Yes, you can convert the property to personal use if desired. But then when you sell the property you can "NOT" report the sale in the Rental & Royalty Income (SCH E) section of the program. You have to report it in the Sale of Business Property section. But this is going around your elbow to get to your thumb, as it's much more prone to user error. If you did not live in the house for one single day as your primary residence, 2nd home, or use it as a vacation home for one single day after the last renter moved out, there's no need to convert the property to personal use, and makes no sense to do so if there was "in fact" no personal use of the property in 2018. Just leave it classified as residential rental real estate.That's the easiest, simplest way to do this and not have to deal with all the *manual* math you will be "required" to do on your own for things such as depreciation recapture and utility expenses.
Just report the number of days rented in 2018 as 1 (one) day. (The program will not accept zero days). Then your rental income will be zero for 2018.
For expenses, you can fully and completely deduct all rental related expenses such as utility bills (electric, water, etc.) and repairs. Then for those things that qualify as property improvements you'll add them to the assets section with 0% business use. (I think the program won't accept zero percent business use, so just make it 0.1% business use. The depreciation will be minimal, if not zero). Then you can report the sale in the rental section and the program will do all the math *for you*.
If you have more questions, please ask. Right now, I'm running a scenario to check out other options for your specific and explicit situation.
