In November of 2019 my wife and I purchased two single family homes that are going to be used for rental properties. It took us time to repair and improve the properties (general fixes, new HVAC on both, etc, etc). The properties were not rented out at all in 2019, although we incurred purchasing expenses, repair expenses, and improvements that would normally be depreciated. My problem is that I can't seem to treat these as rental properties due to the lack of income in 2019.
I have found articles that say that the right way to treat this, is to declare the home as a "second home" for 2019 and then covert it's use for 2020. That would work for one property. As I understand it, you can only have one "second home". I have two properties with the same $0 problem for 2019. Does anyone have any idea on how to handle this situation?
I appreciate any help.
