My fiancee and I will be in the market to remodel the house soon and don't know where to start. We have a 2000 sq ft 3/2, built in 1996, and will probably be looking at a full gut. New kitchen and appliances, new flooring throughout, fireplace update, new master bathroom, and new guest bathroom. Everything is original right now. Will not be modifying the floor plan to any significance.

We are both working professionals and don't have the time to DIY much. My parents just completed a remodel of their kitchen and used a local independent contractor but they didn't think it went well, and my father recommended just going to Lowe's or Home Depot and letting them handle it. I'm a little skeptical though. We plan on staying in the house for at least another 5 years, and I'm thinking of a budget around $50k.

Can anyone recommend a reputable design/build remodeler in Phoenix metro area?

Home depot does a fine job on flooring.  Used them in the past, would gladly do so again.

Given the garbage cabinets they sell, I wouldn't let them anywhere near my kitchen.

what part of town is this?  $50k might be tough depending on your tastes and paying retail to get it done.   A retail quote on your kitchen with above average materials will probably be half your budget.

Wouldn't use anyone but an independent contractor, personally. Did a $100k plus remodel on our home a couple years ago. All the work was split up between three independent contractors - depending on their skill sets. Long and short of it, work was as good or better than it could be, and we saved well over ten grand in labor and material costs compared to the bigger guys.

Paradise Valley Mall area. Yes I'm estimating $20-25k for the kitchen, $10k for flooring, and $15k between the master bathroom, guest bathroom, and doing something with the fireplace. Guest bathroom is pretty basic, just a tub/shower combo, a toilet, and a single sink/cabinet. I will sacrifice tastes to stay in budget. Don't want to dump a ton of money into a 2k sq ft home that's only worth $350k, and don't plan on being here more than 5-6 more years.

I met a man Dave who operates under the name DB home improvements a couple years ago late in a project I was just completing. He was highly skilled and more importantly an honest gentleman. I wish I had found him earlier! Tell him Chef Dev from the Rogue Tomato says hi if you look him up.

Problem is that retail for the baths and fireplace will be another $25k.  I managed a bunch of independents and put in maybe 4-5 hours a day of my own labor over 3 months and it was about $50k to remodel a house that size although I had a third bathroom but it wasn't completely remodeled.  Don't forget interior paint, light fixtures and seemingly two dozen trips to home depot that were $200 minimum each.   The crap adds up man.   Plus the house was completely empty and uninhabited.

I would also suggest an interior designer unless you are really up to par on such things.  Given you are going to sell your house in 5 years you want to make sure the right decisions are made.  If you spend an extra $5k to make it extra nice and it sells in 2 months instead of 6 months, you more than broke even on that extra $5k.

My dental office is right next to Rogue Tomato lol.

I dropped $40K on my remodel and it involved doing half of what you talked about.  Two showers, new floors/baseboards with tear out, paint, can lights, reface cabinets, granite counters, shutters.  No "gutting" or wall knock downs. We were extremely careful with how the money was spent and really saw only one spot where the contractor "middled" us, which was on the cabinets.  So we could have saved $2K there.  But unless you use bargain basement materials and do some of it yourself, that budget is unrealistic.  

And I'm just shy of 1200 sq feet.

Yep. Those are always the kind of guys to use in my book. They live off referrals, and take their work more seriously due to that. Places like Home Depot, Lowes, Floor and Decor, etc, frankly, they'd have to beat a reputable contractor's labor quote to step foot in my house.

Funny, Seems like every other person you meet in town is either an ARFER or an ADV Rider member