The Goths

Mortimer Goth returns! This aged Sim is reportedly heartbroken over the disappearance of his wife Bella, although he now has company in the form of Cassandra and Alexander Goth.

Mortimer's Wants revolve around Knowledge, so he'll require new experiences (such as witnessing the ghost infestation of the mansion), skill increases, and other such activities to raise his Aspiration meter. In addition to these hard-hearted tasks, he'll also obtain a few Wants revolving around interactions with his grandson Alexander. These are typically low-reward, quick Wants, so they should be a low priority for you, but can be fulfilled when Alexander requires a bit of Social Need fulfillment. Although Mortimer is retired, he can obtain a job if you wish; the Goth family is flush with cash, though, so this isn't really required.

Cassandra wishes nothing more than to have a happy family life, and to that end she'll attempt to convince Don Lothario to give up his philandering ways and commit. They're engaged at the start of the scenario, but they don't necessarily have to remain that way if you want to choose another lover for Cassandra. (Don will, of course, have a hard time constraining himself to a single paramour anyway.) If you wish to immediately try to get Cassandra knocked up (if this is one of her current Wants), you can spend a little time wooing Don (who should be present when you first enter the household) and then lure him up to the double bed on the second floor of the mansion and Try For Baby. You begin with a strong relationship, so it shouldn't be too much trouble to get Don in the mood for lovin', and he may even get a strong boost to his Aspiration meter, as well, depending on his current Wants. You won't necessarily get Cassandra pregnant right away, but it's good to at least try early on, when the circumstances are fortuitous.

Alexander, being a precocious tot, wishes only to Grow Up, and as such, his Wants will revolve around simple interactions with his family, doing well in school, and the occasional skill-up. When Alexander and Mortimer are both in a good Mood, try to get them to interact as much as possible, as they both have many Wants relating to each other, and you can even get Mortimer to pass along some of his cronish wisdom to the next generation via some special interactions; if you have the time, let Mortimer teach Alexander how to be Nice and Neat. These lessons will have a positive impact on his traits when he matures into a teenager. Tips
You have an obscene amount of cash to spend when you control the Goths, so go crazy! If you want to radically alter the floorplan of your new mansion, you shouldn't have any financial obstacles in your path, so feel free to demolish floors, add a pool, go bling bling on the accoutrements, and basically spend like a king. Just be forewarned that your bills will be commensurately higher than those of less wealthy households, so don't use up all your cash reserves, lest you force Mortimer to abandon his life of leisure and re-enter the workplace.

The first rearrangement you should focus on is moving the easel and telescope from the upper floors of the mansion. Leaving these objects where they are will force your Sims to make a long and unnecessary walk to use them; as with most skill-building objects, they can be safely moved down to the sidewalk outside the house, or to one of the rooms on the first floor.

If you wish, you can completely demolish the third and fourth levels of the house and re-roof the house afterwards, capping it above the bedrooms. You won't make much cash from this, save from selling the staircases, and you may ruin the décor, but there's little of interest on these floors, and no reason for your Sims to visit them, unless you choose to move or buy objects and place them up there. It may be a bit more expensive to add new rooms on the ground floor, but it will save your Sims a heaping helping of time, which is always the most precious of the many commodities in the game. Build upward, not upward.

The Brokes

Hard times have befallen Brandi Broke and her sons Dustin and Beau. Brandi herself is unemployed, Dustin is a poor student (and has taken up a career in crime besides), while Beau requires a lot of time-intensive training if he's ever going to learn how to talk, read, and use the toilet. To top it off, the accessories in Brandi's house are uniformly poor in quality, and you won't have enough cash to afford much of a rehaul, so you'll have a very difficult time fulfilling everyone's Needs in an efficient manner.

At the outset, though, you can at least get Brandi and Beau's Aspiration meters up by teaching him the various skills that he'll need later in life. She doesn't have anything better to do, being unemployed, and they both gain massive bonuses when you do manage to teach him one of these skills. If you can get Brandi into the platinum realm on her Aspiration meter, you'll be able to safely ignore her Needs for a while, which will let you continue on with Beau's training without having to worry overmuch about her Mood. (Just make sure neither of them pee on the floor or die of starvation.)

Dustin's main goal in life is to make money, but many of his Wants will also rely on his relationship with Angela, his schoolgirl crush. You can rather easily fulfill most of these interaction Wants, due to their already-strong relationship, but his financial goals will be rather more difficult, as it'll be a while before he becomes an adult and can stop going to school.

Tips
In construction and layout terms, there isn't much you can do to the Broke household with the kind of cash reserves that you'll have to work with. If you're willing to sell a few of the pricier objects, like the paintings in Brandi's bedroom or the trees in the backyard, you should manage to net a few hundred dollars to work with, on top of whatever's in your account when you load up the house. This should be enough for a few simple modifications, such as upgrading the toilet (otherwise you'll need to constantly clean it) and moving the front door so that it's closer to the sidewalk. The kitchen will need to be rearranged a bit for this latter eventuality, but doing so will make entertaining and greeting guests a bit easier. After you get Brandi a job and earn a bit of money, you can focus on buying better appliances and perhaps adding a room to the house.