Diego Luquez is a general contractor and designer with Midtown Construction working in Miami.

Every week, we ask a Miami real estate professional for their thoughts on the top three stories from the week before. This week, we spoke with Deigo Luquez, a general contractor and designer with Midtown Construction. 

Miami Agent (MA): In terms of renovations, what kinds of trends are you noticing in your Miami clients?

Diego Luquez (DL): As far as design, we are noticing people getting more into minimalistic design, clean lines.

Open kitchens, with rather big kitchen island that serve many purposes, to entertain being one of them.

We are using lots of mirrors with clean lines, especially in condos. They were popular in the 70s, later they were considered “outdated” and over the past few years they have come back.

When assisting our clientele in designing their homes, there are some key features we point out: Open kitchen, a big master walk-in closet, and a nice master bathroom.

As most realtors know, those are a big plus at the time of either selling or renting. So bringing that “wow” effect in every space, knowing what the trends are, helps both the client and realtor when listing a home.

MA: How can Realtors form better relationships with groups such as your?

DL: Most of our projects get to us referred by Realtors and brokers that have known us since we started in 2004.

We have different arrangements with every Realtor.

MA: What are some questions you tend to get from clients who are new to renovations? What should they going in?

DL: Their main concern is the quality of the work and workmanship, design ideas and materials, and the timeline.

In our case, once they see at our huge porfolio they get a good sense and realize they are in good hands.

We counsel them when it comes to design and materials, based on our experience. What we recommend and what to avoid.

As far as timelines, they understand there is a process of permits that any GC must follow. This may seem tedious for them in the beginning, but they later understand it is for their own benefit.
We advise people not to overspend, instead, spend wisely in those things that will add value to the property for many years to come.