Tile, wood-look waterproof vinyl planks, stain concrete, etc. will be your best friends.

I'm sure there are seasoned veteran Meetup-ers with more concrete advice but in my short time, this has been a big part of me actually walking away from them feeling like I learned something, got something valuable out of it.

If you can advise me on specific concrete steps to take and forms to use, I would greatly appreciate it!

Yes it's is a block foundation with concrete footers.

I toggle back and forth between both options daily but I will look into running some scenarios to get some concrete numbers to help me make a better financial decision.

I brought it up to the builder who responded that concrete cracks and thats why we have a warranty.

And gives concrete steps for how to get there from where you are now - having a job.

I always talk myself out of calling them since I'm worried I'll be wasting their time - especially since I don't have anything concrete to offer them.  

For example part of the home is on a slab so you may need to break concrete to access things like duct work, pipes, etc.Anyone have any more insight on these?

You can call the tax assessor and he will be able to give you a more concrete answer.