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    <title>Northwest Indiana Real Estate</title>
    <link>http://activerain.com/blogs/sherriv</link>
    <description></description>
    <language>en-us</language>
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      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1197298/valparaiso-chesterton-crown-point-and-portage-home-sales</guid>
      <title>Valparaiso, Chesterton, Crown Point and Portage Home Sales</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Thinking about buying a home in&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso, Chesterton, Crown Point &lt;/span&gt;or &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Portage&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;Indiana? &amp;nbsp;Well now is definitely a great time to buy. &amp;nbsp;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.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Call Home Advantage Real Estate in &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso&lt;/span&gt;, if you are considering selling your home. &amp;nbsp;We offer full service Real Estate services, at discount commission rates!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Serving &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso, Chesterton, Crown Point, Portage, Hebron, Schererville, Hobart, Merrillville, Munster, Dyer, Highland, Hammond, East Chicago, Gary, Boone Grove, Wheatfield, DeMotte, Beverly Shores &lt;/span&gt;and all of &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Northwest Indiana! &amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;Ask about our &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;BUYER REBATES &lt;/span&gt;and &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;FREE Market Analysis&lt;/span&gt;, for sellers.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sherri Van Noort (Home Advantage Real Estate)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Sat, 15 Aug 2009 21:01:12 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1197298/valparaiso-chesterton-crown-point-and-portage-home-sales</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1195534/discount-realtors-in-northwest-indiana</guid>
      <title>Discount Realtors in Northwest Indiana</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Discount Realtors in Northwest Indiana-&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;For all those financially savvy &lt;/span&gt;Northwest Indiana&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt; sellers and buyers out there; there is still a chance to make/save money on Real Estate in &lt;/span&gt;Northwest Indiana&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt; by using a &lt;/span&gt;discount Realtor&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;!&amp;nbsp; You don't have to give all of your hard earned equity to a &lt;/span&gt;Realto&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;r at a &quot;traditional&quot; Real Estate agent.&amp;nbsp; Most buyers are are very familiar with how the internet works, so most of them begin their home search there.&amp;nbsp; They will see a home whether the listing company is offering the selling agent 3% or 2.5%!!&amp;nbsp; As a matter of fact, the commission amount isn't even known to the buyer, because when &lt;/span&gt;Realtors&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt; print out a client detail sheet for their clients, the commission is not listed.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;We advertise our listings at 2 prices: The BUYER DIRECT price and the BRING YOUR AGENT price.&amp;nbsp; If a buyer chooses to use their own agent, the listing price is 2.5% higher. It's an excellent concept.&amp;nbsp;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. &amp;nbsp;That is why choosing a &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;discount Realtor&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;is a great choice in &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Northwest Indiana&lt;/span&gt;!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Call &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Home Advantage Real Estate&lt;/span&gt;, &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Northwest Indiana's &lt;/span&gt;premier &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Discount &lt;/span&gt;Real Estate firm!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sherri Van Noort (Home Advantage Real Estate)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:54:18 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1195534/discount-realtors-in-northwest-indiana</link>
    </item>
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      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1195119/valparaiso-indiana-schools</guid>
      <title>Valparaiso Indiana Schools</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso Indiana Schools&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;are highly rated, for both academics and sports! &amp;nbsp;If you are considering buying a home in &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso&lt;/span&gt;, please go to the &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Home Advantage &lt;/span&gt;web site, at: www.YouPay2.com, and click on &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&quot;School Info&quot;&lt;/span&gt;, to get more detailed information about &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso, Indiana Schools&lt;/span&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sherri Van Noort (Home Advantage Real Estate)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:37:06 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1195119/valparaiso-indiana-schools</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1195115/chesterton-indiana-real-estate</guid>
      <title>Chesterton Indiana Real Estate</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px;&quot;&gt;
&lt;div style=&quot;&quot;&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Chesterton Indiana Real Estate&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;and homes for sale in Northwest Indiana&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you have been thinking of buying a home in&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Chesterton&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;, Indiana,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;now is a great time to make the move! &amp;nbsp;There are many types of&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;homes&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;and properties&amp;nbsp;available in the area, including:&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Acreage, Income Properties, Farms, Single Family Homes, Luxury Properties, Vacation Properties&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;and much more. &amp;nbsp;What ever type of property you are looking for, be sure and call a knowledgeable&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Realtor&lt;/span&gt;, to find you the best deals, Including:&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Foreclosed Properties, Short Sales,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;and re-sale properties.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you are&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;relocating&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;to&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Chesterton&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;, Indiana,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;you should check out the&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Indiana Dunes&lt;/span&gt;, &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;downtown&amp;nbsp;Chesterton&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;, Valparaiso University&lt;/span&gt;,nearby&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso Farmer's Market,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Chesterton European Market&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;and so much more.&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Home Advantage Real Estate&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;offers a free&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Relocation Packet&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;to people who are moving to&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Chesterto&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;n&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;, Indiana&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;from another area. &amp;nbsp;Please take advantage of our&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;BUYER REBATE&lt;/span&gt;, when purchasing a home in &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Chesterton&lt;/span&gt;! &amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Home Advantage&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;will also set any buyer up with a&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Client Portal&lt;/span&gt;, which alerts you of any new listings that come on the market, no matter what time of day it is!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Chesterton Indiana Real Estate&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;is heating up, with many Chicago buyers taking advantage of the low&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;Chesterton&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;taxes, abundance of land and excellent &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Chesterton&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;Schools.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Call&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Home Advantage&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;for all of your&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Real Estate&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;needs. &amp;nbsp;Now is the best time to buy a&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;h&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;ome&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;in&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;Chesterton,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;so don't wait!&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sherri Van Noort (Home Advantage Real Estate)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:25:32 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1195115/chesterton-indiana-real-estate</link>
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    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1195111/valparaiso-indiana-real-estate</guid>
      <title>Valparaiso Indiana Real Estate</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso Indiana Real Estate &lt;/span&gt;and homes for sale in Northwest Indiana&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you have been thinking of buying a home in &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso, Indiana, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: normal;&quot;&gt;now is a great time to make the move! &amp;nbsp;There are many types of &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;homes &lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;and properties&amp;nbsp;available in the area, including:&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Acreage, Income Properties, Farms, Single Family Homes, Luxury Properties, Vacation Properties &lt;/span&gt;and much more. &amp;nbsp;What ever type of property you are looking for, be sure and call a knowledgeable &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Realtor&lt;/span&gt;, to find you the best deals, Including: &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Foreclosed Properties, Short Sales,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;and re-sale properties.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you are &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;relocating&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;to &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso, Indiana, &lt;/span&gt;you should check out the &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Indiana Dunes&lt;/span&gt;, downtown &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso, Valparaiso University&lt;/span&gt;,&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso Farmer's Market, &lt;/span&gt;nearby &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Chesterton European Market &lt;/span&gt;and so much more.&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Home Advantage Real Estate&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;offers a free &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Relocation Packet&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;to people who are moving to &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso, Indiana&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;from another area. &amp;nbsp;Please take advantage of our &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;BUYER REBATE&lt;/span&gt;, when purchasing a home! &amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Home Advantage &lt;/span&gt;will also set any buyer up with a &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Client Portal&lt;/span&gt;, which alerts you of any new listings that come on the market, no matter what time of day it is!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso Indiana Real Estate &lt;/span&gt;is heating up, with many Chicago buyers taking advantage of the low&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt; Valparaiso &lt;/span&gt;taxes, abundance of land and excellent &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Valparaiso &lt;/span&gt;Schools.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Call &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Home Advantage &lt;/span&gt;for all of your &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;Real Estate &lt;/span&gt;needs. &amp;nbsp;Now is the best time to buy a &lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;h&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;ome &lt;/span&gt;in&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt; Valparaiso, &lt;/span&gt;so don't wait!&lt;span style=&quot;font-weight: bold;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sherri Van Noort (Home Advantage Real Estate)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:17:18 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/1195111/valparaiso-indiana-real-estate</link>
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    <item>
      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/71360/valparaiso-indiana-real-estate</guid>
      <title>Valparaiso Indiana Real Estate</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;The Valparaiso Indiana Real Estate market is a great place to invest your money, right now.&amp;nbsp; It is a bit of a buyer&amp;#39;s market, but if you are selling, you will hopefully make up any money lost on the selling side, when you buy.&amp;nbsp; Mortgage interest rates are at an all-time low, and continue to drop.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;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:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;!.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.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2.To get the most &amp;quot;bang for your buck&amp;quot;, list your home with the Real Estate company that provides FULL SERVICE, at a DISCOUNTED COMMISSION RATE.&amp;nbsp; This way, you are not sacrificing getting exposure for your home.&amp;nbsp; 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 &amp;quot;BUYER POOL&amp;quot;, which increases your chances of getting your home sold for the most money, in the shortest amount of time.&amp;nbsp; At HOME ADVANTAGE REAL ESTATE, we strive to offer BUYERS and SELLERS top-notch service, at discounted rates.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3.On the BUYERS side, look for companies that offer BUYER REBATES.&amp;nbsp; It doesn&amp;#39;t cost you anything to retain the services of a BUYER&amp;#39;s Agent, but you will gain plenty.&amp;nbsp; Not only will you benefit from receiving a BUYER&amp;#39;S REBATE, but your agent will work in your best interest, therefore saving you MORE MONEY!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For more BUYER/SELLER tips, go to our web site:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.YouPay2.com&quot;&gt;http://www.YouPay2.com&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;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&amp;nbsp;Real Estate listings with photo&amp;#39;s and virtual tours, go to: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youpay2.com/&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;http://www.youpay2.com/&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; .&amp;nbsp; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Valparaiso, Indiana&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h3 id=&quot;siteSub&quot;&gt;From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;Jump to: &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso,_Indiana#column-one&quot;&gt;navigation&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso,_Indiana#searchInput&quot;&gt;search&lt;/a&gt; &lt;table border=&quot;0&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;City of Valparaiso&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;table border=&quot;0&quot; align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Valparaiso,_Indiana.gif&quot; title=&quot;Official flag of City of Valparaiso&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2a/Flag_of_Valparaiso%2C_Indiana.gif/100px-Flag_of_Valparaiso%2C_Indiana.gif&quot; longdesc=&quot;/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Valparaiso%2C_Indiana.gif&quot; height=&quot;60&quot; alt=&quot;Official flag of City of Valparaiso&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flag&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Seal_of_Valparaiso,_Indiana.gif&quot; title=&quot;Official seal of City of Valparaiso&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/76/Seal_of_Valparaiso%2C_Indiana.gif&quot; longdesc=&quot;/wiki/Image:Seal_of_Valparaiso%2C_Indiana.gif&quot; height=&quot;101&quot; alt=&quot;Official seal of City of Valparaiso&quot; width=&quot;100&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Seal&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_city_nicknames&quot; title=&quot;List of city nicknames&quot;&gt;Nickname&lt;/a&gt;: &amp;quot;&lt;em&gt;Valpo&lt;/em&gt;&amp;quot;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motto&quot; title=&quot;Motto&quot;&gt;Motto&lt;/a&gt;: &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;Vale of Paradise&amp;quot;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:US-IN-Valparaiso.png&quot; title=&quot;Location in Indiana&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/US-IN-Valparaiso.png/200px-US-IN-Valparaiso.png&quot; longdesc=&quot;/wiki/Image:US-IN-Valparaiso.png&quot; height=&quot;313&quot; alt=&quot;Location in Indiana&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Location in Indiana&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;Coordinates: &lt;a href=&quot;http://tools.wikimedia.de/~magnus/geo/geohack.php?params=41_28_34_N_87_3_25_W_type:city&quot; title=&quot;http://tools.wikimedia.de/~magnus/geo/geohack.php?params=41_28_34_N_87_3_25_W_type:city&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;41&amp;deg;28&amp;prime;34&amp;Prime;N, 87&amp;deg;3&amp;prime;25&amp;Prime;W&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/th&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countries_of_the_world&quot; title=&quot;Countries of the world&quot;&gt;Country&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States&quot; title=&quot;United States&quot;&gt;United States&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/th&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_divisions_of_the_United_States&quot; title=&quot;Political divisions of the United States&quot;&gt;State&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana&quot; title=&quot;Indiana&quot;&gt;Indiana&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/th&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_counties_in_Indiana&quot; title=&quot;List of counties in Indiana&quot;&gt;County&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/th&gt;&lt;th&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_County,_Indiana&quot; title=&quot;Porter County, Indiana&quot;&gt;Porter&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/th&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Government&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;&amp;nbsp;-&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor&quot; title=&quot;Mayor&quot;&gt;Mayor&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/th&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Costas&quot; title=&quot;Jon Costas&quot;&gt;Jon Costas&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)&quot; title=&quot;Republican Party (United States)&quot;&gt;R&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area&quot; title=&quot;Area&quot;&gt;Area&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;&amp;nbsp;-&amp;nbsp;City&lt;/th&gt;&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;11.0&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_mile&quot; title=&quot;Square mile&quot;&gt;sq&amp;nbsp;mi&lt;/a&gt; (28.5 &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_kilometre&quot; title=&quot;Square kilometre&quot;&gt;km&amp;sup2;&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;&amp;nbsp;-&amp;nbsp;Land&lt;/th&gt;&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;10.9&amp;nbsp;sq&amp;nbsp;mi&amp;nbsp;(28.2&amp;nbsp;km&amp;sup2;)&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;&amp;nbsp;- Water&lt;/th&gt;&lt;td&gt;&amp;nbsp;0.1&amp;nbsp;sq&amp;nbsp;mi&amp;nbsp;(0.2&amp;nbsp;km&amp;sup2;)&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Population&lt;/strong&gt; (2000)&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;&amp;nbsp;- City&lt;/th&gt;&lt;td&gt;27,428&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;&amp;nbsp;- &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_density&quot; title=&quot;Population density&quot;&gt;Density&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/th&gt;&lt;td&gt;2,515.4/sq&amp;nbsp;mi&amp;nbsp;(971.6/km&amp;sup2;)&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_zone&quot; title=&quot;Time zone&quot;&gt;Time zone&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/th&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Standard_Time_Zone&quot; title=&quot;Central Standard Time Zone&quot;&gt;CST&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC-6&quot; title=&quot;UTC-6&quot;&gt;UTC-6&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;th&gt;&amp;nbsp;-&amp;nbsp;Summer&amp;nbsp;(&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time&quot; title=&quot;Daylight saving time&quot;&gt;DST&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/th&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Daylight_Time&quot; title=&quot;Central Daylight Time&quot;&gt;CDT&lt;/a&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC-5&quot; title=&quot;UTC-5&quot;&gt;UTC-5&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;2&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Website:&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.valpo.us/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.valpo.us&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://www.valpo.us/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Valparaiso&lt;/strong&gt; (&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet&quot; title=&quot;International Phonetic Alphabet&quot;&gt;IPA&lt;/a&gt;: [&#716;v&#593;l.p&#601;.&#712;&#633;e&#618;.zo&#650;]) is a city in &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_County,_Indiana&quot; title=&quot;Porter County, Indiana&quot;&gt;Porter County&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana&quot; title=&quot;Indiana&quot;&gt;Indiana&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States&quot; title=&quot;United States&quot;&gt;USA&lt;/a&gt;, and is part of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicagoland&quot; title=&quot;Chicagoland&quot;&gt;Chicago Metropolitan Area&lt;/a&gt;. It is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_seat&quot; title=&quot;County seat&quot;&gt;county seat&lt;/a&gt; of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_County,_Indiana&quot; title=&quot;Porter County, Indiana&quot;&gt;Porter County&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Geographic_references#6&quot; title=&quot;Wikipedia:Geographic references&quot;&gt;GR6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;. The city&amp;#39;s &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickname&quot; title=&quot;Nickname&quot;&gt;nickname&lt;/a&gt; is Valpo.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;table id=&quot;toc&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; summary=&quot;Contents&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Contents&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;[&lt;a id=&quot;togglelink&quot;&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;] &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso,_Indiana#History&quot;&gt;1 History&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso,_Indiana#Geography&quot;&gt;2 Geography&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso,_Indiana#Demographics&quot;&gt;3 Demographics&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso,_Indiana#Education&quot;&gt;4 Education&lt;/a&gt; &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso,_Indiana#Higher_Education&quot;&gt;4.1 Higher Education&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso,_Indiana#Primary_and_secondary_education&quot;&gt;4.2 Primary and secondary education&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso,_Indiana#Culture&quot;&gt;5 Culture&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso,_Indiana#Notable_natives&quot;&gt;6 Notable natives&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso,_Indiana#Notes&quot;&gt;7 Notes&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso,_Indiana#External_links&quot;&gt;8 External links&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a name=&quot;History&quot; title=&quot;History&quot; id=&quot;History&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Valparaiso%2C_Indiana&amp;amp;action=edit&amp;amp;section=1&quot; title=&quot;Edit section: History&quot;&gt;edit&lt;/a&gt;] History&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Established in 1836 as the county seat of &lt;em&gt;Portersville&lt;/em&gt;, it was renamed to Valparaiso in 1837 after &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valpara&amp;Atilde;&amp;shy;so&quot; title=&quot;Valpara&amp;iacute;so&quot;&gt;Valpara&amp;iacute;so&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile&quot; title=&quot;Chile&quot;&gt;Chile&lt;/a&gt;, near which the county&amp;#39;s namesake &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Porter_(naval_officer)&quot; title=&quot;David Porter (naval officer)&quot;&gt;David Porter&lt;/a&gt; battled in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812&quot; title=&quot;War of 1812&quot;&gt;War of 1812&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso,_Indiana#_note-0&quot;&gt;[1]&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; Until &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991&quot; title=&quot;1991&quot;&gt;1991&lt;/a&gt; it was the terminal of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak&quot; title=&quot;Amtrak&quot;&gt;Amtrak&lt;/a&gt;&amp;#39;s &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calumet_(Amtrak)&quot; title=&quot;Calumet (Amtrak)&quot;&gt;Calumet&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commuter_rail&quot; title=&quot;Commuter rail&quot;&gt;commuter service&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a name=&quot;Geography&quot; title=&quot;Geography&quot; id=&quot;Geography&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Valparaiso%2C_Indiana&amp;amp;action=edit&amp;amp;section=2&quot; title=&quot;Edit section: Geography&quot;&gt;edit&lt;/a&gt;] Geography&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It is situated at the critical junctions of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_30&quot; title=&quot;U.S. Route 30&quot;&gt;U.S. Route 30&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Road_2_(Indiana)&quot; title=&quot;State Road 2 (Indiana)&quot;&gt;State Road 2&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Road_49_(Indiana)&quot; title=&quot;State Road 49 (Indiana)&quot;&gt;State Road 49&lt;/a&gt;. According to the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Census_Bureau&quot; title=&quot;United States Census Bureau&quot;&gt;United States Census Bureau&lt;/a&gt;, the city has a total area of 28.5 &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Km&amp;Acirc;&amp;sup2;&quot; title=&quot;Km&amp;sup2;&quot;&gt;km&amp;sup2;&lt;/a&gt; (11.0 &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_mile&quot; title=&quot;Square mile&quot;&gt;mi&amp;sup2;&lt;/a&gt;). 28.2 km&amp;sup2; (10.9 mi&amp;sup2;) of it is land and 0.2 km&amp;sup2; (0.1 mi&amp;sup2;) of it (0.73%) is water.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a name=&quot;Demographics&quot; title=&quot;Demographics&quot; id=&quot;Demographics&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Valparaiso%2C_Indiana&amp;amp;action=edit&amp;amp;section=3&quot; title=&quot;Edit section: Demographics&quot;&gt;edit&lt;/a&gt;] Demographics&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Valparaiso is located at &lt;a href=&quot;http://tools.wikimedia.de/~magnus/geo/geohack.php?params=41_28_34_N_87_3_25_W_city&quot; title=&quot;http://tools.wikimedia.de/~magnus/geo/geohack.php?params=41_28_34_N_87_3_25_W_city&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;41&amp;deg;28&amp;prime;34&amp;Prime;N, 87&amp;deg;3&amp;prime;25&amp;Prime;W&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Geographic_references#1&quot; title=&quot;Wikipedia:Geographic references&quot;&gt;GR1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;. As of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Census&quot; title=&quot;Census&quot;&gt;census&lt;/a&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Geographic_references#2&quot; title=&quot;Wikipedia:Geographic references&quot;&gt;GR2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/sup&gt; of 2000, there were 27,428 people, 10,867 households, and 6,368 families residing in the city. The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_density&quot; title=&quot;Population density&quot;&gt;population density&lt;/a&gt; was 971.6/km&amp;sup2; (2,515.4/mi&amp;sup2;). There were 11,559 housing units at an average density of 409.4/km&amp;sup2; (1,060.1/mi&amp;sup2;). The racial makeup of the city was 94.35% &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_(U.S._Census)&quot; title=&quot;White (U.S. Census)&quot;&gt;White&lt;/a&gt;, 1.60% &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American_(U.S._Census)&quot; title=&quot;African American (U.S. Census)&quot;&gt;African American&lt;/a&gt;, 0.23% &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_(U.S._Census)&quot; title=&quot;Native American (U.S. Census)&quot;&gt;Native American&lt;/a&gt;, 1.49% &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_(U.S._Census)&quot; title=&quot;Asian (U.S. Census)&quot;&gt;Asian&lt;/a&gt;, 0.02% &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Islander_(U.S._Census)&quot; title=&quot;Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)&quot;&gt;Pacific Islander&lt;/a&gt;, 0.79% from &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_(United_States_Census)&quot; title=&quot;Race (United States Census)&quot;&gt;other races&lt;/a&gt;, and 1.52% from two or more races. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispanic_(U.S._Census)&quot; title=&quot;Hispanic (U.S. Census)&quot;&gt;Hispanic&lt;/a&gt; or &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latino_(U.S._Census)&quot; title=&quot;Latino (U.S. Census)&quot;&gt;Latino&lt;/a&gt; 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 &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage&quot; title=&quot;Marriage&quot;&gt;married couples&lt;/a&gt; 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 &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per_capita_income&quot; title=&quot;Per capita income&quot;&gt;per capita income&lt;/a&gt; for the city was $22,509. About 4.8% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_line&quot; title=&quot;Poverty line&quot;&gt;poverty line&lt;/a&gt;, including 8.1% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a name=&quot;Education&quot; title=&quot;Education&quot; id=&quot;Education&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Valparaiso%2C_Indiana&amp;amp;action=edit&amp;amp;section=4&quot; title=&quot;Edit section: Education&quot;&gt;edit&lt;/a&gt;] Education&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chapel_of_the_Resurrection.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso University&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/67/Chapel_of_the_Resurrection.jpg/200px-Chapel_of_the_Resurrection.jpg&quot; longdesc=&quot;/wiki/Image:Chapel_of_the_Resurrection.jpg&quot; height=&quot;190&quot; alt=&quot;Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso University&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chapel_of_the_Resurrection.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Enlarge&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png&quot; height=&quot;11&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;15&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapel_of_the_Resurrection&quot; title=&quot;Chapel of the Resurrection&quot;&gt;Chapel of the Resurrection&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso_University&quot; title=&quot;Valparaiso University&quot;&gt;Valparaiso University&lt;/a&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;a name=&quot;Higher_Education&quot; title=&quot;Higher_Education&quot; id=&quot;Higher_Education&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Valparaiso%2C_Indiana&amp;amp;action=edit&amp;amp;section=5&quot; title=&quot;Edit section: Higher Education&quot;&gt;edit&lt;/a&gt;] Higher Education&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The city is the site of multiple colleges and universities. &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purdue_University_North_Central&quot; title=&quot;Purdue University North Central&quot;&gt;Purdue University North Central&lt;/a&gt; has a satellite campus in Valparaiso, and one of &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Tech&quot; title=&quot;Ivy Tech&quot;&gt;Ivy Tech&lt;/a&gt;&amp;#39;s 23 regional campuses is located in the city. Valparaiso is also home to namesake &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso_University&quot; title=&quot;Valparaiso University&quot;&gt;Valparaiso University&lt;/a&gt;, a highly ranked &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_I&quot; title=&quot;NCAA Division I&quot;&gt;NCAA Division I&lt;/a&gt; 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 &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brauer_Museum_of_Art&quot; title=&quot;Brauer Museum of Art&quot;&gt;Brauer Museum of Art&lt;/a&gt;, home to more than 2,700 pieces of 19th- and 20th-century American art.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a name=&quot;Primary_and_secondary_education&quot; title=&quot;Primary_and_secondary_education&quot; id=&quot;Primary_and_secondary_education&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Valparaiso%2C_Indiana&amp;amp;action=edit&amp;amp;section=6&quot; title=&quot;Edit section: Primary and secondary education&quot;&gt;edit&lt;/a&gt;] Primary and secondary education&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Public schools &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso_High_School&quot; title=&quot;Valparaiso High School&quot;&gt;Valparaiso High School&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Morgan Township High School &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Washington Township High School &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Boone Grove High School &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Porter County Career and Technical Center &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Benjamin Franklin Middle School &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Thomas Jefferson Middle School &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Central Elementary &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Cooks Corner Elementary School &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Flint Lake Elementary &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Hayes Leonard Elementary &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Flint Lake Elementary School &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Thomas Jefferson Elementary School &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Memorial Elementary &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northview_Elementary_School&quot; title=&quot;Northview Elementary School&quot;&gt;Northview Elementary School&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Parkview Elementary &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Private schools &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;The Classical Academy &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Immanuel Lutheran School (K-8) &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Montessori School of Valparaiso &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Saint Paul&amp;#39;s Catholic School (K-8) &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a name=&quot;Culture&quot; title=&quot;Culture&quot; id=&quot;Culture&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Valparaiso%2C_Indiana&amp;amp;action=edit&amp;amp;section=7&quot; title=&quot;Edit section: Culture&quot;&gt;edit&lt;/a&gt;] Culture&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:PRR_H10s_7239.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Pennsylvania Railroad steam locomotive in Valparaiso, 1936&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3c/PRR_H10s_7239.jpg/150px-PRR_H10s_7239.jpg&quot; longdesc=&quot;/wiki/Image:PRR_H10s_7239.jpg&quot; height=&quot;86&quot; alt=&quot;Pennsylvania Railroad steam locomotive in Valparaiso, 1936&quot; width=&quot;150&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:PRR_H10s_7239.jpg&quot; title=&quot;Enlarge&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png&quot; height=&quot;11&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;15&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Railroad&quot; title=&quot;Pennsylvania Railroad&quot;&gt;Pennsylvania Railroad&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_locomotive&quot; title=&quot;Steam locomotive&quot;&gt;steam locomotive&lt;/a&gt; in Valparaiso, 1936 &lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;The city&amp;#39;s annual festival is the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.popcornfest.org/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.popcornfest.org&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Popcorn Festival&lt;/a&gt;, held on the first Saturday after &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day&quot; title=&quot;Labor Day&quot;&gt;Labor Day&lt;/a&gt;. It honors &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orville_Redenbacher&quot; title=&quot;Orville Redenbacher&quot;&gt;Orville Redenbacher&lt;/a&gt;, a former resident who built a popcorn factory there. Redenbacher participated in most of the festival&amp;#39;s parades until his death in &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995&quot; title=&quot;1995&quot;&gt;1995&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taltree_Arboretum_and_Gardens&quot; title=&quot;Taltree Arboretum and Gardens&quot;&gt;Taltree Arboretum and Gardens&lt;/a&gt; is worth a visit. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Valparaiso is featured in &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valparaiso_(play)&quot; title=&quot;Valparaiso (play)&quot;&gt;Valparaiso&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;, a successful play by &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_DeLillo&quot; title=&quot;Don DeLillo&quot;&gt;Don DeLillo&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Valparaiso&amp;#39;s &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/valparaiso/banta/&quot; title=&quot;http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/valparaiso/banta/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;Banta neighborhood&lt;/a&gt; features many beautiful historic homes. Architectural designs include: Italianate, Arts &amp;amp; Crafts, and English/Cottswald. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Opera_House&quot; title=&quot;Memorial Opera House&quot;&gt;Memorial Opera House&lt;/a&gt; is a popular destination for musical theatre fans throughout the year. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Valparaiso hosts the Chicago Street Theatre, run by the local Community Theater Guild. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The 49er Drive-In is one of the few remaining &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_drive-in_theaters#Indiana&quot; title=&quot;List of active drive-in theaters&quot;&gt;active drive-in theaters&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wizard_of_Oz_Festival&amp;amp;action=edit&quot; title=&quot;Wizard of Oz Festival&quot;&gt;Wizard of Oz Festival&lt;/a&gt; is now hosted by the city at the County Expo Center. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a name=&quot;Notable_natives&quot; title=&quot;Notable_natives&quot; id=&quot;Notable_natives&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;[&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Valparaiso%2C_Indiana&amp;amp;action=edit&amp;amp;section=8&quot; title=&quot;Edit section: Notable natives&quot;&gt;edit&lt;/a&gt;] Notable natives&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_Arvin&quot; title=&quot;Newton Arvin&quot;&gt;Newton Arvin&lt;/a&gt;, literary critic &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beulah_Bondi&quot; title=&quot;Beulah Bondi&quot;&gt;Beulah Bondi&lt;/a&gt;, actress &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_L._Brown&quot; title=&quot;Kevin L. Brown&quot;&gt;Kevin L. Brown&lt;/a&gt;, former &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball&quot; title=&quot;Major League Baseball&quot;&gt;MLB&lt;/a&gt; player &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_N._Brown&quot; title=&quot;Mark N. Brown&quot;&gt;Mark N. Brown&lt;/a&gt;, astronaut &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryce_Drew&quot; title=&quot;Bryce Drew&quot;&gt;Bryce Drew&lt;/a&gt;, former &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Basketball_Association&quot; title=&quot;National Basketball Association&quot;&gt;NBA&lt;/a&gt; player &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Essany&quot; title=&quot;Michael Essany&quot;&gt;Michael Essany&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_television&quot; title=&quot;Reality television&quot;&gt;reality television&lt;/a&gt; talk show host &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_C._Gordon&quot; title=&quot;Henry C. Gordon&quot;&gt;Henry C. Gordon&lt;/a&gt;, astronaut &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Austin_Kendall&quot; title=&quot;Samuel Austin Kendall&quot;&gt;Samuel Austin Kendall&lt;/a&gt;, politician &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lilienthal&quot; title=&quot;David Lilienthal&quot;&gt;David Lilienthal&lt;/a&gt;, politician &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orville_Redenbacher&quot; title=&quot;Orville Redenbacher&quot;&gt;Orville Redenbacher&lt;/a&gt;, hybrid popcorn developer &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Samardzija&quot; title=&quot;Jeff Samardzija&quot;&gt;Jeff Samardzija&lt;/a&gt;, former &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Notre_Dame&quot; title=&quot;University of Notre Dame&quot;&gt;University of Notre Dame&lt;/a&gt; football and baseball player, currently in the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Cubs&quot; title=&quot;Chicago Cubs&quot;&gt;Chicago Cubs&lt;/a&gt; farm system. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carly_Schroeder&quot; title=&quot;Carly Schroeder&quot;&gt;Carly Schroeder&lt;/a&gt;, actress &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Harold_Zook&quot; title=&quot;R. Harold Zook&quot;&gt;R. Harold Zook&lt;/a&gt;, architect &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sherri Van Noort (Home Advantage Real Estate)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Sat, 07 Apr 2007 02:49:24 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/71360/valparaiso-indiana-real-estate</link>
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      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/68039/northwest-indiana-mls-multiple-listing-service-public-access</guid>
      <title>Northwest Indiana MLS(Multiple Listing Service) Public Access</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;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&amp;#39;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(&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youpay2.com&quot;&gt;www.youpay2.com&lt;/a&gt;) 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 &amp;quot;hotsheet&amp;quot; frequently for new listings, even on my own free time. I am constantly updating my buyers on new listings that meet their criteria.&amp;nbsp;The challenge of finding my clients the best home, for the least amount of money is a challenge I just can&amp;#39;t resist. &lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sherri Van Noort (Home Advantage Real Estate)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Mon, 02 Apr 2007 02:21:28 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/68039/northwest-indiana-mls-multiple-listing-service-public-access</link>
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      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/67515/real-estate-in-valparaiso-crown-point-munster-portage-and-all-of-northwest-indiana</guid>
      <title>Real Estate in Valparaiso,Crown Point,Munster,Portage and all of Northwest Indiana</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Northwest Indiana homes are still selling, despite the newly implemented halt on sub-prime lending.&amp;nbsp; Our office has been growing at a rapid pace.&amp;nbsp; 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&amp;#39;t for our high standards when considering new agents. The Northwest Indiana market is good! We&amp;#39;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).&amp;nbsp;Chicago buyers have been buying many of our listings. I think that there are&amp;nbsp;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.&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sherri Van Noort (Home Advantage Real Estate)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Sun, 01 Apr 2007 02:13:59 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/67515/real-estate-in-valparaiso-crown-point-munster-portage-and-all-of-northwest-indiana</link>
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      <guid>http://activerain.com/blogsview/63928/northwest-indiana-real-estate-market-still-alive-and-well</guid>
      <title>Northwest Indiana Real Estate market still alive and well</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title=&quot;Valparaiso,Crown Point,Chesterton area Real Estate market still strong &quot; src=&quot;http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/1/1/2/5/ar117489027452112.jpg&quot; height=&quot;182&quot; alt=&quot;Randy and Sherri Van Noort, Owners of Home Advantage Real Estate&quot; width=&quot;276&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Northwest Indiana is still a strong market&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp; While other areas of the country are experiencing somewhat of a slow and deflated Real Estate market, Northwest Indiana has been doing well.&amp;nbsp; That is not to say that we are realizing a Real Estate &amp;quot;boom&amp;quot; either.&amp;nbsp; One of the reasons for this, is that we have never had a&amp;nbsp;Real Estate &amp;quot;bubble&amp;quot;,&amp;nbsp;where properties are thought to be over-valued.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;I am a native of Florida, so I know that the Tampa Bay,&amp;nbsp;Florida market is VERY slow. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I will admit however, that this year has been a little bit of a buyer&amp;#39;s market.&amp;nbsp;Not to worry, though. Good things are&amp;nbsp;on the horizon for Northwest Indiana.&amp;nbsp; I have notice a huge influx&amp;nbsp;of Chicago buyers this year. Why not buy a home in an area where the taxes are low(comparatively speaking)&amp;nbsp;and you get more&amp;nbsp;house for the money?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Over all, the Northwest Indiana area &amp;nbsp;is an investor&amp;#39;s dream.&amp;nbsp; Consider buying rental properties right now, if you can.&amp;nbsp; Interest rates are low, and you can find plenty of renters in Valparaiso and the surrounding areas.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <dc:creator>Sherri Van Noort (Home Advantage Real Estate)</dc:creator>
      <pubDate>Mon, 26 Mar 2007 01:53:21 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/63928/northwest-indiana-real-estate-market-still-alive-and-well</link>
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