When you hear the city of Compton mentioned, you might think about gangsta rappers like Dr. Dre, N.W.A, Eazy-E and DJ Quik. You may even think of gangbangers and drive-by shootings, but the hometown of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams is being touted as something else: the newest place to buy up lower-priced homes.
Local news station CBS Los Angeles reported earlier this week that prices for homes in the city in South Los Angeles are low right now, but I’m sure we can expect that to change now that the word is out. It won’t be long before developers come along to snatch everything up and price people out of an area they have been living in their entire lives.
“L.A.’s newest housing hotspot is Compton,” CBS Los Angeles tweeted. “That’s where homes not too far from the beach are going for less than $400,000. Crystal Cruz shows why Compton is the new trendy city to make a buy.”
Reporter Crystal Cruz reported live from the Gateway Towne Center shopping center on Alameda Street and East Greenleaf Boulevard. The new shopping center boasts a Target, a Best Buy and a Home Depot.
“Newer shopping centers like the one behind me is one reason why a broker says Compton could be or should be calling your name if you’re on the hunt for a home,” Cruz said.
She interviewed Julio Ruiz, a broker who recently bought a four-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1,500-square-foot home for around $400,000.
He told Cruz that all the new services being added in Compton are making living there just like living in Porter Ranch in the San Fernando Valley.
Cruz took a walk with Ruiz and his family around their neighborhood at night.
“And you guys just feel safe walking?” Cruz asked Ruiz.
“Man, don’t you?” Ruiz asked in return.
Cruz then interviewed Karla Scott, a black woman who is another new Compton homeowner, who said that her mortgage payment is less than what she was previously paying for rent.
“Do you feel safe?” Cruz asked Scott. (Funny how she keeps asking that.)
“Yes, because we don’t have a bar on our door,” Scott said.
Ruiz said that with the Olympics and a nearby football stadium in the works, home values will appreciate.
“I’m not going to be the guy who says, ‘Man, I remember when Compton was bad and everything was so cheap. I should have bought then.’ … Right now is the time to do it,” Ruiz said.
So there you have it, folks. If you are in the Los Angeles area and you are in the market for a new home, hurry up and buy in Compton before the gentrifiers beat you to it.
Read more at CBS Los Angeles.