A molecular biologist says she was prevented from purchasing her dream condo in Virginia Beach after the white owner learned she was black.
Dr Raven Baxter, 30, was prepared to buy the house after a virtual tour of the property. She had everything she wanted: a private foyer, wainscoting, exquisite crown molding and a marble fireplace.
Baxter offered the asking price, $749,000, which was quickly accepted by the seller. The molecular biologist, who works remotely for Mt. Sinai Hospital, sent a down payment and the condo was placed in escrow.
But then he got a late-night call from his broker, who told him that the seller, Jane Walker, 84, now wanted out of the deal.
“He said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this, but she doesn’t want to sell you the house and it’s because you’re black,'” Baxter recalled.
Dr. Raven Baxter, 30, was prevented from purchasing her dream home in Virginia Beach after Susan Miller, the seller, learned she was black. Dr. Baxter is a molecular biologist working for Mt. Sinai.
The Gone with the Wind-inspired property is close to the beach and offers stunning views of the Atlantic.
That same day, the biological scientist and her longtime boyfriend, Dr. Ronald Gamble Jr., a theoretical physicist who works for NASA, made the three-hour drive to the condo from their apartment in Alexandria, Virginia.
For the first time, the two scientists explored the property in person.
When Baxter had virtually toured the condo earlier, his camera was off. Jane Walker, the saleswoman, did not know her race.
Upon finishing the inspection of the property, which is near the beach and overlooking the Atlantic, they ran into the seller.
As the couple prepared to leave, Walker appeared and her agent, Susan Pender of Berkshire Hathaway RW Towne Realty, introduced the two parties.
Moments after the scientists left, Baxter said Walker confronted her agent and told him she was not willing to sell her condo to a black person. Walker ordered Pender to end the sale.
Pender called Wayne Miller, an agent with 757 Realty, and informed him of the turn of events.
Miller proceeded to contact Baxter’s agent, Bill Loftis, who called her with the disturbing news.
Baxter was devastated to learn that the seller was defaulting. She loved her condo.
‘It is a classic house with a lot of character. It is absolutely beautiful and you can walk to the beach. It was like a robbery,” she said. “I basically submitted an offer sight unseen,” Baxter told the New York Times.
According to the condo’s Zillow page, the Georgian-style property was built in 1932.
Equipped with a spiral staircase, gilded mirrors, chandeliers and antique oil paintings, the Gone with the Wind-inspired property features three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Baxter’s boyfriend was surprised to hear the seller back out of the deal. When the molecular biologist received the call from her agent, he put it on speaker so Gamble could hear the news.
“I fell back in my chair,” he said.
‘I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Long after the civil rights movement, after Covid, after George Floyd, you would think that society still doesn’t think this way. But in 2024 they will still be.”
Jane Walker, 84, refused to sell her condo to Baxter after learning that the molecular biologist was black.
Later that night, Baxter shared his story on his X.com account, where he has 163,000 followers.
He concluded his post with a note of challenge: ‘Honey, either I buy your house or I buy YOUR BLOCK. CHOOSE ONE.’
Prompted by commenters on her post, Baxter filed a discrimination complaint with the Virginia Office of Fair Housing and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She also contacted a civil rights attorney.
“If I hadn’t gone on Twitter and gotten help from people who knew what they were doing, I would have been panicking all weekend,” Baxter said.
He added: ‘It was the first time I had bought a house. I knew my civil rights were being violated. I knew something illegal was going on, but no one knew what to do.’
The next day, Loftis approached Baxter and told him that while it was “unfortunate that the seller” had included “race in the process,” his children “were able to change it.”
Baxter is now expected to move forward with the purchase of the condo, which will occur later this summer.
Despite his harrowing experience, Baxter intends to proceed with the purchase of the condo now that his children have appeased the seller.
After the molecular biologist’s story gained national attention, Barbara Wolcott, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway RW Towne Realty, sent Baxter an email: “In light of the actions of our horribly misguided salesperson, I feel compelled to send you this email”.
Wolcott continued: “Please be assured that this individual’s attitude is not something that will be tolerated by Berkshire Hathaway RW Towne Realty, Susan Pender or anyone within our organization or area.”
Berkshire Hathaway RW Towne Realty has not yet made clear how they refuse to tolerate the condo seller’s behavior.