Lyn Huppatz raises a very valid point with moving, particularly for those moving from the city to the country. It is very difficult to feel you are really living or belong in a place if you are not accepted and these barriers can be very difficult to cross. I've just traded city life for what I hope is some peaceful country living to see out my days and this aspect did cross my mind with thoughts of how to try to cope with it. Fortunately, I've chosen a wonderful place where everyone seems to be a newcomer, basically all escaping the city hustle and bustle so the welcome I've had is amazing with invites to join many local groups and clubs, I doubt I will have time for them all. Maybe instead of wondering about ourselves so much, we should also focus on how welcoming we make our own particular areas for newcomers - how much would we like others to say they have lived rather than just stayed.

best decision would be to incorporate any changes for the entry with the upstairs renovation .please post photo of the new upstairs and roof and what do you plan for the front yard, fence and driveway?

decking has different structural and legal requirements to an enclosed room depending on how you want to use the space...a covered pergola and screen walls could be added to a deck to create a sheltered outdoor entertaining area but would not be suitable to use as an enclosed room suitable to use like a lounge...what do you want to use the space for?.

Best of luck finding a friendly builder who is prepared to do that amount of work for you for no chance of it ever being built. Whether it is fictitious, or not, there is still the same amount of work involved. Perhaps you could make a contra deal, with an offer to assist with selections and colours for their next job, to make it more appealing. To make it easier you could prepare a breakdown of the elements needed, like a shopping list. Bathroom design and costings is actually a bit complex when you get into it properly with lots of different trades needed, with a lot of the work inter-related. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls