Black Woman Blames Gentrification For Lowball Offers On Inherited Home
Preparing for the responsibilities of the inheritance from a loved one can certainly be challenging.
That was the case for 32-year-old entrepreneur Keisha Credit, who was faced with difficulty when it came to her inherited multi-million dollar home in Seattle, WA.
Credit was awarded the Central District property in 2020 after the death of her grandfather Daniel Duncan who purchased it in 1953.
But for Credit, she says she was faced with instant solicitation to purchase her home just one day after her grandfather’s passing.
In an interview with BuzzFeed, Credit said, “My home was solicited not just by ‘big corps’ and ‘real estate companies looking to lowball by mailers, this [handwritten letter] was from a neighbor in my community…the day after my grandfather’s body was carried across his threshold for the last time.”
Credit says she started receiving offers as low as $800,000 and even various letters that masked themselves as IRS workers, falsely claiming the property was behind on its taxes.
“It’s disrespectful and assumes I don’t know the value of my home,” she told BuzzFeed.
Her grandfather, who was a trained architect and plumber, underwent a massive renovation on the home in 1976. That included framework that added additional bedrooms (6) and bathrooms (4).
As Credit explained her now-viral TikTok video, the closes property comparison is being listed for more than $1.9 million.
@kreatewithkeisha Reply to @athompz I’ll just say this… 🤌🏾💟 #Seattle #Gentrification 🏡#HomeOwnership #Land #Property #Stories #blackgirlinseattle #SeattleNative #SeattleStories #centraldistrict #History ♬ original sound – Keisha Credit
Credit believes the lowballed intentions is a direct correlation to gentrification: “A slow but steady revamp of the neighborhood that prioritizes new buildings, new families, and new clientele instead of investments in existing homes and residents,” she said.
Receiving up to three letters per week, Credit recognized the actions as an attempt to take ownership of the family legacy her grandfather built.
According to the Seattle Times, this issue has arose for residents in the Central District, where many minorities who sought homeownership were redlined and inevitably forced to settle in specific neighborhood sections.
As a result, the number of Black families in the district declined by over 50 percent by 2015, the Seattle Times reported.
Credit says she thanks her family for educating her on the importance of homeownership and preserving family assets after close friends of the family encountered similar circumstances.
