That said some new homes are an inch or so out of level too....
Anyway, depending on what type of lay out items you are doing I would suggest both a Hilti PMP32, and a PML32. ($450+ ea.) When it comes to lasers the sharpness and accuacy of Hilti is the best, and they are extremely well made - but you'll pay through the nose for them both. For 1/2 the price (~$275) you can get PLS still good lasers but not as stoutly made - both the PLS2E, and PLS3 are pretty good and I can vouch for both the Hilti and PLS stuff as good proffessional products. However I just bought one of these from David White (~$200)(Mark2XT)
So far I am fairly happy for the price I paid for it, as it does some thing the Hilti doesn't in their line laser - it shoots a line above it and it continues down close to the unit. All the David White stuff is made by CST/Berger and fairly well made considering the low price - it's not Hilti... But still OK... Not thrilled, but happy so far. It has that "Fat Max"
type of feel to it that makes me feels cheated psychologicaly...
What I really want is for someone to make a "All in one" line and plumb laser... But I have found that it is better to use both for some things. For instance, track or trappeeze runs. Or the things that you mentioned... You can set up the line laser - not move it at all - then use the point plumb to shoot up and get really accurate points on that line... And for counter tops all you need is a decent line laser. And if at all possible what ever laser you get - get a good tripod. The David White one that comes with that laser is a bit hockey, so is the PLS one. Hilti make a good wall mount magnetic bracket that solidly mounst to a wall - but a good stable camera tripod makes life much easier.
And if you do any outside, or bright day light work I would suggest a laser detector unit - PLS or David White.
What ever you do - streer clear of Porter Cable/Robotoolz and their "Electronic' Self-leveling lasers - if the battery gets low they will take a while to "Adjust" - by which time you could be done with what you're doing - or be half way done with it before it decides to "Adjust" itself. And they are too fickle, and dont stand up to abuse at all... Especially after you boot it across the site because you realize it just wasted several hours of your time. Stick to "Pendulum self-leveling" models - less crap to go wrong in them.