Hal_Al, that is true, on top of the mortgage interest and property taxes, I can deduct all the other expenses you mentioned, however, the problem is that my guess is the total rental income is greater than all of the expenses you mentioned (especially considering the depreciation is not much since as I mentioned previously the land is worth far more than the property itself).. that was my concern because in the end, I'll end up owing more because the rental income exceeds the deductions I can make.. whereas when i lived there, sure i couldn't deduct the expenses you mentioned but at least there was no rental income and I was still able to deduct the interest and property taxes..
One thing that you and Zbucklyo mentioned was that I am able to deduct utilities.. how so? I am planning to have my tenant open up their own account with the local water and power company.. how would I deduct the utilities in that situation or was the assumption that I would pay the utilities for this rental property and be reimbursed by the tenant?
