As long as the home is available for rent (not converted to personal use) you can report your expenses. I'm not sure the effect of showing a loss, @Carl is one of the experts on rentals.
You will need to distinguish between repairs and improvements, because repairs can be deducted in the year they are paid, but improvements must be depreciated over 27.5 years. A repair restores the property to as-was condition. An improvement, also referred to as a "betterment", increases the value of the property or extends the working life of the property or one of its subsystems. Classic examples of improvements would be replacing carpeting or flooring, replacing the furnace, or adding an addition. Painting is usually a repair, but the cost of painting the addition would be included in the cost of that improvement. Replacing carpeting in one room that was damaged might be a repair instead of an improvement. If you replace appliances they are also depreciated under a different time frame.
For repairs and improvements, you only deduct or depreciate the amount of money you actually spend for supplies and labor, you can't include anything for the value of your own or other unpaid labor.
