You can deduct a number of moving expenses, not just mileage. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p521/ar02.html
The new roof is an improvement that add to your cost basis and will reduce your capital gains if you ever manage to sell at a profit. It would never be a deduction.
You can't convert the house to a rental and then deduct the loss on the sale as if it was investment property. If you hold the house out for rental you can deduct your carrying expenses like utilities and property taxes against rental income, but I'm not sure you can do that if you never actually manage to rent it.
I'll double check on the rental expense issue.
If you can rent it at a price where you will make a profit, you could rent it for up to 3 years and still get some tax benefit when you sell. Or rent it for longer if you are making a profit and the fair market value is declining. You could hire a property management company.
Or ultimately you may just need to sell and cut your losses before they get worse.
