Fed Up With Unsolicited Offers, Bed-Stuy Man Puts Up 'Not For Sale' Sign
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Real estate has been booming in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and for some people, that is not a good thing at all.
As CBS2's Vanessa Murdock reported, one man is so fed up with all the offers to buy his home that he has posted a sign out front reading, "Not for sale."
"I love it here and I don't plan on moving," said Jeffrey Adams.
But Adams said far too many people are hoping he will move.
"Every week, we get, you know, 20 to 30 people come in, want to buy the house," Adams said.
Adams said the phone calls, letters and knocks on the front door by people wanting to buy his Bedford Avenue home became a big bother. He said the "not for sale" sign became a necessity, and its drawing attention...
"I noticed the beautiful house first, and thought, 'Oh wow, this is a really beautiful home. Then I saw the sign, and thought, 'OK maybe I should just keep walking,'" said Kate Ritchie of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. "But that's a cool sign."
"I think it's great," said Edgar Guerrero, also of Clinton Hill. "They just want to be left alone; left in peace."
The sign features silhouettes of antique guns and an Old West font. In full, it reads: "Home not for sale – don't ask! Beware of sassy-mouth owner."
Adams said his wife is the "sassy-mouth owner." Jerris Adams was at work, so CBS2 gave her a ring.
"Can't we live in our house in our neighborhood?" Jerris Adams said. "We've been there for so long. Leave us alone."
The sign is working -- sort of. Adams said inquiries are down by half. But just Tuesday, he got a handwritten note from another somebody wanting to buy.
"If I stacked these things up, they would come up to the ceiling," Jeffrey Adams said.
CBS2's Murdock asked David Yudell of Exit Realty First Choice whether such aggressive offers to buy a home are normal.
"Yes," Yudell said. "It is indicative because of the lack of inventory."
Yudell said buyers being priced out of Manhattan want to move to Bed-Stuy, and realtors know it.
"They're becoming like hunters," he said. "They're going out trying to ascertain the properties."
Yudell said the best way to do it is go door to door.
"It's annoying," said Lynette Lewis-Rogers, president of Brownstones of Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Lewis-Rogers said not only is it happening to her neighbors, it's happening to her. She is so fed up with the phone calls that she gives a specific response.
"I say, 'Yes, my home is for sale, and my starting price is $12.5 million," she said. "It's worth 12.5 to me. "
Adams said his make-me-sell price is $5 million. But so far, the unwanted offers have not come close.
"I'm not going to let it go," he said.
The highest offer Adams has received so far is $1.5 million.