When our aunt left the three of us her house, we thought it was a gift. It took about six weeks to realize it was also a bill: property tax, homeowners insurance, a leaking roof, and a basement full of forty years of belongings.
What actually worked for us was separating two decisions that kept getting tangled together: what to do with the house, and what to do with everything inside it. We hired an estate cleanout company to handle the contents on a fixed timeline — two weeks, done — which took the emotional pressure off the real estate decision. We didn't have to decide whether to sell, rent, or keep the house while also standing knee-deep in boxes.
If you're facing this: get the contents sorted first, on a schedule, with help. The house decision gets much clearer once it's just walls and floors again.