HOME OR A DEAL

IS IT A HOME OR A DEAL?

Neil Maxwell

An Estate Agent’s legal obligation is to get the best possible price for the property they are selling. So, as sometimes happens, when a client asks what works should, or could be undertaken to improve a property’s value, we need to make a judgment call of cost, versus benefit. This judgement isn’t something that we take lightly as we wouldn’t want a customer paying out thousands only to receive the price quoted before the works were undertaken, because let’s face it, Southsea is a small place and bad reputations travel fast. New kitchens do make a difference, but it’s often the case that new work surfaces, or re-painting wooden doors can often give a much-needed facelift, without spending a lot of money on an entirely new kitchen. A property I sold recently for the fifth time in my career, believe it or not, has the same solid wooden units but over the years the kitchen has had several new work surfaces and lots of coats of paint. Adding additional bedrooms through a loft conversion can make a healthy difference and the best returns from loft conversions tend to be when the master bedroom is also fitted with an en-suite. However, any addition and any hike in value, is going to have to be

justified by a buyer’s surveyor - if the house is to be sold.

The other consideration… ‘is it a home, or a deal?’ if you’re thinking of moving in the near future, then there’s probably going to be monetary difference between renovating for the short term and the long term. Those jobs you’ve been putting off for years will no doubt need doing in order to achieve the best price, but why not do them anyway and enjoy the result? A recent client who told me they’d been putting off renovating the bathroom and kitchen, for fifteen years, needed to replace both in order to achieve the best price for their house, their only regret was not getting to enjoy the improvements themselves.

Light and bright homes, tidy gardens and first and last impressions are the basic essentials to make a home as appealing as possible and to achieve the best price. But, most important of all, is to get sound advice from established, experienced estate agents who have integrity and know the market, so perhaps make that your first priority! Best wishes to all readers for 2022 from myself and all at Fry & Kent and we look forward to seeing you during the course of the New Year.

HIGH STREET, OLD PORTSMOUTH - £695,000

• Four bedroom grade II listed Georgian town house in Old Portsmouth. • Approximately 250 years old with a wealth of period features throughout including wood paneling, original exposed beams and floors. • Over 2,900 sq. ft of accommodation spanning over four floors including a master bedroom with dressing room and en-suite. • EPC Exempt

LIVINGSTONE ROAD, SOUTHSEA - £775,000

• Substantial Five Bedroom Family home in quiet

Southsea Street with unique self-contained annexe/apartment. • 29 ft open plan kitchen/diner with separate utility room & cloakroom. • Large southerly facing rear garden with detached home office. • EPC Rating D

RICHMOND TERRACE, SOUTHSEA - £650,000

• Stunning four bedroom period family home in heart of Southsea’s highly requested Owens conservation area. • This bright and airy home boasts a large 15ft by 14ft master bedroom and spacious four piece bathroom. • Beautiful westerly facing court yard garden and driveway parking. • EPC Rating D

LOCAL COMPANY, GIGANET CONNECTING SOUTHSEA TO 10 X FASTER BROADBAND

Forget superfast and ultrafast, Southsea now has hyperfast broadband, courtesy of Giganet. A brand new full fibre network is rapidly being built, with over 19,500 homes and businesses already able to benefit. With engineers extending the network at a rate of 2,000 homes per month, Fareham-based Giganet is becoming the trusted provider for Southsea’s broadband.

More than 10 times faster than Portsmouth’s average broadband speed of 88.21Mb/s, full fibre is incredibly fast (up to 900Mb/s), ultrareliable, and delivers exactly what the modern household demands.

With today’s need to effectively work from home, transfer large files instantly, video call with no freezing or dropping out, full fibre broadband is simply the only way. Combined with the growth in smart homes, and an increasing rise in door locks, televisions, thermostats, cameras, lights, and even appliances being controlled through the internet, the need for full fibre increases further. If you like to stream movies and game online without lag, full fibre is the only way to make all of this possible, all at the same time. And it does.

SO, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR EXISTING COPPER BROADBAND AND THE NEW FULL FIBRE?

You may have heard the terms ‘fibre broadband’ and 'superfast' — you may have even signed up to a superfast broadband connection. But, did you know that these are not real full fibre, and only deliver speeds of up to 80Mb/s? The fundamental difference between these ‘Fibre to The Cabinet’ services, and Giganet’s hyperfast ‘Fibre To The Premises’ broadband is that aging copper cables are still used. As opposed to Giganet’s end-to-end fibre (with not a millimetre of copper in sight!)

SO, WHAT’S THE ISSUE WITH COPPER?

Absolutely nothing…if you lived in the Victorian era and only needed to make a phone call! Copper wires were installed throughout the UK a hundred years ago and were never designed to support anything more than telephone calls. Yet many broadband providers like Sky, TalkTalk, and BT still rely on this feeble technology to provide their customers with broadband. Then there are companies like Virgin, who also advertise their products as ‘fibre’, but their cable still contains unreliable copper elements, similar to cable TV. The old copper cables were never designed for the things we do today. So streaming, gaming, and even basic working becomes painstaking.

IN CONTRAST, GIGANET’S FULL FIBRE BROADBAND MEANS YOU’RE SET FOR LIFE, WITH FIBRE ALL THE WAY TO YOUR HOME.

With one-month rolling contracts, you will be blown away by Giganet’s speed, reliability and customer service. They don’t tie customers down to lengthy contracts. And with significant funding, they are here to stay, at a time when you see other companies folding. Giganet aren’t on price comparison sites, but along with free router and installation for most types of home, their monthly pricing is set. No nasty add-ons, just one low fixed price. This local company are doing things differently, which is why they’re rated excellent on Trustpilot. Want to know if you can get full fibre yet? Check availability at your postcode: www.giganet.uk/Portsmouth or follow @giganetuk for updates.

Independent practice since 1996 24hr Emergency Service Surgical theatre on site 34 Elm Grove • Southsea • Hants • PO5 1JG Tel: 02392 861122 • www.grove-vets.co.uk

PORTSMOUTH CHORAL UNION

Christmas Oratorio - Bach Saturday 11 December 2021 at 7.30pm St Mary’s Church www.pcuchoir.org