Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC announced today that Premier Region Real Estate, based in Crown Point, Ind.,  has affiliated with the BHGRE^® brand. The company will now be known as Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Connections and continue to serve all of Northwest Indiana. 

Responsible Broker Clarence Webb will continue to oversee the company and its 40 agents. The company quickly expanded and is now ranked in the top 10 percent of all brokerages in Northwest Indiana according to GNIAR – Greater Northwest Indiana Association of REALTORS^®. Webb, who has 14 years of real estate experience, founded the company in 2018.

Northwest Indiana, which is where the company does much of its business, has become increasingly attractive to Illinois residents who welcome a more rural setting, more affordable homes, lower taxes and an easy commute to Chicago. The county’s population has grown 33.9% since 1990 to 696,535 according to the U.S. Census.

Details:

• Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Connections becomes the third Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate affiliate in Indiana.
• The company is one of the fastest growing in the region as seen by its 37.2% increase in sales volume year over year
• The median home price in Lake County is $182,000, up 13.1% from last April, according to the Indiana Association of REALTORS^®. This is substantially less than the $286,800 national mark recently shared by the National Association of REALTORS^® which increases the area’s affordability. Home prices in the county have been on a steady climb since 2014 when the median price was below $130,000. 
• Nearby Porter County, which has seen a 31.7% increase in population since 1990 according to the U.S. Census, has a median sales price of $222,200, up 3.3% from a year ago and up from approximately $160,000 in 2017. Sales are up 14.6% over last year.
• Company was the first in region to fully embrace virtual tours prior to COVID-19, giving them a marked advantage over their competition. Webb reports that real estate activity has remained steady over the last several months while the client pool has been trimmed to just those serious buyers and sellers.
• Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Connections has been an active supporter of the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana and Toys for Tots, and other local charities.  
• Webb cited BHGRE’s training and marketing support as key differentiators noting that PinPoint^SM ,the brand’s proprietary predictive marketing tool that utilizes Better Homes & Gardens magazine and its publisher Meredith Corporation’s data harvested from its 175 million consumers, as a key differentiator.

Quotes:

“Clarence has quickly built a strong company in a growing region. He is another in a long line of next-generation leaders the BHGRE brand is attracting who are reinventing how our industry can embrace new technologies. His agents have benefitted from a high-touch, proactive culture that has allowed them to succeed. We are excited that Clarence and the agents at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Connections are empowered to leverage our suite of tools and resources, including PinPoint, to help grow their market share and showcase the region.”

Sherry Chris, President & CEO, Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate

“I built the company to be authentic and transparent with our agents. That has led to a culture where our agents believe that doing things the right way brings in business. I spoke to many national companies, but there was an authenticity in the BHGRE brand that matched who we are. It’s not just the brand name that has power but the support and processes that comes with it. Over the last two years we learned so much. Now with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, we will be able to grow our business even more than we could have ever imagined.”
Clarence Webb, Responsible Broker, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Connections

About Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC is a dynamic real estate brand that offers a full range of services to brokers, sales associates and home buyers and sellers. Using innovative technology, sophisticated business systems and the broad appeal of a lifestyle brand, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC embodies the future of the real estate industry while remaining grounded in the tradition of home. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation and settlement services.

The growing Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate network includes nearly 13,000 independent sales associates and more than 370 offices serving home buyers and sellers across the United States, Canada, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Australia and New Zealand.

Better Homes & Gardens® is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation licensed to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC and used with permission. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate Franchise is independently owned and operated.