Just a thought for future situations: advertise it for rent as soon as you acquire it. If taxes are paid at closing, advertise it the day before it closes. Put a sign in the yard. Take a dated photo. Post it somewhere, anywhere. The day title is processed, it is for rent, so those taxes can be deducted. Will be a bit troublesome, and probably nobody will rent it til you are done, but you can claim virtually all of those expenses in the year work was done. If people show up, show it and take applications. Advertise it for what it will be worth when you are done, but they can move in early if they want or need to. If someone does rent it, you just do the work while they are there. I'm not an expert, but it seems like that should work, if you meet the qualifications.
