Thank you, tagteam. I have read that regulation about 20x and I basically concluded I should not add anything to the basis b/c all the expenses were ones that would be incurred by an individual owner, although the house was unoccupied - nothing was "only" incurred b/c the owner is the Estate. The costs were all normal ownership costs (HOA fees, insurance,utilities) to preserve the house for sale, or costs in preparation of the sale (inspections, replacing a tree, landscaping for sale) that an individual owner would also incur.
