If you leave a house vacant...

What I do not want to happen when I die:

I do not want my 2 children to spend 2 years fighting over my estate and the house causing the house to remain unoccupied, and then take 2 more years to be able (emotionally) to actually sell the house. I do not want it to sit vacant, empty, and lonely for 4 years. (Yes, 4 years!) For...

If you leave a house vacant, you must winterize it.
If you winterize it improperly, the pipes will be bad.
If the pipes are bad, you will have to fix them before someone will buy it.
If the pipes have to be fixed, the city inspector will have to come out to tag the pipes before you can turn the gas on.
If the city inspector comes out to tag the pipes, he will be concerned about the long 4 year vacancy and will insist that the gas pipes need to be pressure treated. He obviously won't be able to do this the day he comes out, but will have to make another appointment.
If he has to make another appointment, it will delay the home inspection.
If the home inspection is delayed ~yet again~, the patience of the couple who are buying the house will be pushed.
If their patience is pushed, they will have to remember the bright side of an "As Is" house with a new furnace, new water heater, new pipes, and a newly connected sewer system.

Is buying a home always this hard???