BY COLIN MIXSON
It’s not a buyer’s market!
A state pol is handing out
signs to her Crown Heights
and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens
constituents that read
“This House is Not for Sale,”
in response to outlandish solicitations
made by would-be
home buyers. The wannabe
homeowners sometimes stake
out private properties with
literal bags of cash hoping to
convince owners to sell, according
to the legislator.
“They come with checks already
written in their name,
and if not checks written in
their name, they come with
cash trying to buy their house,”
said Democratic Assemblywoman
Diana Richardson.
Richardson, who printed
an initial run of 1,000 “Not for
Sale” signs, said she’s down
to the last 100. But she has a
second run of the signs in the
works for those locals still inundating
her offi ce with complaints
about unwanted offers
to buy their homes, she said.
The requests often come in
the form of letters and phone
calls from real-estate agents
and developers, many of whom
typically take the word “no” as
an invitation to redouble their
efforts, according to a Rutland
Road resident.
“They never take no for an
answer,” said Vibeke Alstad
Jagne, who has lived on the
road between Nostrand and
Rogers avenues since 2013.
“Some push a little, but if they
don’t take no the fi rst time, I
just say goodbye and hang up.”
Less scrupulous realtors
NOT SELLING: Assemblywoman Diana Richardson is offering property-owning constituents signs that let
would-be buyers know their homes are not for sale. Photo by Colin Mixson
will occasionally just show
up on property owners’ doorsteps,
according to Richardson,
who said certain brokers
recently went so far as to lie in
wait outside some Fenimore
Street homes, waiting for their
owners to emerge before jumping
them with offers.
“Realtors are literally sitting
in their cars day in and
day out,” the pol said. “If they
can’t get you by knocking, or
calling, or by mail, they’re
waiting until you come out of
your house, and approaching
you. It’s nuts, it’s really bad.”
Much of Crown Heights’s
current real estate is characterized
COURIER L 14 IFE, FEB. 8–14, 2019 M BR B G
by mixed-use and residential
structures between
three- and six-stories tall, but
current zoning laws allow for
up to 13-story buildings in
large swathes of the neighborhood.
And the potential fi nancial
windfall from buying and
razing multiple homes to make
way for even larger residential
towers is too enticing for developers
to resist, according
to the assemblywoman.
The endless stream of solicitations
is mostly an annoyance
for Richardson’s constituents,
one of whom said no amount of
green will convince him not to
pass his Midwood Street home
on to his next of kin.
“My son will eventually
inherit the house,” said Robert
Marvin, who lives in Prospect
Lefferts Gardens. “I don’t
imagine it’s going to be for sale
for many generations.”
But the prospect of coming
into quick cash could be
enough to convince more vulnerable
property owners in
the area, including seniors
and those carrying debt, to sell
their homes at well below market
value, according to the pol.
“If I knock on your door
with a wad of cash offering to
buy you out, you may just take
the money and sell,” she said.
They’re signs
of the times
Pol providing constituents with
‘House Not for Sale’ placards
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