A white, elderly property owner didn’t want to sell her Virginia condo to a Black buyer who offered nearly $750,000 for the property all because of her race, the potential homeowner says.
Dr. Raven Baxter recounted her shock and disbelief to The New York Times after hearing why 84-year-old Jane Walker refused to sell her condo to her.
Baxter, a 30-year-old molecular biologist and science communicator, currently lives in Alexandria, Virginia. She was in the market for a new home on the beach and found a condo a few hours southeast in Virginia Beach that was a perfect fit.
An agent on Zillow offered to visit the property and set up a virtual tour for her through FaceTime. As one of the seller’s agents walked her through the condo, Baxter kept her camera off, but she was all in to purchase after the tour.
“It’s a classic home with a ton of character. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and you can walk to the beach. It was like a steal,” Baxter said. “I basically put in an offer sight unseen.”
She offered the asking price of $749,000, which was accepted, and sent over the down payment. Then, accompanied by her boyfriend, Baxter drove from Alexandria to the beach to see the home in person.
Walker, who is white, also visited the home that day and was introduced to Baxter and her boyfriend as they were leaving the property.
As soon as they drove away, Walker told her agent that she did not want to sell the home to a Black buyer and communicated her desire to pull out of the sale, Baxter said.
Once Baxter’s broker was notified about why Walker wanted to cancel the purchase, he called Baxter to break the news.
“You could hear the fear and disbelief in his voice,” Dr. Baxter told The New York Times. “He said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this, but she doesn’t want to sell the home to you, and it’s because you’re Black.’”
Baxter also took to the social platform, X, to publicize what happened to her.
“My real estate agent’s BROKER just called me at 9pm on a Friday to tell me that the seller doesn’t want to sell a house to me because I am BLACK,” she tweeted. “This is after the inspection, contract agreement, down payment. Baby, I’m either buying your house or buying YOUR BLOCK. CHOOSE ONE.”
Regardless of Walker’s request, Baxter’s broker and the Zillow agent told Baxter they would move ahead with securing the sale.
“Had I not gone to Twitter and received help from people who knew what they were doing, I would have been panicking the entire weekend,” Baxter told the Times. “It was my first time buying a house. I knew my civil rights were being violated. I knew that something illegal was happening, but no one knew what to do.”
Several users encouraged her to file a complaint with her state and federal housing officials, so she submitted a discrimination claim to the Virginia Fair Housing Office and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and hired a civil rights attorney.
Housing discrimination is illegal thanks to the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Even so, Black home buyers still face disproportionate rates of housing discrimination.
The chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, RW Towne Realty, the home realty agency that Walker uses, also personally contacted Baxter to assure her that Walker’s actions do not reflect the agency’s values and that they’ve not backed away from the deal.
“In light of the actions of our horribly misguided seller, I feel compelled to send you this email,” Barbara Wolcott wrote. “Please be assured that the attitude of this individual is not something that is tolerated by Berkshire Hathaway RW Towne Realty…or anyone within our organization or area.”
Baxter’s home sale is slated to close this summer.
