SOLD! The banner went up across a For Sale sign at a house, across from the Baptist church in my town. The house had been on the market for four days. The speed of the sale was a shock and so was the purchase price: $329,500. Our unincorporated village is full of small cottages built in the 1920s and 1930s. Typically, they have two bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room, and an eat-in kitchen. Some have 900 square feet and some are a bit larger at 1,200 square feet. Most of the old homes are valued at $40,000-$80,000.

The house that sold was known as the Atkins house, a classic Craftsman built in the early 1920s. Six years ago, a couple bought the house at auction for $10,000 and proceeded to renovate it. They built an addition on the back that doubled its size. They installed high-end fixtures, cabinetry, flooring, windows, and a fireplace. They painted the outside pale yellow trimmed in white, and installed a white picket fence around the property.

Who bought the two-bedroom, two-bathroom house for more than $300,000? A retired couple from Austin snapped it up and probably think it’s a bargain compared to Travis County home prices and property taxes. The couple who sold the house moved out today into the house next door—their next real estate flip they have almost finished renovating.

Our town knows what’s happening. Gentrification has been circling our village like a hungry buzzard for years. Property taxes are low here and so are the prices of old homes. We are located on the South Concho River among a veritable forest of live oak and pecan trees. And we are 20 miles from San Angelo, population 100,000. San Angelo has four hospitals, a university, a community college, a military base, an art museum, a ballet company, a symphony orchestra, an airport, and urban shopping and restaurants.

Developers have completely surrounded our village with expensive new homes. Two more ranchers with land on the edge of town recently sold large tracts where more homes are planned. Most of the people who live in the new homes socialize and go to church in San Angelo. They get rural mail delivery, so we never see them at the post office.

The sale of the Atkins house is something new. It means real estate flippers are about to descend on our village. And more people from Austin will be moving here. When the gentrification ball starts rolling, transformation happens fast. The good news is that our tax base will increase. So will the real estate values. New restaurants and stores will open, and school enrollment and church congregations may grow.

The bad news is that gentrification always means displacement of people. The residents who won’t be able to afford to live here anymore will be young couples with children, the working poor, and seniors on fixed incomes. Many of those who will be pushed out have lived here their whole lives. Their families have lived here for generations. Where will they go? The seniors may have to move close to their children—or in with their children. Young couples and the working poor have few choices. Rents are high in San Angelo. There are a few small towns 50-70 miles from San Angelo that are still affordable, but the long commute to work in the city is expensive.

And so, for now, we wait. Any day now, we expect the house flippers, followed by the caravans of Austinites and all they will bring us ... bistros, yoga studios, electric scooters, vegan food trucks, and martini bars.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Mary Jane McKinney is the founder and CEO of Grammardog.com LLC, a publisher of grammar exercises. She has used her English degree as a teacher, editor, reporter, and marketing executive. Readers who have questions or comments on this column are welcome to write to the author in care of The Canadian Record, PO Box 898, Canadian, TX 79014, or by e-mail at: fifi@grammardog.com.