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Originally Posted by Dottore
Again, I think maybe it's this market. It's hard to "stage" an apartment that two old folks have lived in for almost 20 years. It needs new paint, wood floors, new bathrooms, updated kitchen etc. etc.
I am reliably informed by my RE agent that for every dollar put into the reno, I will see two or three dollars more in the sales price. That seems to be the rule of thumb around here.
Anyway....love to hear from anyone who has actually dealt with paying designers....
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Trendy area would be like loft living in Santa Monica or West Hollywood? Most contractor hate condos. God know I have done enough kitchen and bath remodel in those condos in West Hollywood. All of them for gay guys with lot of money. what you need is a contractor that will put in a kitchen and bath with a designer that can coordinate paint, type of finish flooring, and the rest of the house.
I worked with a good number of interior designers. The high dollars jobs, the designers usually get bits from us and turn around and sell it to their clients. Some times the whole job including landscaping. Which we do not like to do. They make additional visitation charges that are usually a flat rate every time they come out. I know that's at least 200 bucks for 15 minutes of walking around looking at progress. In my next life, I am coming back at a gay interior designer. Most designers I know work off a flat fee with so many visits included. Additional visitation fee is usually charge on top of that. My advice is to have your designer use their general contractor. That way, if there is a problem, the contractor will likely deal with issue that come up with the designer. If he wants to work for her again, he WILL fix or deal with the issues without having you involve. You want to write the checks, approve drawings, sit in their first few meetings, and make sure you have a schedule. Please make sure to schedule weekly or bi-weekly meetings with the both of them. Depend on the size and the length of the job. I make sure the owner and the designers are all involve and that they visit the job every so often.