Our water heater flooded our home destroying 1000 sq ft of ugly laminate, so our living room, kitchen, hallway, and 2 bedrooms need new flooring. We do not want to break the bank but prefer to place solid hardwood that we can enjoy for years to come.

My favorites are: Brazilian cherry, Hickory, Pine (true that heartpine is much harder than regular pine?). Would consider Oak but don't love it.

My biggest concerns:
1) The plywood subfloor is over a poorly ventilated (humid) crawlspace which we would like to enclose at some point in the future (cannot afford the $3k to enclose it now since we need our extra $ for this unplanned flooring project).
2) Indoor cats with claws that sometimes vomit in unnoticed areas (we clean it up when we find it but if it goes undetected for more than a few hours I'd like to have a wood that can hide the damage).
3) Do not want a floor that will yellow over time as I have been told the lighter colored prefinished floors can yellow badly. I am not bothered by the darkening of brazilian cherry though.
4) Want the floor to hide dirt/cat hair so I am not sweeping & mopping every day. I read that brazilian cherry shows footprints and dirt badly, so although it was my first choice initially I am concerned it will be too difficult to keep a clean look.