Coleen3
Intuit Alumni

Investors & landlords

When you converted the property from personal use to rental, the basis for depreciation was lower of the Adjusted Basis or the FMV on the date of conversion.

Now that you are selling, it gets a little trickier.

Calculating Gain/Loss on Subsequent Sale of Rental Property

If a residence converted to rental property is later sold at a gain, the basis in the converted property is the original cost or other basis plus amounts paid for capital improvements, less any depreciation taken.

 If the sale results in a loss, however, the starting point for basis is the lower of the property’s adjusted cost basis or FMV when it was converted from personal to rental property (Regs. Sec. 1.165-9(b)(2)). This rule is designed to ensure that any decline in value occurring while the property was held as a personal residence does not later become deductible on the sale of the rental property