Another alternative is to split it per tenant.

Alternatively, you could pay him a percentage on "top" of the work he supervises to get the house in shape.I would also think a "lease-up" fee would be appropriate. 

Your other alternative is to go completely electric.

But also give ample warning so tenants have time to find alternate housing .

An alternative will be to think like a renter, search roommates or craigslist by zip code and other criteria that matches your room. sort your results appropriately to find highest and lowest rents, average them out, that should be work as a magic number to attract prospects ceteris paribus.

The house is listed until the siblings offer some sort of alternative.

If this came across my desk from one of my clients I would have rejected it without a letter of clarification from both parties as to why this was necessary and why traditional alternatives were not acceptable.

Products like Kohler Choregraph are a nice looking, cheaper alternative to tilework at shower/bath. 

Sometimes both of those issues are present, in which case seller financing can be the only real alternative to a cash purchase. 

Has anyone found a workaround for Google's bullying and overreach; or maybe better alternatives for driving website traffic?