See in a single story homes all the wiring for the most part (except vaulted ceilings) is accessible by attic, therefore not much drywall needs to be removed Vise-versa two story homes require a lot of drywall to be removed. 

I'd not ever do split utilities, never, under any circumstances as you can get into utility regulations as a utility provider.Not mentioned, the renovation costs, but you know that, especially in older buildings, ceiling joists are not sufficient for floor joists, even if the attic is floored, it may not pass standards as a living space.

Main: We have fallen in love with a REO that smells like it was formerly an animal shelter and has black mold on the sunroom's ceiling (because whoever built it as an addition wasnt too brilliant re: the roof's pitch from the main house.

An example may be stainless steel appliances instead of just white or black.... or kick it up a notch in the bathrooms etc etc.I am a fan of painting walls and ceiling 1 color.

Over the 15-20 houses that we've done this for, we've only had one major issue: a roof, fascia and gutter replacement was screwed up, and during a major storm, water got behind the gutters and fascia board, into the house and ruined the kitchen ceiling and one of the kitchen walls.

Ceilings were white, so we had to cut in ceilings and trim, but we also had a sprayer.

The trap under the master tub let go (I realize it was likely coincidental, but likely hastened by the heavy chemicals), the water then ran down 2 stories into the basement, taking out 2 "vintage" plaster ceilings, basement carpet, etc.  

I would have hooked it up on the taller end... but the ceilings are all slanted.. it would have to have a shower hook up like the one in the other bathroom (pictured).

We had a similar issue with a much older home & yours may also be an easy fix if you have it assessed correctly.The poorly fitted gutter/flashing interface on our upper roof (to the right of the galvanized stack we removed) finally let go & a very small finger sized hole let in the moisture.The fix could have been a simple bandaid but I decided to replace the 1987 roof instead. (24 square on a Sunday with 8 guys helping $5k).But it then required the 'surgical' removal of one section of moldy kitchen ceiling drywall.

Like Maple however it's a bit harder to get a consistent stained finish or at least you better have people who know what their doing when staining it.Only place I'd ever use Flat paint is on a ceiling.