In episode 17 of The Real Talk, Raquel Ramirez welcomes JC Ramirez, Partner at NMR Design Group. They delve into the challenges and stress that often accompany home improvement projects, particularly in the realm of interior design. Raquel and JC also discuss the significant value provided to clients, emphasizing how it can save them money in the long run.
Tune in for expert advice and insights on all things contracting and interior design.
TIMESTAMPS
[00:02:07] NMR Design Group Process.
[00:04:32] Juggling Work and Home Projects.
[00:09:04] Hiring a Reliable Contractor.
[00:14:19] Need for Visual Representations.
[00:15:54] The Importance of Proper Permitting.
[00:22:28] Home Staging and Real Estate.
[00:24:23] Being Business Partners with Realtors.
[00:27:10] Inspectors as Allies.
In this episode, Raquel Ramirez and her guest, JC Ramirez emphasize the importance of establishing a strong business partnership with clients and enhancing their image to attract more business opportunities. They firmly believe that by helping clients succeed and improving their reputation, they will ultimately benefit from increased business. They also highlight that the better they make their clients look in the eyes of their own clients, the more business their clients will be inclined to give them.
Moreover, Raquel and JC place significant emphasis on the importance of obtaining permits and ensuring that work is conducted correctly and in compliance with regulations, even if they may be tedious and time-consuming. Thus, this episode highlights the challenges and stress associated with interior design projects and underscores the importance of thorough planning and effective communication to mitigate these issues.
QUOTES
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Raquel Ramirez
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/featured_properties_intl/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/featuredre
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquel-ramirez/
JC Ramirez
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juan-carlos-ramirez-2ab68a8/
WEBSITES:
The Real Talk: https://www.therealtalkpodcast.net/
Featured Properties International: https://msha.ke/featuredre
Raquel Ramirez00:04 - 00:28
Welcome to The Real Talk. I'm Raquel Ramirez, your host and real estate professional here to bring you insightful conversations, expert advice, and powerful stories about what really goes on in life, love, divorce, and real estate. Are you ready? Let's get real. Hello and welcome to The Real Talk podcast. How are you doing today?
JC Ramirez00:28 - 00:30
Doing well, doing well. How are you?
Raquel Ramirez00:30 - 01:04
I'm doing well. For those who don't know who I'm speaking to today, I am welcoming
J.C. Ramirez, partner at NMR Designs, which is an interior design firm. They do renovating, decorating and furnishing for high end homes. And he's often my sounding board for when I need to talk about all things contracting and interior design. And when I need to, let's call it just bent about my own issues in my own home. So welcome, JC. I'm really glad to have you. How are you and how are things?
JC Ramirez01:04 - 01:13
No, thank you for having me. Things are good. I'm trying to get everybody in before Thanksgiving. And then after that is trying to get everybody in before Christmas.
Raquel Ramirez01:13 - 01:20
Oh, my God, that's true, because I'm sure you have a ton of deadlines and things that you have to get done that people want to have done before the big holidays.
JC Ramirez01:20 - 01:22
Correct. Yeah, the rain doesn't help.
Raquel Ramirez01:22 - 01:24
So I'm sure there's a lot of logistics involved.
JC Ramirez01:25 - 01:29
Yes, there's a lot.
Raquel Ramirez01:29 - 01:36
Tell me a little bit more about what you do so that the listeners can get familiarized with NMR and how you service clients.
JC Ramirez01:36 - 03:45
Well, NMR Design Group, like you mentioned, is the full service interior design company that we specialize in renovating, decorating and furnishing high-end residential properties and small commercial spaces. So we have a senior designer, who's my business partner, which is my sister, Nina. And then we have two junior designers and we have one project manager. So my role, I guess I can tell you what NMR is. So what we do is we, whatever the project is, I'm just going to give the example of, you know, let's just say a kitchen. We go in, we see the space, we design the kitchen, we do the elevations, we do the 3D renderings, we get the customer very comfortable with the design, the finishes, and then after that, we turn into owner's reps where we quote the kitchen out for them, we quote appliances for them, We get in the team of, you know, whether it be an electrician, the demo team, we quote that out for them. And then we supervise the project. So we coordinate the demolition. We coordinate the electrical work that needs to be done for the appliances. We bring in the plaster people to do the plastering. If this isn't a house, obviously we wouldn't need a GC. We just need licensed electrician, the licensed plumber to do the plumbing. Then from there, after work is done, then we get the kitchen people in and make sure that our design is executed. The only point of contact for the client is going to be us. My sister is the designer. She handles the design with the clients. I'm more handling the subs, handling the vendors to make sure that they're on time, to make sure that everything's being done up to standard. If we say we're going to be done in two months, we're done in two months.
Raquel Ramirez03:45 - 03:50
That all sounds like music to my ears. I think you know why.
JC Ramirez03:50 - 04:21
Yes. It's particularly true with the window people. Right now, in another project in Coconut Grove, I had to harass these people to come install windows today, particularly. Clients don't have time. You have a job. We don't. You're right. We have jobs. Lawyers have jobs. Doctors have jobs. Financial people, banking, whoever, and it's my job to harass them because that is my full-time job.
Raquel Ramirez04:21 - 06:19
Right, right. That's actually a really good point you make because I often feel that I'm stretched far too thin because I do so much for my job, my business, my career. And I also spend an equal amount of time trying to get our house in order from the different projects that we're pursuing. And of course, in particular, the windows, I haven't told you, but we're still struggling with the windows. Even after we passed inspection, they were supposed to come back out and do I think what they call like a phase three, which is basically touch-ups, put the cover plates on the windows and, you know, touch up wherever they needed to just to get this project finalized. And you wouldn't believe it that they came out here, they spent an entire day and they were not able to put the cover plates except for on one window. They removed the suspension rods from a few others and didn't replace them. and spent the entire day complaining about how these windows were either poorly manufactured or something was wrong with them where they couldn't remove the windows to put the cover plates on. So they from after banging and clanging and scuffing up some of these windows, they eventually left. They wrote up a new service ticket and said, you're going to need somebody else out here to finish this for you. And of course, they didn't finish changing out the grids, which were part of the work order. And they left a few windows improperly sealed from the exterior side. So now I have to also worry about that. And then my daughter's room is one of the rooms that doesn't have a suspension rod. So I'm curious to know if something were to happen in our house, and she needed to vacate, you know, through that window if that window would even open. So we have You know, just it's a constant nightmare. And of course, I don't have the time to focus on just this. So it would have been wonderful had I known you prior to, say, two years ago to have hired you to take care of that for me so that I wouldn't have to cry every other day and and be on the phone harassing people.
JC Ramirez06:19 - 07:42
Yeah, and that's why, you know, as a lot of people ask is that we take on smaller jobs. Um, which that's, that's not a small job. It's a lot of windows in a house, but it's not an interior or quote unquote interior design job. And a lot of realtors who are our main referral sources, they ask us to take on these types of jobs. Um, because exactly what you said, it's, it's, it's, it's a tough city to trust, to find somebody you can trust, even when they're coming from a recommended source. because their situation has changed all the time. And that's why we constantly have, we meet new millwork people and we're trying them out. You know, we meet new GCs and we're trying them out. We meet new handymen, we're trying them out so that we can weed them out for you guys. And that saves us a lot of time. Exactly. Right. And if they can't, and if they can't handle the job or if they can't do something, I mean, right now in a project, you know, a plumber, a GC's plumber just wouldn't show up. So it's ultimately my client. So I brought in another plumber that I knew to finish his job. I mean, I'm not going to wait around for this guy to do his job and I have to pay a little extra or charge or give the ticket or the bill to somebody else. And that's just what we're going to do.
Raquel Ramirez07:42 - 09:03
Yeah. And let's just say somebody did have spare time. I don't know very many people who do, but I think the most critical element here is that because we're not in the construction industry, we're not interior designers for the most part. We don't know what we don't know. And a lot of times we end up learning the really hard way because we don't know what questions to ask the plumber, what questions to ask the window company, what we should be looking out for, what we should be concerned with. And then these companies knowingly or unknowingly cut corners and then leave us to, you know, deal with the consequences. And by then it's often too late. They've already signed a contract. They've already received a deposit or they've been paid in full and they walk away. And then you're left to deal with all of this, you know, aftermath that you really don't know how to put back together. And I hear this so many times over and over and over. And of course, even myself, who I, I mean, I'm not in construction, but I've been in real estate 20 years. I've seen probably more than the average person, let's say. And I still faced some really concerning issues that I didn't see coming. And this is why hiring a company like yours is truly beneficial because you really know what you're dealing with. You know what questions to ask and what details to look out for.
JC Ramirez09:03 - 10:38
Right. So, I mean, that's a tough one. You just, um, because some companies just have really good salespeople. The owners are really good salespeople and they'll tell you, they'll promise you the world. They'll, they'll sit you there and they'll, they'll tell you what they're going to do. And obviously everybody knows what you have to do, but it's executing it. And, um, I mean, to me, it's really more interviewing multiple people. looking at their prices and seeing what it includes, having a deadline, a schedule before you start the work, finding out if they have software, especially with a general contractor. Normally, if they do have software, they're a little bit more organized. Um, well, that's interesting. Yeah. Finding out what areas of town they work in. Um, in your case, the windows, I don't really know what, you know, maybe how long they've been in business for. Um, if they have any, the people ask me all the time, do you have any buddy I can call, you know, for, um, what's the word reference. There we go. And it's, they're always going to give you the, they're always going to give you the, the best references.
Raquel Ramirez10:38 - 10:41
So it's like applying for a job.
JC Ramirez10:41 - 12:10
Honestly, it's, it's interviewing multiple people and seeing who gives you the best feeling. And, um, you know, we're very strict. Um, we have the convenience of having multiple projects. So when we tell people that. I know what a price of a kitchen is going to be based on looking at it and the material. You know, I tell them I need your best price because I know what prices are. And, you know, we do X amount of money on millwork every year. So we don't just do one, we do, you know, 20 a year. So they, they are tend to be a little bit more honest and more customer friendly to us. And that's the advantage is that. You know, you pay a little bit more for us, but in the long run, we end up saving you time and money because we know, you know, if they can quote somebody, a customer who doesn't know the price of a kitchen, and I keep using kitchen just cause it's just an easier thing to reference. Um, you know, say they charge them $30,000, but really I know that that kitchen costs $23,000. So right there, I already saved them $7,000, you know, it's It's something that we come in and we protect the client. And it's not just time, it's also protecting their wallet. Obviously we charge for our services, but we try to show where we can add the value and save their bottom line.
Raquel Ramirez12:10 - 13:01
I was just about to say that there's value added in that. And I think a lot of people don't see that initially because all they're thinking about is what it's gonna cost them. But I promise you from, personal experience, it's far more expensive to deal with a poorly run company or a poorly run project than it is to just pay, you know, for the valuable service that a company like yours can give you from the very beginning to the very end. It's just one of those things. And again, we just we don't know what we're doing. So it's better to hire a professional who knows who to call, when to call, why to call, what are the things that you're missing? And what are the things that you needed to be factoring in throughout the process before you start making those mistakes? And yeah, that'll eventually cost you much more in the long run.
JC Ramirez13:01 - 13:17
Exactly. I mean, you're you're talking about your windows. Just imagine windows, plumbing, electrical flooring, you know, you're all over the place. It's a sore subject. It's a lot of trust that you put in people.
Raquel Ramirez13:17 - 14:41
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you mentioned the whole thing about putting together like the renderings. I can't tell you how important that is. People often don't see that as like a legitimate detail to be concerned with. But I tell you, and I think we've had this conversation in the past when I decided to do our windows, I wanted to go with something that was very untraditional, right? Everybody always puts up like the typical white frame window that has like no grids or muntins as they call them. And I decided to go with a matte black window and very specific grid patterns. And of course, they initially told me, yo, you shouldn't do that because that's not gonna look good. And I said, well, you know what? I'll stick to my design, but I need to see it. And I can't tell you how many times I begged them to send me a rendering of an image of something drawn, hand drawn. I ended up having to hand draw it myself so that I could get a visual representation of what I was trying to put together because, you know, it was something that I needed to see. And most people I think are visual in nature, but I needed to see it. So this is one of those things that I've learned. And, you know, harshly over time that they should have provided that to me very early on in the process so that I could see and approve the project that we were going to undertake before we undertook it.
JC Ramirez14:41 - 14:42
Right.
Raquel Ramirez14:42 - 14:46
There's so many details, so many little things that happen.
JC Ramirez14:46 - 15:03
It's so it becomes reactive and you know, that goes back to where you think you're spending an X amount of money and and all these surprises, you end up spending 50% over what you thought you're going to spend. So it's true. It's good. It's good to know this up front as well.
Raquel Ramirez15:04 - 15:36
It's true. And I remember you and I had spoken about something that was interesting. And it's it's a question or let's say a topic of conversation that usually goes one way or another or another, which is the issue of permitting of pulling permits. A lot of people shy away from pulling permits because they think it's a waste of time, a waste of money, and that the inspector is all all he's there to do is really to wreak havoc and prevent your project from closing. But that's actually not true.
JC Ramirez15:36 - 16:55
Correct. Yeah. I mean, permitting is tedious and it's annoying if you want to move in quick. But it's the proper way to do it. You, and I'll speak in buildings too, you don't want a handyman doing a plumber's job and doing a certain plumbing. Then you think everything's good. They put the tile on and then you have a leak that causes a flood in 12 units below you. And that's going to cost you a whole lot more money. and a whole lot more headache. You want inspectors to come and make sure that it's done up to code, up to the code of the City of Miami, City of Miami Beach, and before they close the walls, and then make sure that they're using the proper material as well, that they're not going cheap on your material, and they're protecting you, the owner, the client, to make sure that you're not being you know, take advantage of. Yeah, exactly.
Raquel Ramirez16:55 - 18:38
Right. That's that's exactly what it is. And that's something that most people don't understand. I when we moved into this house, and I'll continue to use my home as an example, we didn't initially realize and I don't think our inspector had caught it, but there was a leak coming from our master bathroom. To make a very long story short, Fast forward about a year and change, we started to notice there was some humidity. We ended up having to tear down our entire master closet, our entire bathroom to find this leak. Initially, we thought it was an issue that there was no shower pan, and indeed there was no shower pan. The shower pan or that that area underneath, you know, the floor, the flooring under the tile was dry. The problem was that they used the wrong materials inside where the plumbing was. They use this thing called and correct me if I'm wrong, a shark bite, maybe, which is almost like a corner piece for plumbing. And it's made of plastic. It's made of plastic. So it's the type of thing that according to the contractors, they told us that that's not something you ever want to hide behind a wall because it's something that's used in, you know, very minor plumbing work. And it's actually not even used all that often after all. And they buried that in the furthest corner of the bathroom. And that's where the water was leaking. And of course, it was traveling through the walls and finally making it into my bedroom. All because exactly. So I ended up having black mold in my master closet, which was horrible. And of course, that spun out and I ended up having to live in my living room and convert my dining room into a closet. For I think it was almost nine months. It was a nightmare.
JC Ramirez18:38 - 18:51
It's horrible if you don't I mean, the the old saying is true lo barato cuesta caro, you know, the cheap costs expensive. I mean, sometimes you can get away with it, but it's the roll of the dice. That's, that's all it is.
Raquel Ramirez18:51 - 18:55
And it's a game of chance at that point.
JC Ramirez18:55 - 18:57
It's a game of chance.
Raquel Ramirez18:57 - 19:02
And I don't think homeowners are willing to take much chance.
JC Ramirez19:02 - 19:31
Correct? Yeah, when it comes to things that are in a house, you can get away with it a little bit. But you know, you really have to know who's doing the work in your house. If you Right. You hire somebody off the street or, you know, even if you Google them, you really need to be careful. That's it. Yeah. Say, get recommendations, interview multiple people. You know, I know you want to get it done quick, but quick sometimes isn't the most efficient thing.
Raquel Ramirez19:31 - 19:57
Yeah, well, you know, for those people who have been considering redoing a bathroom, a closet, a kitchen, their landscaping, whatever, just don't wait. You know, if you need it done quickly, then do it as soon as you think about it and start, you know, getting those quotes together and and formulating a plan to have it done. But don't expect to get it done by Christmas. And you call somebody like December 15th and say, I need a whole new bathroom in two weeks. Can we do it? Because that's not realistic.
JC Ramirez19:58 - 21:58
Correct. It's the same thing with furniture. I just got off the phone. We actually just got a new client. Um, we do a lot of, um, work for clients that don't live in Miami and they miss their vacation homes. And, um, so we hardly ever see him. Um, but he was like, all right, I need to polish the floors, reground, window treatments, which is the screens and the curtains, uh, furnished the whole entire apartment. Um, this isn't that. And, but I need to buy Christmas. So I'm like, no construction. They're like, yes, no construction or no, no construction. So we can do it as long as, you know, I'm like, you're limited to in stock furniture. Right. Um, but people don't understand how, how a three bedroom, three bath apartment 1900 square feet, how much time it takes to even furnish that. And we can do it in two months, you know? And, and on top of that, uh, a lot of times they're like, oh, I can't afford a designer. It's like, well, you have to understand is that a designer, we get certain discounts that the normal people don't get in furniture stores. And most of the time that discount offsets our costs. So really you're getting us free to what it would have cost you. And, but on top of that, we're placing the orders. You're getting a designer to pick your stuff. So all you really have to do is pick. We receive, we coordinate with the building or whatever, or the, the vendors. We receive it, we install it. So really you're, and we even buy the linens for the clients. Uh, the linens, the pots, pans, plates, turnkey. So our motto is. Our motto is just bring your toothbrush and your, and your suitcase and then you'll be good.
Raquel Ramirez21:58 - 22:00
That sounds so nice.
JC Ramirez22:00 - 22:14
Yeah. You just, you know, um, we tried to show our value and we try to find ways to show where our clients were. They would have spent just as much or more money if they didn't have us.
Raquel Ramirez22:14 - 22:14
Yeah.
JC Ramirez22:14 - 22:24
We try to keep it with, we always work within the client's budget. And most of the time when we go over, even though we get blamed for it, it's because they want it.
Raquel Ramirez22:27 - 22:49
Interesting. Do you guys do home staging too? Or, well, staging, I would imagine, I mean, that's a very short-term process because it's a very least, you know, you might be in our, in my case, let's say when it comes to real estate and we're trying to sell a property, the idea is to sell it as soon as possible. So the staging might be what a month before you have to take that furniture out, unless you sell it with.
JC Ramirez22:50 - 23:14
Right. Um, we don't do staging. We don't own furniture, but we can recommend a couple of people that we partner with that's on different, different price points too. So it just really depends on the need. Um, we're not, that's something that we're not, uh, we don't know if we want to get into it or not. Yeah. I think that's a little different. Yeah. It's a whole animal in itself. Another animal.
Raquel Ramirez23:14 - 23:27
Well, it's like you said, you need to, I think to be really effective, you would need to have a warehouse with furniture you can deliver, install and bring back and so on and so forth. Yeah. So you need to have inventory.
JC Ramirez23:27 - 23:43
Inventory, your own trucks, workers. So you got to really, you got to really dive deep into that, uh, you know, go all in on staging. And I don't think that we're, we don't know if we want to get into that.
Raquel Ramirez23:43 - 23:55
Yeah, yeah, no, that's a whole nother branch. So then NMR really focuses on just interior work? Or do you also do exterior work like stucco and concrete repair, painting, landscaping?
JC Ramirez23:55 - 24:55
We do we do exterior, we we do pools, landscaping, summer kitchen, pergolas. You know, like I said, if it's something where it's stucco, contracted work, we obviously have the team for everything we tell realtors, You know, call us if a toilet is broken because we don't just try to look for the big projects. We truly try to be a business partner for realtors. Um, you know, you have a client, a high, you know, one of your top clients and you want, uh, a trustworthy plumber to go check on a leak or check on something, you know, that's where we'll, we'll help you out no matter what you need. Um, it's not our wheelhouse, but at the same time, you know, we're not Like I just said, we try to be business partners, because that's what we are. You know, the better we make you look, the better you look with your client, and the more business they want to give to you.
Raquel Ramirez24:55 - 27:46
Yeah, and the happier the client will be ultimately. Which is I think what everyone's goal here is. I know it certainly is mine as a homeowner. I have struggled a lot with some of these projects, sometimes because it's just stressful and time consuming. And sometimes you get overwhelmed. I think you know, I went to interior design school at UM for six months, and it was a really wonderful process. I learned a lot. I really do love that part, that creative side of design. And I love it just really for personal reasons. It's a lot. It's a lot to go through textiles, to pick colors. And I think your typical homemaker or home manager, as I've heard it termed recently, gets overwhelmed sometimes with the little details. Now add to that the permitting, the logistics, the calling and harassing, the following up, making sure that everything's been properly accounted for, factoring in additional material, because we forget about that, that let's say Let's say, let's use your example of using the kitchen, right, of doing the kitchen. It's not just getting cabinets. It's also determining what kind of hardware you're going to put on the cabinets. Are you going to do a backsplash? Are you going to fit for, let's say, a countertop? You know, your sinks, your plumbing, your lighting. You also have to figure out if you want an extractor. Do you even have the ability to, you know, connect that extractor to the exterior of the house through your roof? Are you going gas? Are you going electric? And then there's paint and there's tile work and there's mill. I mean, there's all these little things that most people don't take into consideration because they just don't know. And they learn through the process, but by then they've blown the budget. They've grown frustrated. They've failed to, I don't know, touch base with the right people at the right times. And so a lot of times those things spin out of control and we're left screaming for help is the end of it all. Yeah, I think one of the biggest and key takeaways from our conversation today is going to be about permitting, I think, because when it comes to real estate, let's say just, you know, as a consumer, a homeowner, somebody who's buying or selling a property, just real estate in general, your home, A, you want to be protected by the person or let's say you want to be protected from the company that you hire, whomever it is, the inspector is there to ensure that whatever work is being done is being done correctly and to code, that it's not going to backfire you, that it's not going to cause you any issues in the future, and that these people have performed the job as the code either from the city or the county requires. And then B, you know, God forbid something does happen or there is an issue, say, with like a violation, you want to make sure that you have permits or that these permits have been requested and closed out, you know, when you are going to sell the property or you are purchasing a home, that's something you want to look into also.
JC Ramirez27:46 - 27:49
Yeah, exactly.
Raquel Ramirez27:49 - 27:54
So inspectors are, yes, inspectors are allies, not enemies.
JC Ramirez27:54 - 27:56
They're allies. They can be annoying sometimes, but they're allies.
Raquel Ramirez27:57 - 28:15
But I think there's value in that too. I'd rather somebody be incredibly annoying and they're nitpicking, of course. I know that can be very frustrating because you want to get your project along, but why would you want to close that project knowing that there's something that was done incorrectly? I don't understand that.
JC Ramirez28:15 - 28:18
Exactly. No, you're absolutely right.
Raquel Ramirez28:18 - 28:21
100%. Is there anything else you'd like to share with us today?
JC Ramirez28:21 - 28:34
No, I think we've pretty much covered everything. Just always interview the people that you get recommended very thoroughly and always interview multiple people.
Raquel Ramirez28:34 - 28:37
So, you know, that's another good point.
JC Ramirez28:37 - 28:41
And if you ever need any advice, just call out a more design group.
Raquel Ramirez28:41 - 28:56
I like that. Yes. I encourage everybody to call JC Ramirez at NMR. Uh, he's a good friend. Uh, he's proven to be a very good resource for me. So I thank you for always answering my calls and pointing me in the right direction. And I thank you very much for joining me today.
JC Ramirez28:57 - 28:58
Thank you for having me.
Raquel Ramirez28:58 - 28:59
Take care.
JC Ramirez28:59 - 29:03
Bye bye.
Raquel Ramirez29:03 - 29:20
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