Before & After Pics, Rose Village Paint-a-Thon - Need Volunteers for This Saturday!

You can help put the finishing touches on the last of 15 homes that have been painted this fall as a result of the Rose Village Paint-a-Thon. There are just 2 more homes awaiting a full paint job and several waiting for finishing touches.

You'll get the opportunity to see how a simple project like this is creating a new view for people's lives -- not just what they see on the outside of their homes, but more importantly what they see from within themselves and in the hearts of their neighbors and new made friends. We are truly creating a new community in Rose Village - what one of our recipients refers to as a "psychological bomb" targeted on people's hearts from the many hands who choose to care.

Please join us for 2-3 hours ... or plan to stay all day (9a-3p). Either way, you are sure to have a good time and your efforts will be very much appreciated. There will be a good supply of brushes, rollers, scrapers and ladders, but feel free to bring your own tools if you have them. We wouldn't want anyone lacking for something to do.

The Rose Village Paint-a-Thon is the brainchild of Mark & Patti Maggiora. Inspired by a southeast Portland Paint-athon that gets hundreds of volunteers each year to help improve the homes of area senior citizens, the Rose Village Paint-a-Thon will have transformed more than 15 homes in the last 2 months.


Once a popular neighborhood where many of the city's long-term residents were raised, Rosemere / Rose Village had more recently been perceived as a highly transient area with an elevated crime rate. The increase in property values seen in recent years, though, has drawn the attention of investors and value seeking home owners and many of the vintage and historic homes are benefiting from a renewed pride of ownership. The team of volunteers who support the Rose Village Paint-a-Thon have the vision of increasing these positive trends and restoring the neighborhood to its former splendor.

The following Columbian link provides a great story about the effort: Revitalizing Rose Village

This weekend, activities will be continue to focus on a 3 block section of L St in Vancouver between 33rd Street and 37th Street. Volunteers will start assembling at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday in front of Patty & Scott Carroll's recently renovated "church home" at 3409 L St.

Volunteers are needed. If you would like to volunteer to help with the Paint-a-Thon project, please call Mark & Patti Maggiora at (360) 992-9969 or email mark@groupnw.net or patti@groupnw.net.



Patty & Scott Carroll - RE/MAX Equity Group, Vancouver WA

Get Free Compact Fluorescent Lights!

Fluorescent lights have small amounts of mercury in them. Because of this, they should be recycled rather than thrown in the garbage. In Clark County, people can recycle their fluorescent lamps at any of the Clark PUD offices. As an incentive, customers of Clark Public Utilities can recycle old compact fluorescents and receive a new CFL for every burned-out one that's brought in!

Compact fluorescent lamps and fluorescent tubes can also be recycled, at no charge, at these sites:

Central Transfer and Recovery Center
11034 NE 117th Avenue
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

West Van Materials Recovery Center
6601 N. W. Old Lower River Road
8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Philip Services Corporation in Washougal
625 South 32nd Street
10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. First Tuesday of the month

For more information about proper disposal of fluorescent lights, visit the website of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).



Patty & Scott Carroll - RE/MAX Equity Group, Vancouver WA

Can Fluorescent Lighting Really Save You Money?

We have heard and read about the benefits of changing to fluorescent lighting, but just never really bought into it. We thought that fluorescent lights were expensive to buy, put out an ugly white light, and probably wouldn't make a big enough differ in the monthly electric bill to warrant the cost. What DID catch our interest, though was that they last longer. With 14 foot ceilings in the living/dining area of our recently renovated "church home", the idea of going 5-7 years without changing bulbs was attractive!

With that in mind, we chose to change the lights in our living/dining area to compact fluorescents (a total of 26 bulbs). It was right about the same time that we had electric central air conditioning added to our home. As we got into summer and temperatures climbed, we expected our electric bill to climb, too. As it turned out, we used 5 - 26% less for each of the last 5 months as compared to the same months last year. We actually saved more than what it cost us to run air conditioning!

We have since changed all of our home lighting to fluorescent. The best overall prices that we could find in our area were at Costco. Costco's regular price for the compact fluorescents (60 watt equivalents) is currently $13.99 in our area for a pack of 10 ($1.40 each). We have also found ‘specialty' fluorescents on sale at Fred Meyer recently for $1.99 per bulb instead of $4.99. IKEA also offers a pretty good selection of specialty fluorescents.

A couple things that we have noticed are some bulbs have a delay in turning on ... others come on right away, but take a couple minutes to get to full brightness (especially the fluorescent flood lights). But it's funny ... we're kind of looking forward to our next electric bill!



Patty & Scott Carroll - RE/MAX Equity Group, Vancouver WA

Revitalizing One of Vancouver’s Vintage Neighborhoods

Six more homes in the Rose Village Neighborhood will get fresh paint on Saturday, October 11, as part of the 4th Plain Corridor Revitalization Task Force Housing Coalition Paint-a-Thon.

The Rose Village Paint-a-Thon is the brainchild of Mark & Patti Maggiora. Inspired by a southeast Portland Paint-athon that gets hundreds of volunteers each year to help improve the homes of area senior citizens, the Rose Village Paint-a-Thon is expected to yield some 20+ freshly painted homes in just 4 weeks.

"In addition to the obvious benefit of making the area look nicer," says Patty Carroll, "The Paint-a-Thon is getting neighbors to interact with each other and unite in achieving a common goal that will benefit us all."

Once a popular neighborhood where many of the city’s long-term residents were raised, Rosemere / Rose Village had more recently been perceived as a highly transient area with an elevated crime rate. The increase in property values seen in recent years, though, has drawn the attention of investors and value seeking home owners and many of the vintage and historic homes are benefiting from a renewed pride of ownership. The team of volunteers who support the Rose Village Paint-a-Thon have the vision of increasing these positive trends and restoring the neighborhood to its former splendor.

This weekend, activities will be focused on a 3 block section of L St in Vancouver between 33rd Street and 37th Street. Volunteers will start assembling at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday in front of Patty & Scott Carroll’s recently renovated “church home” at 3409 L St, where they will get donuts and coffee before picking up their brushes and starting work on the 6 homes. Lunch will also be provided to participating volunteers by Patty & Scott Carroll.

If you would like to have your home considered as a candidate for painting or if you would like to volunteer to help with the Paint-a-Thon project, please call Mark & Patti Maggiora at (360) 992-9969 or email mark@groupnw.net or patty@groupnw.net.


Patty & Scott Carroll – RE/MAX Equity Group, Vancouver WA

Patty Earns SRES® Designation!

Patty has recently completed her SRES® (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) designation. By earning her SRES® designation, Patty has demonstrated necessary knowledge and expertise to counsel clients age 50-plus through major financial and lifestyle transitions invovled in relocating, refinancing, or selling the family home.

As an SRES®, Patty brings:

* A customized approach to home selling for the 50+ market, including how their current living situation fits into their overall plan
* Expertise and patience without condescention
* An awareness of options and solid, reliable referrals for specific situations to explore those options
* A variety of choices to reduce out-of-pocket expenses, gain cash, or create or defer income streams to either stay independent or finance assistance

If you or anyone you know is age 50+ and considering buying or selling a home in Vancouver/Clark County WA, call Patty at (360) 258-2459 or email PattyCarroll@SellingClarkCounty.com.


Patty & Scott Carroll - RE/MAX Equity Group, Vancouver WA

Sell Your Home & Make Miracles Happen

We announced a new program earlier this week by which our seller clients can elect to have us make a donation to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure upon the sale of their home. Today, we adding a second option for them:

Children's Miracle Network

Children's Miracle Network and RE/MAX are joined by their desire to provide local community hospitals with modern tools and information. Since RE/MAX became the exclusive real estate sponsor of Children's Miracle Network in 1992, RE/MAX Associates have raised nearly $75 million for the cause.

Founded in 1983, Children's Miracle Network generates health care funds and awareness programs to benefit children. The nonprofit organization's 170 participating hospitals across North America help 17 million children annually.

RE/MAX Associates raise funds for Children's Miracle Network in a variety of ways, including:

- Pledging a contribution derived from each transaction involving a RE/MAX Miracle Home®.
- Staging fundraising events - from local golf tournaments to parking-lot flea markets.
- Handling the phones at the organization's annual telethon fundraising event, the largest of its kind in the world.

Miracle Home® Program

When you list your home with us, you may choose to have it designated as a Miracle Home®. If it is, we will make a contribution to Doernbecher Children's Hospital Foundation / OHSU once the transaction is complete. The funds raised here in Vancouver / Clark County will remain in the Oregon / SW Washington area to benefit local families.

Make Miracles Happen!

If you and/or someone you know are considering selling a home and would like to help make miracles happen, please contact Patty & Scott Carroll at (360) 258-2459 or visit our web site at www.SellingClarkCounty.com.



Patty & Scott Carroll - RE/MAX Equity Group, Vancouver WA

Sell Your Home & Help Fight Breast Cancer

Sold for the Cure

As RE/MAX Sales Associates who have had their lives touched by cancer, we actively support our company's Sold for the Cure program. The program gives sellers an opportunity to designate their home as a Sold for the Cure property when they list it with us. Upon successful completion of the sales transaction, we will make a donation to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure of Oregon & SW Washington.

Breast Cancer Facts

Breast cancer is among the leading types of cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, 1 in 8 women will have invasive breast cancer some time during her life. The chance of dying from breast cancer is about 1 in 35. At this time, breast cancer death rates are declining thanks, in part, to the work of organizations like Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

About Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. Today, Komen for the Cure is the world's largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists fighting to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find the cures. Thanks to events like the Komen Race for the Cure, we have invested nearly $1 billion to fulfill our promise, becoming the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world.

RE/MAX Supports Susan G. Komen for the Cure

RE/MAX is a proud national sponsor of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and a member of the Komen Million Dollar Council. The Komen Million Dollar Council is a special group of corporate partners. In addition to a financial contribution of at least $1 million, members of the Million Dollar Council like RE/MAX has been found to have new and innovative ways to spread two important messages: 1) early detection saves lives and 2) only through research can we find a cure.

If you and/or someone you know are considering selling a home and would like to help support the fight against breast cancer, please contact Patty & Scott Carroll at (360) 258-2459 or visit our web site at www.SellingClarkCounty.com.



Patty & Scott Carroll - RE/MAX Equity Group, Vancouver WA