Thinking about buying a home in Valparaiso, Chesterton, Crown Point or Portage Indiana?  Well now is definitely a great time to buy.  Interest rates are low and lenders are trying to push through as many first- time home buyer loans as possible, before the $8000 government tax credit deadline.

Call Home Advantage Real Estate in Valparaiso, if you are considering selling your home.  We offer full service Real Estate services, at discount commission rates!

Serving Valparaiso, Chesterton, Crown Point, Portage, Hebron, Schererville, Hobart, Merrillville, Munster, Dyer, Highland, Hammond, East Chicago, Gary, Boone Grove, Wheatfield, DeMotte, Beverly Shores and all of Northwest Indiana!  Ask about our BUYER REBATES and FREE Market Analysis, for sellers. 

Discount Realtors in Northwest Indiana-For all those financially savvy Northwest Indiana sellers and buyers out there; there is still a chance to make/save money on Real Estate in Northwest Indiana by using a discount Realtor!  You don't have to give all of your hard earned equity to a Realtor at a "traditional" Real Estate agent.  Most buyers are are very familiar with how the internet works, so most of them begin their home search there.  They will see a home whether the listing company is offering the selling agent 3% or 2.5%!!  As a matter of fact, the commission amount isn't even known to the buyer, because when Realtors print out a client detail sheet for their clients, the commission is not listed. 

We advertise our listings at 2 prices: The BUYER DIRECT price and the BRING YOUR AGENT price.  If a buyer chooses to use their own agent, the listing price is 2.5% higher. It's an excellent concept. We are getting more and more high-end listings, because those are the sellers that have the most to lose by paying a high commission.  That is why choosing a discount Realtor is a great choice in Northwest Indiana! 

Call Home Advantage Real Estate, Northwest Indiana's premier Discount Real Estate firm!

Valparaiso Indiana Schools are highly rated, for both academics and sports!  If you are considering buying a home in Valparaiso, please go to the Home Advantage web site, at: www.YouPay2.com, and click on "School Info", to get more detailed information about Valparaiso, Indiana Schools!

Valparaiso Indiana Real Estate and homes for sale in Northwest Indiana

If you have been thinking of buying a home in Valparaiso, Indiana, now is a great time to make the move!  There are many types of homes  and properties available in the area, including: Acreage, Income Properties, Farms, Single Family Homes, Luxury Properties, Vacation Properties and much more.  What ever type of property you are looking for, be sure and call a knowledgeable Realtor, to find you the best deals, Including: Foreclosed Properties, Short Sales,  and re-sale properties.

If you are relocating to Valparaiso, Indiana, you should check out the Indiana Dunes, downtown Valparaiso, Valparaiso University,Valparaiso Farmer's Market, nearby Chesterton European Market and so much more. 

Home Advantage Real Estate offers a free Relocation Packet to people who are moving to Valparaiso, Indiana from another area.  Please take advantage of our BUYER REBATE, when purchasing a home!  Home Advantage will also set any buyer up with a Client Portal, which alerts you of any new listings that come on the market, no matter what time of day it is!

Valparaiso Indiana Real Estate is heating up, with many Chicago buyers taking advantage of the low Valparaiso taxes, abundance of land and excellent Valparaiso Schools.

Call Home Advantage for all of your Real Estate needs.  Now is the best time to buy a home in Valparaiso, so don't wait! 

 The Valparaiso Indiana Real Estate market is a great place to invest your money, right now.  It is a bit of a buyer's market, but if you are selling, you will hopefully make up any money lost on the selling side, when you buy.  Mortgage interest rates are at an all-time low, and continue to drop.

o get the most(money) from your sale and/or purchase, doing the following will increase your chances of building wealth in your Real Estate portfolio:

!.When choosing a Realtor to list your home with, ask what kind of marketing/services the Realtor will provide, if you should choose to list your home with them.

2.To get the most "bang for your buck", list your home with the Real Estate company that provides FULL SERVICE, at a DISCOUNTED COMMISSION RATE.  This way, you are not sacrificing getting exposure for your home.  The only way to get TOP DOLLAR for your home, is to get as many QUALIFIED buyers through your home as possible, therefore increasing the "BUYER POOL", which increases your chances of getting your home sold for the most money, in the shortest amount of time.  At HOME ADVANTAGE REAL ESTATE, we strive to offer BUYERS and SELLERS top-notch service, at discounted rates.

3.On the BUYERS side, look for companies that offer BUYER REBATES.  It doesn't cost you anything to retain the services of a BUYER's Agent, but you will gain plenty.  Not only will you benefit from receiving a BUYER'S REBATE, but your agent will work in your best interest, therefore saving you MORE MONEY!

For more BUYER/SELLER tips, go to our web site:

http://www.YouPay2.com

Valparaiso is a thriving community in Northwest Indiana. The close proximity to Chicago and small town atmosphere make this city desirable to many Chicagoans who want to live in the suburbs. To view Valparaiso,Chesterton,Crown Point Real Estate listings with photo's and virtual tours, go to: http://www.youpay2.com/ . 

 Valparaiso, Indiana

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

City of Valparaiso

Flag Seal

Nickname: "Valpo"

Motto: "Vale of Paradise"

Location in Indiana

Government

Jon Costas (R)

Area

11.0 sq mi (28.5 km²)

10.9 sq mi (28.2 km²)

0.1 sq mi (0.2 km²)

Population (2000)

27,428

2,515.4/sq mi (971.6/km²)

CST (UTC-6)

CDT (UTC-5)

Website: http://www.valpo.us/

Valparaiso (IPA: [ˌvɑl.pə.ˈɹeɪ.zoʊ]) is a city in Porter County, Indiana, USA, and is part of the Chicago Metropolitan Area. It is the county seat of Porter County^GR6. The city's nickname is Valpo.

[edit] History

Established in 1836 as the county seat of Portersville, it was renamed to Valparaiso in 1837 after Valparaíso, Chile, near which the county's namesake David Porter battled in the War of 1812.^[1] Until 1991 it was the terminal of Amtrak's Calumet commuter service.

[edit] Geography

It is situated at the critical junctions of U.S. Route 30, State Road 2, and State Road 49. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.5 km² (11.0 mi²). 28.2 km² (10.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.73%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

Valparaiso is located at 41°28′34″N, 87°3′25″W^GR1. As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 27,428 people, 10,867 households, and 6,368 families residing in the city. The population density was 971.6/km² (2,515.4/mi²). There were 11,559 housing units at an average density of 409.4/km² (1,060.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.35% White, 1.60% African American, 0.23% Native American, 1.49% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.79% from other races, and 1.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.34% of the population. There were 10,867 households out of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.9% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.4% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.93. In the city the population was spread out with 21.2% under the age of 18, 17.4% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $45,799, and the median income for a family was $60,637. Males had a median income of $46,452 versus $26,544 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,509. About 4.8% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.1% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Education

[edit] Higher Education

The city is the site of multiple colleges and universities. Purdue University North Central has a satellite campus in Valparaiso, and one of Ivy Tech's 23 regional campuses is located in the city. Valparaiso is also home to namesake Valparaiso University, a highly ranked NCAA Division I institution occupying 310 acres on the south side of the city near downtown. The university is also a cultural center of the city, hosting venues such as the Brauer Museum of Art, home to more than 2,700 pieces of 19th- and 20th-century American art.

[edit] Primary and secondary education

• Public schools
  • Valparaiso High School
  • Morgan Township High School
  • Washington Township High School
  • Boone Grove High School
  • Porter County Career and Technical Center
  • Benjamin Franklin Middle School
  • Thomas Jefferson Middle School
  • Central Elementary
  • Cooks Corner Elementary School
  • Flint Lake Elementary
  • Hayes Leonard Elementary
  • Flint Lake Elementary School
  • Thomas Jefferson Elementary School
  • Memorial Elementary
  • Northview Elementary School
  • Parkview Elementary
• Private schools
  • The Classical Academy
  • Immanuel Lutheran School (K-8)
  • Montessori School of Valparaiso
  • Saint Paul's Catholic School (K-8)

[edit] Culture

• The city's annual festival is the Popcorn Festival, held on the first Saturday after Labor Day. It honors Orville Redenbacher, a former resident who built a popcorn factory there. Redenbacher participated in most of the festival's parades until his death in 1995.
• The Taltree Arboretum and Gardens is worth a visit.
• Valparaiso is featured in Valparaiso, a successful play by Don DeLillo.
• Valparaiso's Banta neighborhood features many beautiful historic homes. Architectural designs include: Italianate, Arts & Crafts, and English/Cottswald.
• The Memorial Opera House is a popular destination for musical theatre fans throughout the year.
• Valparaiso hosts the Chicago Street Theatre, run by the local Community Theater Guild.
• The 49er Drive-In is one of the few remaining active drive-in theaters.
• The Wizard of Oz Festival is now hosted by the city at the County Expo Center.

[edit] Notable natives

• Newton Arvin, literary critic
• Beulah Bondi, actress
• Kevin L. Brown, former MLB player
• Mark N. Brown, astronaut
• Bryce Drew, former NBA player
• Michael Essany, reality television talk show host
• Henry C. Gordon, astronaut
• Samuel Austin Kendall, politician
• David Lilienthal, politician
• Orville Redenbacher, hybrid popcorn developer
• Jeff Samardzija, former University of Notre Dame football and baseball player, currently in the Chicago Cubs farm system.
• Carly Schroeder, actress
• R. Harold Zook, architect

If you are looking for homes in Valparaiso,Crown Point,Munster,Chesterton,Indiana Dunes,Dyer or other Northwest Indiana cities, you can go to the Northwest Indiana MLS site. The site has a public viewable area, where potential buyers can view photo's and virtual tours. Many of our buyers and sellers go online before choosing a Realtor. Searching the internet to see home information has become a favorite passtime for buyers and sellers. Realtor.com is a national Real Estate site that picks up listings from all over the United States. Our office uses Realtor.com to market our listings, as well as our company web site(www.youpay2.com) Both sites offer valuable information for consumers. There is a link from our company web site that lets buyers search the Northwest Indiana MLS. Keep your search criteria narrow, because the public viewable MLS can only pull up 50 or so listings at a time. Even though I am a Realtor who work about 12 hours a day, I find myself checking the "hotsheet" frequently for new listings, even on my own free time. I am constantly updating my buyers on new listings that meet their criteria. The challenge of finding my clients the best home, for the least amount of money is a challenge I just can't resist.

Northwest Indiana homes are still selling, despite the newly implemented halt on sub-prime lending.  Our office has been growing at a rapid pace.  Home Advantage Real Estate has been in business for just under 1 year and we will be bringing on our 9th Realtor this month. We probably would have grown even faster, if it weren't for our high standards when considering new agents. The Northwest Indiana market is good! We've been working with a lot of investors lately, who are from other areas where Real Estate sales have slowed considerably. One such market is Michigan(Detroit Suburbs). Chicago buyers have been buying many of our listings. I think that there are many Chicago investors who can see the potential in N.W. Indiana. Our proximity to Chicago and the lower home prices are our saving grace. Hopefully interest rates will stay low for a while.

Northwest Indiana is still a strong market

  While other areas of the country are experiencing somewhat of a slow and deflated Real Estate market, Northwest Indiana has been doing well.  That is not to say that we are realizing a Real Estate "boom" either.  One of the reasons for this, is that we have never had a Real Estate "bubble", where properties are thought to be over-valued.  I am a native of Florida, so I know that the Tampa Bay, Florida market is VERY slow.

I will admit however, that this year has been a little bit of a buyer's market. Not to worry, though. Good things are on the horizon for Northwest Indiana.  I have notice a huge influx of Chicago buyers this year. Why not buy a home in an area where the taxes are low(comparatively speaking) and you get more house for the money?

Over all, the Northwest Indiana area  is an investor's dream.  Consider buying rental properties right now, if you can.  Interest rates are low, and you can find plenty of renters in Valparaiso and the surrounding areas.