Your whole thought is to purchase a house at a cheap price in a lower income neighborhood. You intend to fix it up and then maybe either rent it, or put it back on the market for a quick profit now that it is in much more presentable condition. Great idea! However if you accomplish this whether you like it or not, then you have become involved in a form of gentrification.

Basically gentrification is purchasing run down properties, in low income areas and carrying out some improvements which raises their property values. This is a good thing right? Yes, but often the consequences is that low income families can now not afford to live in that neighborhood which may have at one time been affordable to them. This of course is if gentrification becomes the trend for that area.

The example here has been on a very small scale and a single investor partaking in this type of investment is really not going to have much of an impact. Where a substantial change will occur however, is when landlords who own multiple buildings in an area, or developers take an interest in a sector of a neighborhood and determine to make a overhaul of the buildings which means increasing the value of multiple buildings perhaps.

As more urban areas go through this transition it forces developers to move beyond the inner limits of the city where cost of living is usually higher, to the outer areas where more low income families tend to reside.

Living areas really do fall into classifications, unfortunately low income neighborhoods have to tolerate less amenities when it comes to their living quarters. Their only recourse to this is to move into a better kept neighborhood but at the cost of paying a higher price for living not only in the primary residence, but general living costs of the neighborhood.

This may sound somewhat disheartening for the novice investor who is just starting out in the property investment industry. It is understandable that nobody wants to be responsible for the demise of someone less fortunate that cannot afford more acceptable living conditions.

The fact is however is that neighborhoods cannot be allowed to deteriorate just for the sake of providing living accommodations for low income individuals. If this were to take place then these neighborhoods would come to the point of being unlivable to the point of it being a safety issue.

The responsibility is on the government to provide viable housing solutions for low income families. The property investors must do their part of investing and renovating as it really is beneficial to the economy which is a major factor in the overall stability of the country.

Perhaps many would consider gentrification as a double edged sword. You may feel that you don't want to get caught up in all this legal, financial, and technical stuff which you may be classing gentrification as. After all you have some money to invest, you are new to property investment and you just want to make a wise and sound purchase that is going to bring you a good return on investment.