Alabama real estate agent is fired after posting Facebook ad urging Montgomery residents upset by election of the city's first African American mayor to sell their home (7 Pics)

An Alabama real estate agent has been fired after he posted an advert urging people to sell their home after the state's capital city elected it's first black mayor in its 200-year history.

Craig Schaid, 49, posted in the eXp Realty ad: 'Hey Montgomery, Don't Like The Election Results?? CALL ME!! Let's SELL That Home While The Market Is HOT!'  

It was in response to probate Judge Steven Reed, 45, clasping the history-making victory after defeating local television station owner David Woods by a decisive margin, winning by around 67 per cent of the vote in Tuesday's mayoral runoff, according to unofficial returns.

Based in the city, once considered a cradle to the Confederacy, eXp said they weren't aware of the ad prior to it being shared on social media, and had subsequently fired Schaid - who is white. 

Craig Schaid posted this offensive ad with the eXp branding but the company said it wasn't aware before it was shared online

It was in response to Steven Reed was first black person elected Montgomery mayor on Tuesday night

'We reviewed the situation and terminated the agent. He is no longer an agent with eXp,' Cynthia Novak, eXP vice president of marketing and communications, told the Montgomery Advertiser in an e-mail. 'In addition, we are discussing how we advocate for diversity and inclusion and will educate all staff and agents on these matters.'

His profile with the company read that he has made a career of offering 'five-star' customer service with innovative and 'out-of-the-box' thinking. 

His wife Donna Schaid's profile still appears online. 

The agent - who has sold homes for 17 years - had removed his professional website homesearchalabama.com and his Facebook page by Thursday. 

Schaid also resigned Thursday from his role as treasurer of Montgomery Association of Realtors.

'As of today, we asked for his resignation and we received it today,' CEO Brad Owe told the Advertiser.  

Reed said his campaign was built on a coalition focused on the city's future and ‘all of the things that tie us together rather than those things that keep us apart.’

Reed was the first black probate judge elected in Montgomery County and was one of the first to issue marriage licenses to gay couples in the state.

His profile with the company read that he has made a career of offering 'five-star' customer service with innovative and 'out-of-the-box' thinking

His wife Donna Schaid's profile still appears online but the agent - who has sold homes for 17 years - had removed his professional website and his Facebook page by Thursday

He said he was inspired by people's reaction to Trump being elected in 2016. He's pictured at his January 2017 inauguration

His father, Joe Reed, is the longtime leader of the black caucus of the Alabama Democratic Party.

Montgomery, which was incorporated on December 3, 1819, has long played a central part in the United States’ unsavory racial history. It was the first capital of the Confederate States in 1861, and is home to the church where Martin Luther King Jr. pioneered the Montgomery bus boycott, which went on to make Rosa Parks a household name.

But Schaid said he doesn't see color and even finds issue with the fact that people have highlighted the significance of Reed being African American.

Scahid said he took inspiration for the post from people who were upset about the presidential election of Donald Trump.

'I just want it to be known that I never, ever intended to offend or hurt a single person with this ad,' Schaid told AL.com. 'I didn’t write that with race. I didn’t write that with a color. I wrote that thinking it was funny, and somebody pointed out that they were offended. So I removed it. And now, it’s gone crazy. I don’t see a color.'

Montgomery has a population of 200,000 that is 60 per cent black and from November 12 Reed will replace current Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange, who did not seek re-election having served since 2009.

But Schaid said he doesn't see color and even finds and issue with the fact that people have highlighted the significance of Reed being African American

Montgomery has a population of 200,000 that is 60 per cent black and from November 12 Reed will replace current Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange, who did not seek re-election having served since 2009

Schaid added: 'When that election happened. That’s the thing that probably frustrated me the most afterwards is people were talking about a Black mayor. To me, I didn’t see it as a Black mayor, I saw it as a great mayor. We’ve got a great new mayor. 

'But people keep saying Black mayor. Well that’s fine, he is Black. To me, he’s more than qualified for that position. And I’m excited to see where he’s going to bring Montgomery.'

He said he doesn't blame eXp for firing him because they have 'got to protect their image'. 

Born in the city, Reed graduated from Morehouse, a historically black college in Atlanta, before going on to earn an MBA from Vanderbilt.

Reverend Edward J. Nettles, a prominent pastor who leads the Freewill Missionary Baptist Church, told the New York Times that Reed’s election ‘will send a signal to the entire country that Montgomery is moving forward in a positive way’.

We are so caught up in our past,’ Pastor Nettles said. ‘There’s a generation that’s older than him. They can’t seem to get past the politics and status quo of the past. They’re still locked in a particular mind-set.’ 

Montgomery is one of only three cities in six Deep South states with a population of 100,000 or more that hadn’t previously elected an African American mayor.

The very first African-American mayors were elected during the mid-1800s during the short Reconstruction period.

Birmingham, Alabama, another city plagued by a dark racial past, elected its first African-American mayor, Richard Arrington Jr., 40 years ago, who served five terms.

But Montgomery has been notoriously slow to make amends with its troubled past. Only in 2013 did the city’s police chief apologize for the failure of their officers to protect the civil rights activists known as the Freedom Riders who were attacked by a white mob in 1961.