What is your lot like? 2 stairs to basement? You'll want to have the basement foundation wall with as few of jogs as possible, I'm not sure what you mean by stair to basement in the garage but perhaps you just want it off the garage?

I know what you mean about guests walking around to get to the door, it's a pet peeve of mine to have the garage stick out that far.

This is something I'd start looking at assuming you have a pretty wide/sprawling lot... you'd have to play with the elevation quite a bit to get it to work, I'd also consider pulling the breakfast room in but then you start affecting your economical roof line in the back. In the original plan, the entrance to the kitchen from the living area is somewhat awkwardly placed, I'd do what I can to pull it down creating a straightforward hallway between the living area and dining area.

I'd also consider playing around with the mbr/bedroom 4 & bath layout. I have a thing against master suites share direct walls with bedrooms, I always want at least a closet between the 2 rooms. ...Maybe it's just me.

Giving your architect a stock plan from online is tying one hand behind his/her back before they start. A good architect will discuss with you your wants and needs and even how you live so they can create a plan that works just for you and a good architect will do a much better job of it too.

They will design the house that fits you vs you trying to fit yourselves to a house.

Gather up pictures of homes you like. Figure out your budget, the spaces you need and where you want those spaces in relation to one another.

For example, I wanted a U shaped house creating a courtyard feel and absolutely wanted my kitchen/dining, living room, master bedroom and DH's study to look out onto the courtyard. Based on our condo now, I knew which rooms I wanted larger (living room, kitchen, dining room) and which rooms I wanted smaller (master bedroom).

Cpartist is right again. Your time will be better spent looking for a local architect to help you design a home for you.