Sorry I can't help you with the technical side but I can add my 2 cents about two zones. We have 2 zones - not upstairs, downstairs like you're considering but side by side because we have 2 separate systems. The original house is on one thermostat with it's own HVAC units and the 1000 square foot addition has it's own HVAC system. One important consideration is that placement of the thermostats. You don't want to locate it in a room that is the coldest or hottest because then the temperature in that room will dictate the temperature for the entire zone. We had to move the thermostat because it was located in the room that had the most extreme changes in temperature in the summer and winter. When the thermostat kicked on in the winter to make that room comfortable all the other rooms were too hot and we had to play around with opening and closing the room registers. Another factor is how your house is situated on the lot. Does one side get the full heat of the afternoon sun? Are there trees to provide shade in the summer? Is one side exposed to winter winds? The builder put dual zones in my DH's business office which is only one story but one side was next to the paved parking lot and received the full effect of the summer sun. That side of his office was nearly unbearable in the summer even with awnings over the windows and Pella blinds inserted between the window panes. By making it dual zone they could compensate for the heat in that side of the office without freezing out the occupants in the other side. It might be helpful to get another estimate - and another opinion. As I mentioned I'm not knowledgeable of the technical side - exactly how does the automatic zoning work?

This is a new era of buying and selling after the real estate "bubble". Two years ago we sold a condo in Florida and a custom mountain lake home in Tennessee. Both buyers were obtaining mortgages, one being a jumbo mortgage. The Florida condo was appraised slightly below selling price. It was completely remodeled by us (new kitchen and two baths, etc.). The inspector told the young lady she would never find a condo in better condition. All new appliances, new water heater, new air conditioner. We owned it for two years, but decided even as snow birds we would rather have a house. But her Daddy told her not to pay over appraisal. The comps were condos in the same development that had never been upgraded or maintained. Many had been rented out. We sold it to someone else for our asking price. They didn't obtain a mortgage. The home in Tennessee was not on the market. A realtor showing another home in the neighborhood asked if they could see our house. They came back with an offer the next day, which was not the greatest offer We decided to accept the offer and move to the Florida house we had purchased two months before. It gets confusing, I know. :) The inspector was ruthless, but came back with nothing wrong in our new custom built home. The pest inspector came back with nothing (yup the bank required it). The appraiser on the other hand was a bit rude. When I said I wasn't too concerned about the appraisal price since the sell price was below tax appraisal value, he said, Oh, we often appraise homes below the tax app. value now. He told us our home was beautiful, but every home in the neighborhood probably had the same upgrades. No they did not. In the end they said there were really no comps, which wasn't true. But the most chilling experience I had was that the two appraisers used exactly the same words in two different states. It is beautiful, but this doesn't count. This is overkill, it doesn't count. Only the comps matter. Only square footage matters. I have bought and sold quite a few homes in my life. In a brand new builder developed area you get the basic house for the price of the model. Upgrades are paid for as an extra expense. Years ago we had no inspectors and no formal appraisals. It seems the banks do not want to pay for the upgrades, and are driving the prices. Now it has eroded into buyers with cash that look at comps and again do not want to pay for the upgrades. Even 11 years ago I sold a home in Ft. Lauderdale by myself (height of the market) and the buyer had an inspector, obtained a mortgage, but no appraiser came to my house. I sold my "model" for a higher price than anyone had ever sold for. Does anyone think that perhaps the banks are running the market??? Money makes the world go 'round.

A sink is a sink is a sink. Avoid the very cheapest and the rest are pretty much the same. I would never even consider spending more than 2 or 3 hundred for a sink, and in fact I got mine from Costco for considerably less. As for depth, I am sick and tired of the stupidly shallow sinks I most often encounter. A 7" deep sink is totally unacceptable for anyone who intends to use the thing as an actual sink. I like utility sinks the best but you never see them in homes anymore. I'll be installing one in the house we just bought right away. For the "regular" kitchen sink, the one I bought is 9" or 10" deep and I decided to go with the corian countertop rather than Formica-equivalents simply because it gave me an extra inch or so of depth by allowing an under-the-counter mount. It'll be wonderful to finally be able to put my deeper sauce pans in the sink without having them bump into the faucet.

I agree with everyone that you should remove the soffit. My last kitchen had a soffit which we removed, and we discovered a small plumbing pipe up by the ceiling in one section. We notched the back of two of the upper cabinets so that we didn't have to move the pipe. The cabinets went up to the ceiling. No one was the wiser about the notches and the pipe unless you opened that upper cabinet and saw it, but if anyone did, shrug. Idk if you can do that with a larger pipe in the way, but for that pipe it worked great. That small kitchen seemed to double in size once the soffits were removed, and also just looked more current. I think Buehl made a good point up above that crown molding can mask an uneven ceiling. As I understand it, pretty much everyone's kitchen ceiling is going to be uneven. I don't agree that it necessitates a thick crown molding to mask that. In that previous kitchen I had, which was so small, and had an uneven ceiling. We didn't have room, and also didn't like the look of, a thick crown molding. So it's all about a good contractor who has expertise. My contractor seemed to have no problem with the uneven ceiling and a 3" crown molding. If the OP prefers a thicker crown molding, then it will be that much easier for the installer. I just wanted to mention my experience.