) told (the broker), ‘I don’t want to ask for all this stuff. I want the property and I’m afraid I’ll lose it if I ask for anything,'” he said.
Both parties still aim to complete the sale in August this year, Resh said.
“We were very concerned about Dr. Baxter,” he said.
“I said, ‘This is horrible and at the end of the day, you’re in control, we’re here for you, you’re in control, and if you want to end this transaction, let us know.’ But I said, ‘I know this is a situation.’ terrible, you will close in August and have to deal with this for the next 3 months.”
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