In my opinion, your were living in a home that you owned for 15 days, so even though the home was rented for the rest of the year, it became your personal residence for those 15 days. As such you cannot deduct any personal expenses for working on your personal residence while you lived in it. Had you lived in a hotel then I agree with the publication that you quoted. I can't quote any tax court references for this - just my personal opinion.
**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**
