New Construction Homes Miami | A Guide to Constructing and Finishing a Miami Property

Building, Finishing or Customizing Homes in Miami | Timelines, Challenges, and Advice

In this new podcast, David Siddons interviews his wife and top Interior Designer Luciana Fragali about finishing new construction homes in Miami. Luciana is CEO of Design Solutions, a luxury interior design company based in Miami. During her 20-year career, Luciana has completed over 400 high-end residential projects.

David and Luciana discuss the complexity of interior design and the investment value of hiring an interior designer. Moreover, they discuss project timelines and share some takeaways when considering constructing or finishing a home or a condo. 

Part 1

Focussed on value of interior design, finishing a property and project timelines

 00:00 Introduction, 01:18  Introducing Design Solutions, 06:20 The Complexity of Interior Design 09:00 The Link between real estate and interior design, 12:33 Interior Design as an investment, 15.54 Working Example of how interior design can lead to asset appreciation, 19:33 The timelines of an interior design project, 22:20 Finishing a new construction condo, 31.05 Building a Miami House

Part 2

Focussed on building or renovating homes and what to look out for

00:00: Introduction 00:15 : Floor Plans in the Condo Market | Sales Floor Plan vs Architectural Floor Plan 01:17: Floor Plans in the Home Market 02:50: The Process of Building a New Home 04:25: Finding the right land to build on 07:25 : Limitations when Renovating a Home (Focus on Historic Homes) 14:10 : The Importance of Elevation Levels 16:40: Building Vs Remodeling 21:35 : We Built our own Dream Home 24:35 : The Upside of Building your own Home 32:20 : How to find your own dream home

New Construction Homes Miami | Building a New Miami Home

To build a home, you need to consider three years. The reality is that this is a process with lots of variables. From finding the right people to finding the right architect. Moreover, finding the land and knowing the construction limitations are important. Some cities have restrictions on the percentage of land you can build on. Where you buy matters for more reasons than you might think.nTiming and budget are most important when building your home. Many people are not sure about their budget, and that is fine. A company like Design Solutions can help you in this process. 

It is essential to make up your mind regarding the goal of that property. How do you see yourself living there today, three years from now, and ten years from now? Finally, you should work with the right team, such as contractors with a pedigree.

Finding a land to build on

As simple as it sounds, there are many things to consider. The size is important but also where you buy the land is important. On Key Biscayne, for example, you can only build 43% of the lot, and on the Venetian Islands, this is 43%-47%. In addition, you can get bonuses and credits if you adapt to what the city is looking for. Please always verify this information with an architect, and learn about the latest codes and regulations.  Before you decide on land, please know about setbacks, elevation rules, and construction limitations associated with that land.

When to Involve an Interior Designer

When you build a house the interior designer should be involved from day one. As a designer, you consider other things than an architect. Architects are highly skilled professionals, but their concern is giving you a beautiful, well-structured home with an inviting facade. The designer designs the interior space for your use or needs. What an interior designer does is more than what most people think. It is more than just adding a pretty table and making it look cozy. A designer makes the house functional and ensures every room will come to its utmost potential. Involving both parties from the start can be of benefit to you.

Cooperation between Architect and Interior Designer

The architect might have designed a room, but will the size of that room be able to accommodate the couch you have envisioned? How big is your family?, Do you watch movies together? Where do you spend most of your time? Do you entertain? Architects don’t think of lighting and can’t decide and apply to the city for lighting if you don’t know what furniture you will buy, or where the coffee table will be. Maybe you own a specific piece of art that needs a corner with special lighting? All these questions are not something an architect thinks about.
This might sound overwhelming, but that is what a designer does for you. The contractor, designer, and architect should be a team from the start. David and Luciana had that opportunity and created a dream home. Don’t wait to hire a designer till the last moment. You risk project delays and unnecessary changes.

New Construction Homes Miami | The financial Upsides of a Custom Home

The upside of a custom home, besides owning your dream home, is the financial gain. This means that what you invested in money and time will come back to you three or four times. New and custom homes are scarce. It is not expensive for the sake of being expensive. You will spend money that justifies the investment when you resell it. The amount of truly customized homes with good finishes in Miami is limited. The market offers many new spec homes, but customized homes are still rare. Many buyers invest in a spec home, thinking it’s a high luxury, but it is not. Developers that build spec homes, won’t spend the same time and budget as owners who built a custom home. In many markets, the entry-level for a newer home is somewhere around $4M. A $4M spec home might require another $2M to customize with a high-end, custom kitchen, millwork, and state-of-the-art finishes. (see pics of the Siddons-Fragali residence to see a fully customized home).

New Construction Homes Miami | The Timelines to Finish New Spec Homes

Many people buy spec homes from a developer. A spec home is a house developed with no specific buyer in mind. These can be well-finished luxury homes but tend to be more generic than customized homes created for an end user. These spec homes are bought and later personalized. These projects can be quick. An interior designer will furnish the house, decorate it, add custom lighting, wallpaper, and so forth. If no architectural changes are necessary, this will take approximately six weeks. Budget considerations may also influence these timelines.

Renovating or Remodeling a Home

When it comes to renovating homes, there are some important aspects to consider. Miami Beach, for example, gives you certain guidelines. For example, if you buy a home and want to make an interior renovation or extension, you can only spend 50% of the property value. So you might have a waterfront home valued at $5M that needs remodeling. The land will be worth $4M and the property around $1M. This means you can only spend $500K to remodel that home. (Always verify with an architect to know the latest rules and codes). So this home becomes almost impossible to just remodel. You will have to tear this home down in order to create your dream property. The city benefits from people building new homes as new homes are elevated, and safer in case of a hurricane. They have our safety in mind, therefore these codes exist and keep adapting. Imagine you bought that home to put $3M in there and to make it your dream waterfront mansion. You will not be able to do so. Moreover, if your home is a historic home, you cannot even rebuild it. You cannot tear down historic homes, nor can you change the façade. If you decide to remodel a historic home, you are very limited. 

You need to have a realtor who knows this and can warn you before you buy a property you cannot transform into your dream property.

Remodeling Condos vs. Remodeling Homes

You are much more limited when remodeling a condo compared to a home. With condos, you might be able to open up a space or drop the ceiling, but you are limited to more structural changes like replacing a kitchen or removing a column. When it comes to homes, however, the sky is the limit.  

Building a new home vs. Renovating a new home

Building a home takes about three years, while remodeling takes up to two years, depending on the work and your budget. If you have the time and the budget, it will be best to build a new home. New homes are very desired and comply with the latest codes and regulations. The code changes every year, and some insurance companies are not insuring homes that do not comply.

Remodeling is best (in Luciana’s professional opinion) when the changes are cosmetic, and the home has good bones. Good bones mean a house designed by a renowned architect that gave the house solid walls and high ceilings. Cosmetic changes might be a new kitchen, floors, or closets. Additionally, new lighting, cabinets, bathrooms, or millwork are considered cosmetic. If the home offers good bones, you can play around and have fun with a renovation.

It becomes more challenging and costly when you want structural changes, like increasing the size of a home, doing some structural walls, or changing ceiling heights. There are limitations as well, especially when it comes to ceiling heights.

Different homes are differently suited for renovations. It’s a realtor’s job to identify these. Once you go under contract, you have 15 days to decide. Please take full advantage of that time and involve an architect or interior designer to tell you whether your plans for the house are feasible. 

New Construction Condos Miami | The Timelines for New Construction Condos

Many buyers assume the project renders us what they will walk into, but that is not the case. The renderings are fully customized and finished units with special lighting in place. An interior designer will finish these new construction condos to make a rendering come to life.

When to call an interior designer? 

Around one year before closing is an ideal time. Some clients call 1.5 years before closing, which is too far out in terms of prices and creativity. A year is good timing. 90% Of the projects need permits. A building needs to have a certificate of occupancy before you start the permitting process, but there is so much you can do before that. Not all buyers know this, but it is crucial to understand. There is timing for the creative part, which is up to three months, and budgeting. Design Solutions likes to price the entire project before groundbreaking. The team has enough time to create plans and paperwork if the project starts one year before closing. When the buyer closes on his unit, permits can be requested, and the process will not suffer any additional delays. If you wait with the documents till closing you will face unnecessary delays.

The Advantages of Hiring a Design Team in the Early Stages

Additionally, you can also catch stuff before you close. The early involvement of a designer can help to save time and budget. The best way to illustrate this is with an example. A client of the David Siddons Group bought two combined units and involved Design Solutions from the start. While planning the project, the client decided to change the floor plan and change the principal bedroom from the front to the back. Because the developer was still constructing, they changed the layout for our client. If you wait with this until the unit closes, the change would have cost more and delayed the move-in day. The client can ask for these kinds of changes from the developer and doesn’t need to pay for them.

Most important to understand is that timing is also an issue these days. Personalized or customized stuff needs time. Clients don’t always know what matters to them. There are so many things to keep in consideration. How long will your kids be living with you? Do you need an office? You need enough time to create a functional and beautiful space. Therefore doing it on time is essential not to lose valuable time in the end and to save money.

New Construction in Miami | Interior Design as an Investment

Whether buyers buy with their hearts or heads, interior design helps appreciate the final product. The detail and craftsmanship that goes into a project make it unique. Unique products tend to appreciate over time. From an investment point of view, it appeals to buyers as it is a better-finished and unique product. Additionally, it appeals to emotional buyers as the house is ready and aesthetically pleasing. The buyer can picture himself in the home because the wow effect creates the desire to live there.

A $1M upgrade seems like a lot of money, but it is an investment with a high return. Luxury products are unique products that go beyond the norm. Luxury buyers also value time. Most of my high-end buyers have everything but time. For that reason, buyers are willing to pay a surplus not only for the investment that went into the design but also for the time and effort saved.

A working example

We sold a new construction condo to a client and Design Solutions did the interior design. The value of return on their work was 100%. I compared our unit with the extra design work done to a similar residence without a designer buildout. The standard unit sold at $7.5M. The unit we were selling sold for just below $11M. That is $3.5M more than a similar unit for a $1.3M investment. An extra $2M for being unique and ready to go. Buyers are willing to pay top dollar for direct availability and to avoid lengthy processes and stress. So the $1.3M investment paid itself back and added $2M to the project.

If you are looking for a dream home, it rarely exists off the shelf. Whether it is a condo or a house, we can help you find a condo or the land to build on. I’m an expert in the Miami real estate market, I know the pitfalls, the numbers, and the economics. We can work in conjunction and help you understand the value of your investment. In addition, we have many experienced and reliable partners we can refer.