Do you have an irrigation system? If not, I would seriously consider mulch of some kind. Although there is potential for weeds with straw mulch, it really does help keep the soil moist when irrigation is less than ideal. Speaking of weeds, do yourself a favor and look up Tenacity (mesotrione). It can minimize certain grassy weeds that can ruin a renovation. Spray form or included in the Scotts starter with crabgrass preventer--up to you. Also, make sure your roundup spray is concentrated enough and of sufficient volume. glyphosate can be used as a plant growth regulator when not concentrated enough for a kill--you can easily get plants not be dead even though they look like they are. A second round of Roundup is even better a week or two after the first. Lastly, pick and choose your grass seed wisely. Once it is established, it is hard to change.

I don't have an in ground irrigation system but I have plenty of hoses and sprinklers, plus I will be buying a timer for my sprinklers so watering when I'm not home won't be an issue.

Another option for topdressing is peat moss. If your lawn is on a slope, you can spray a tackifier to hold it in place.

Looks like a pretty good plan to me. Someone has been doing his reading.

Where are you getting the seed? Are you going for hybrids?

What is the goal here? Do you want a sports lawn? Do you want to keep the mud out of the house? Do you want the best looking lawn?

What type of seed are you using? Choices are fescues, Kentucky bluegrass, and rye.

Is there much shade in the lawn area?

RoundUp should not hurt the other plants unless they get hit with overspray. It is taken up by the leaves.

After you have flailed the ground with the rotorake, you will see the high and low spots. You could continue using the power rake on the high spots to loosen it and move that soil to the low spots. Do that until you have no more high spots. If you still need to fill low spots, use either topsoil or sand. Sand has the huge advantage of not getting cloddy. Drag any new soil around with a homemade drag. This is the tool used to clean up the surface on baseball fields and rodeo arenas. Make one with a 2x4 and some chain link fence. Drag that around by hand until the soil is perfect. Then throw the seed and roll it down. You can topdress with peat or compost if you feel the need.

I would question the practice of topdressing with peat moss. Soils in New England are acidic enough without contributing to that acidity by spreading peat. And if the peat topdressing is allowed to dry out even slightly, the surface will become hydrophobic and it will prevent any water penetration, so defeats the purpose of the peat holding in moisture against the seed. And being almost completely decomposed, it adds nothing in the way of OM or any nutrients.

I'd stick with either the topsoil or compost for topdressing after seeding.

@dchall thanks for your response. I'll be using a blend of KBG, rye and fescue that is mostly KBG. My yard is mostly sunny. I'm going to be doing the back and side yard this year and next year I'll do the front (there's some landscaping I'd like to do). My goal is to have a lawn (not weeds and dirt) that my daughter can play in that's also nice to look at.

I used Penn Mulch when I redid my lawn; it's a starter fertilizer that you water in and it also protects the seed from the birds.....

I think it's a better product than Scott's