Renovations in my primary residence/soon to be rental

[orangeena]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

I'm planning on buying a home and, in this market, I have no hope of selling my condo, so I'm just going to rent it out for the foreseeable future.

I need to renovate the bathroom before I rent it. it's in pretty rough shape and, living alone with two bathrooms, I just always used the other one rather than pay for a costly remodel--with a custom built tile shower, it's going to cost quite a bit. Anyway, I'd like to write this off as an expense for the rental. That really is the only reason I'm doing it, anyway.

In order to call this a rental expense, do I need to be fully moved out before I start that remodel? Or, if I start it while I live here, do I have to be moved out within a certain timeframe after completion? I'm moving about an hour away so It would be MUCH easier to manage the remodeling process while I'm living here. I don't want this to be considered a personal expense, though, because I was in the home and was able to 'personally benefit as an resident' from the new bathroom.

thanks in advance

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

I'm planning on buying a home and, in this market, I have no hope of selling my condo, so I'm just going to rent it out for the foreseeable future.

I need to renovate the bathroom before I rent it. it's in pretty rough shape and, living alone with two bathrooms, I just always used the other one rather than pay for a costly remodel--with a custom built tile shower, it's going to cost quite a bit. Anyway, I'd like to write this off as an expense for the rental. That really is the only reason I'm doing it, anyway.

In order to call this a rental expense, do I need to be fully moved out before I start that remodel? Or, if I start it while I live here, do I have to be moved out within a certain timeframe after completion? I'm moving about an hour away so It would be MUCH easier to manage the remodeling process while I'm living here. I don't want this to be considered a personal expense, though, because I was in the home and was able to 'personally benefit as an resident' from the new bathroom.

thanks in advance

Its not something that you can "write off" in a single tax year, in most cases. What you are describing sounds more like something that would be depreciated over the useful life of the remodel. I really do not think that it matters whether you start it while you are still living in the property or whether you start it after you move out. Its still going to end up being depreciated. A property does not become a "rental property" until its actually available for rent. Therefore any work done on the property to make it appropriate for rental is going to end up being depreciated.

 

[Searchertwin]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

I'm planning on buying a home and, in this market, I have no hope of selling my condo, so I'm just going to rent it out for the foreseeable future.

I need to renovate the bathroom before I rent it. it's in pretty rough shape and, living alone with two bathrooms, I just always used the other one rather than pay for a costly remodel--with a custom built tile shower, it's going to cost quite a bit. Anyway, I'd like to write this off as an expense for the rental. That really is the only reason I'm doing it, anyway.

In order to call this a rental expense, do I need to be fully moved out before I start that remodel? Or, if I start it while I live here, do I have to be moved out within a certain timeframe after completion? I'm moving about an hour away so It would be MUCH easier to manage the remodeling process while I'm living here. I don't want this to be considered a personal expense, though, because I was in the home and was able to 'personally benefit as an resident' from the new bathroom.

thanks in advance

To have this as a rental expense, it has to be rented or sitting vacant on the market to rent.