Can be a less expensive alternative than investing in a pressure washer.

From a legal and ethical point of view, costs for your services need to be in line with alternative services available. 

You receive a "stepped up" basis as of the date of death (or alternate date as provided by the IRS code).  

I have also never heard of such polices covering loss of rent ... nor any policy providing loss of rent for a property which has yet to be put into service.You may be able to obtain an alternate form of builders coverage.The man to ask is @J Scott who does lots of renovations and just so happens to live in Maryland now.

Open to alternative locations as well.    

If you two do not have direct ownership, then generally you and your sister will have to recognize gain equal to the sales price of the property less the adjusted basis of the property and depending on the depreciation method rules you may have to reclassify some of those gains out of capital gain treatment.

You may choose to reinvest in other properties but either way there would be no tax.If that property is your primary residence it is not eligible for 1031 treatment.  1031 exchanges are only for investment property.  

Alternatives?  

Though the rent amount is in line with the area, your tenant pool is more limited, and there's a lot more space to maintain and get damaged, so your returns likely won't be so great.If you find that it's difficult to rent, I thought @Corby Goade's idea of converting it to a duplex is a good one if the building and zoning will permit it; alternately, you could knock out a wall to combine a couple of bedrooms to make it a 5/3 or even a 4/3 (or use some creative marketing - it's 5BR + office/den/whatever) to help make it sound more in line with norms.Hopefully you'll find a family that will want to rent it for years and years - it'll no doubt get torn up, but we all run that risk with our properties.  

If you wish to learn about some alternatives you likely haven't heard about before, please give me a call.Many thanks- Leslie