These are expensive finishes. It sounds like the house is higher-level build (luxury finishes are rarely put in entry-level homes). If the house is right, things can always be changed. In real estate, it is location, location, location.

If they are worried this could be a 'look but don't touch house' then they are probably not ready to live with luxury finishes.

And any floor scratches. Stone, concrete, porcelain, wood, paint, packed earth, carpet, etc. They all scratch. Gravity works with means the floors are the surface that are guaranteed to have SOMETHING touching every second of every day for the entire life of the house. It is a simple truth.

Thanks for your input. The location is perfect and the price is right. They know that's more important than finishes. And there has been very little that has come on the market in that location. The house is for a couple, so higher-maintenance finishes are a not deal breaker even if they do require more care. But they'd like to make a decision with all the facts, so they can take proper care and not be surprised later.

I chose marble countertops for my kitchen. Still love them five years on. They’re not as impervious as plastic, but I don’t love plastic. As for floors, Italian villas have had them for hundreds of years, try that with laminate!