On the Couch with Terence Carvalho & Joe Taffurelli

Welcome to On the Couch with Biscoes, your home for honest, unscripted business and community conversations brought to you by Biscoes Solicitors. We work with a huge range of local organisations, and we’ve learned so much from the people behind them, now we want you to hear their stories too.

In this episode, Alison is joined by two familiar Portsmouth faces: Terence from Delivered Social, and Joe, CEO of OVIO Solutions. Both recently navigated the stresses of moving home, and they share what the conveyancing process really feels like, whether you’re a first‑time buyer stepping into the unknown or juggling the sale and purchase of your next home.

Together, they chat about the value of having a supportive solicitor, why clear communication can calm even the most nerve‑wracking moments, and how understanding the legal process can turn confusion into confidence. Alison also lifts the lid on what actually goes on behind the scenes in conveyancing, from checks, searches and surprises, to why things take longer than people expect.

Beyond home‑moving, the episode celebrates both guests’ passion for Portsmouth: from championing the city through the Ambassador Programme to supporting the LGBTQ+ community through Portsmouth Pride. It’s a conversation rooted in positivity, community spirit and the people who make Portsmouth thrive.

This isn’t a legal deep dive, it’s a genuine, cosy chat about homes, community and the importance of feeling supported.

So grab a cuppa, get comfy, and join us on the couch.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Biscoes, Biscoes, Biscoes are always there for you.

SPEAKER_02 0:06

Bisco's great service. Every client, every time. Welcome to On the Couch with Bisco's, your home for honest, unscripted business and community chats brought to you by Bisco's solicitors. We work with all kinds of businesses and organisations for our local community, and we've learned so much from the people behind them. So now we want you to hear from them too, to understand the values, lessons, and experiences that kept them moving. If you're looking for hard-hitting legal content, this isn't the podcast for you. This is a cozy, comfortable space for local people and our best collaborators to have a voice. So grab a cupper and come and join us on the couch. Hi, I'm Alison and I'm on the couch at Bisco's today with um Terence. Terence, you'd like to tell everybody who you are?

SPEAKER_01 0:58

My name is Terence. I'm Chief Operating Officer of Delivered Social, a marketing agency based here in Portsmouth, and I also lead the Shaping Portsmouth Portsmouth Ambassadors programme.

SPEAKER_02 1:07

And the lovely Joe.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Hello. Hi, yeah, I'm Joe Taffarelli. I'm CEO of OVO Solutions. Um, we're a payroll and finance provider uh here in Portsmouth.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

Hi. Right, so guys, I've invited you both here today to talk a little bit about moving house because Bisco's has represented both of you um in conveyance and transactions in the last 12 months. Um so starting with you, Terence. Yeah. You and your lovely fiance, you're not married yet, are you?

SPEAKER_01 1:37

New Year's Eve this year. Oh finale Portsome 100. That's not what I'm doing. Um but that's what I'm selling it as. Are we getting this sponsored? Is this what's going on?

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Cheapskate.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Um anyway, so you um and your lovely fiancee bought your first house. Um so tell me a little bit about um from your perspective as as the house buyer, what was that whole process? What did it feel like?

SPEAKER_01 2:04

It felt like being a grown-up, which was quite scary. It was and a lot of different figures being thrown at you from various places from banks and mortgage brokers and stuff. So my first thought was you know, you need a solicitor. Biscoes, I've I've known of Bisco's for years, and you guys are everywhere anyway. And I thought it has to be Bisco's. Um I got in contact, I think it was Jackie who gave me a call, and I was quite nervous because again, you're speaking to real professional people. So I thought I'm gonna come across really stupid, no matter what I say here, because I don't know the process at all. And not only did Jackie explain the process on the phone really nicely, but also she sent me an email with those points that she covered as well, along with a checklist, which was really, really helpful. And that set me at ease straight away because everything was laid out in a way that I could either complete it in work on the sly, or once I got home, everything was there. This is what you need to scan in, this is what we need, and also the upfront costs were there. There was no surprises. This is what it will cost you, this is how that process will happen, and everything was planned in a really friendly and professional way.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Yeah. So before you bought the house, um, did you have any concept at all of what the what the process would involve?

SPEAKER_01 3:14

No, only from sort of discussions with my mortgage broker and friends and family, really. Um, but not from a professional standpoint, from a solicitor. Yeah. So a lot of Googling, you know, what's what should be the things I should look out for on a house? What's you know damn biz notorious in Portsmouth? So I knew that was always going to be something. But even when um I went through to George and I I was asking for advice. Look, I've got this viewing, I've got a second viewing, um, negotiating prices, he was really helpful and saying, Look, this is what you should do, or don't worry about the estate agents, we'll chase them. It was just the whole process which was sort of bought in a way that I didn't have to worry, you know, it was really just taken out of my hands.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

Yeah, brilliant. Joe, you you had bought a house before, so you were selling a property and buying a property. Um, so again, as somebody who's done it before, can you give me a kind of sense of what that felt like to you as the as the house poet, buyer and seller?

SPEAKER_00 4:05

Absolutely. I think for us it's it's really quite it's different. We obviously understood and remembered the process, but it you know, and you sort of try to forget some trauma. Um but no, you do forget, um like you say, the hand holding actually is what's the most important thing because our first purchase we we were using uh we used one of those online ones, we went to first time buyers with no money, so we kind of went for the well that one's cheap, it's just paperwork, surely. Um so we kind of like it's just admin, why are we gonna pay 1500 quid, two grand, whatever? So, yeah, for us going from that to to we had George as well, um, was absolutely fantastic because he really did hold our hand and we, you know, he walked us through it, we were able to go on and go and actually see you guys face to face, which I think is a huge win. So we have to take, you know, and I'm a little bit I work in the financial service sector, I don't have to wait for anything. So, you know, if I get a form through, it was with you that evening normally. So we got it that morning, we drove over, we dropped it back into Visco, and we knew it was dropped in, it was done. Um, and that was exceptional for us. But I think ultimately for me, the the the clincher was yeah, like that handholding, that support, just be able to pick up the phone and talk to George and just ask some questions, you know, or you know, just an update. Uh, because I think that's one thing I always remember about my first time is you think, oh, something's really wrong. This is taking weeks. Well, you chase it the first time around. Yeah, all the time. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

And I think I think from our perspective, that's that one one of the things is demystifying a little bit what the process actually involves. Because um, I think when people buy a house, they think, Oh, I've made an offer on this property, it's gonna be like buying a car. I'm gonna I'm gonna go and have a look at it, I'm gonna decide for myself that it looks okay. Um, I'm gonna put a deposit down and maybe sort out some finance, uh, and then I can just go and pick it up. So when we're talking about buying a house, um, people don't understand that there's lots of things that can go wrong when you buy a property. So what the solicitors are doing for you, what your legal advisers are supposed to do for you, um, is check out the legal title to that property to make sure that it can be sold for a start, um, that it's that it's fully intact in terms of it's got nothing, no restrictions or problems in relation to it. So there's no outstanding finance, for example, that's still registered against that property. Um, and we also do things like local searches. So that would involve um going to the local council and saying, are you planning to build a motorway next to this property anytime soon? You know, it is this it doesn't happen in Portsmouth, but if we're looking at properties that are outside the area, um, we we do things like mining searches. So if you're buying a property in Cornwall, for example, you want to know whether you're buying a property that's sitting on top of an old tin mine that might cause your garden to disappear over that sort of stuff. So those are the sorts of things the lawyers do for you. And I think probably um most people buying houses don't understand that that's what causes what you would perceive as a client as a delay. But it's um it's essential because it means that you're getting a property that you've got full information about that you know when you buy it, you you've bought it. Um, and a lot of the properties in Portsmouth are leasehold. I don't think either of you bought leasehold properties, but um that's where you you buy a long lease for a property, um, so you don't actually own the freehold of that property. And again, something that we give advice around is is um what that actually means in terms of obligations for common parts to be maintained, etc. So lots of aspects to to property that um we um we can advise on. And as you say, one of the things is really having a good relationship with your your conveyancer, your solicitor, who is um then able to negotiate other bits for you. So um you obviously have an estate agent who represents um the seller of the property, but in particular in both of your cases, you you were buying properties, you obviously you had a seller for yours uh existing property, Joe. But it's a remembering that that that estate agent's actually working for the person who's selling the properties, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:05

They're very nice though, aren't they? Yeah, most of them, most of them, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

I'm not not dissing not dressing the state agents, but no, yeah, you are right.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

And and I think you know that's where like you said, George and everyone was so useful for me because yes, you might feel quite comfortable like, oh, I recognise this form or this you know land registry form or whatever from previous, but things do change. Um, and obviously I've you know you don't want to do this every couple of years, but I was quite surprised actually that there had been some changes um since we bought for seven years prior. Um, so yeah, I I think just understanding that those sort of things, and George was fantastic, yeah, really, really helped.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

And and things do change in terms of things like stamp duty changes. And if you're you know you're trading up properties, for example, you might you know you need to be aware that stamp duty goes up at the more the more about the value of the property, uh, etc. etc.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

actually really reassured me even further was actually something that the estate agent said when they said, Oh, have you have you point to solicitor? I said, Oh yeah, it's um it's George at Bisco's. And they knew instantly, they're like, Oh, yeah, we've we've dealt with George hundreds of times.

SPEAKER_02 9:08

And George is getting a big up here, isn't he?

SPEAKER_01 9:10

George Brown, yeah, I love him. Um, but also, you know, I know I know that George does a lot in the community as well. So even that was a and maybe that wouldn't be the reason for anybody else choosing solicitor, but for me it was because what Bisco's do in the community and him off his own back doing in stuff in his personal life and campaigning and all that sort of stuff, you know, I've seen him changing flower beds down south, yeah, you know, and that sort of thing is like, yeah, I'm proud to be working with someone like that because he generally does care.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Yeah, brilliant. So one of the things um I I need to mention is that we've got a uh home buyers uh event that we are running free of charge at our offices on the 16th of April. Um so if anybody who is in the process of thinking about buying a house, making an offer or in the process, first-time buyers or um uh somebody who's you know trading up a different property or moving to a different property, they're free to come along. So you can check that out on our website. Um, so while I've both got I've got both of you here, I'm gonna individually um speak to you about things I know that you're you're passionate about. Terence, you are you did mention it, you head up the ambassador programme for shaping Portsmouth. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Yeah, so I got involved. Oh, I think I joined as an ambassador about 10 years ago now, so quite a while ago.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

We've never let you leave.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

No, well, that was a problem with Steph. If he asks you to do something, it was always a yes. Uh, and I think Dave is probably the same now. Um, but I got involved then at the time I was working at the King's Theatre, I was managing 45 volunteers plus 45 paid staff. So I knew the impact of volunteering and passionate people who volunteered for reasons of their own. And I went to get involved in a different way, not in a work capacity, but something which was my passion in helping the community. And as the years have gone on, the Portsmouth Ambassador Programme has grown and more facets have sort of come in. The cruise passenger programme, of course, came in, I think, four or five years ago, was never a thing. That has now become a huge element of the Portsmouth Ambassador programme and now become its own programme in its own right. Because every cruise ship that comes into Portsmouth, it's estimated each ship brings about 3.6 million to the local economy.

SPEAKER_02 11:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

And the people that are there to welcome and greet them are volunteers, people who are passionate about the city, point them in the right direction of things to go.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

We stop them going out to Salisbury to look at a load of old rocks or up to London and get them to stay in their city.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

It was so frustrating. The first time I did it was people getting off the cruise ships, and they were like, Okay, we're we're off to Stonehenge now. Why? We're off to London now. Why there's so much here. Um, and then as soon as you told people that's that's what was here, they'd be like, Oh, okay, let's go. And now, of course, you'd have those cruise uh liners which will sell them packages, so they would have to go to Stonehenge, they would have to go to those places, but they didn't know that there was so much to do in Portsmouth. Yeah, they didn't know about the dockyard or the Mary Rose or Soussey Castle or D-Day Story or just the beach, you know. So it's that it's been an educational part for Mars learning that stage and and making that bigger and bigger, and then it is just general, you know, shouting about the positivity of the city because there's a lot of noise out there, positive and unfortunately negative, and it's about drowning that noise and negativity and focusing on the positives.

SPEAKER_02 12:08

Absolutely. Um, Joe, you have just taken on a new role, I understand. Tell us a bit about that.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Yeah, yeah. So I've just recently joined as a trustee of uh Portsmouth Pride Trust. Um, yeah, I I I wasn't expecting it to be honest. I knew, you know, when when they when they put out for uh uh applicants, I thought, oh, actually this feels right now. So I've been part of Pride for probably actively for about three or four years prior, um, whether that's through you know my employer when I was at Liquid Friday or or now at Ovieo. So we've always been supporters and and gone involved, but um, yeah, I wanted to actually use a bit like yourself, use the use the skills I've got at work and and my network and and and and that knowledge to support the trust. Um, and that was really important.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

Yeah, so Bisco's um we've been sponsors of uh of Pride for a number of years. Um and um see I've done a uh podcast with CP. So if anybody's interested in hearing a little bit more about um what what Pride Get uh does across the city, etc. That's that's a good one to listen to because he's given us a good background around the programmes outside of the main festival day.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

Yeah, yeah, we have our flagship event, and we'll always have you know, our flagship event is very important to us, main day, as it used to be called. Um, but yeah, we are an all-year-round charity, so we are doing stuff every single month. Yeah, um, and that's really important.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

So that's lovely, guys. Thanks very much for coming in. Just got to finish on what a fantastic week it's been uh in the city, and how excited are we about being long listed in the City of Culture Bid.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

And yeah, I can't wait. Next city, right? Let's see it. We're gonna we're gonna get it. We're gonna get it. 100%.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Um I'm 100%. We we are definitely, we're definitely it's coming south.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

It's coming south, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely, can't wait.

SPEAKER_02 13:59

Thanks, guys.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Thank you, thank you every time every time.