Be sure to get an external USB hard drive (1TB or larger) to backup your computer or use a cloud backup service.

I thought the classes and material were sub-par.  

i think buying materials and paying contractor for labor that's finished is the safest way.  

I assume the reason for the discrepency here is because due the garage space not being counted as living area, the bi-level has to be listed as only being 1500 sq ft.I'm thinking about converting the first floor into a living area, connecting them with internal stairs, getting rid of the external stairs, and just keeping a single small garage bay.

I got marketing material in the mail from a couple of companies a few days after completing the state website portion.

I'll PM you the link if you want to check it out (they don't like external links in the forums). 

There are many suppliers of building materials, and prices can vary greatly.

It's just not possible for them to know every area and stay up-to-date with current labor or materials....Best to get (hire) a couple GCs to do the estimating, based on a solid Scope Of Work that you prepare and give them.

Can't even get half decent materials for that, let alone the labor to remove the old floor, repair subfloors, and put down the new flooring.

It provides extra coverage if the price of labor and materials goes up substantially, perhaps after a natural disaster.