@Topangamama You are misinterpreting a bit. You can do improvements at any time to add to the Cost Basis of your property, but they would not be depreciated as Rental Assets unless they are done after you start renting the property.
Add the value of the Improvements you did before renting the property to the Cost Basis of your Rental Property when you set up the Rental Info.
For example, if you paid 100K for the Property and added 30K of Improvements (before renting), enter your Cost Basis as 130K to start Rental Depreciation (otherwise the Cost Basis would simply be your Purchase Price).
You are getting the advantage of a much larger depreciation expense by adding the cost of your improvements to your Rental Property Basis. Keep records to verify the amount of the Improvements you added to the Original Purchase Price to arrive at your Cost Basis.
Any improvements added after you've established an initial Cost Basis could then be added/depreciated as Rental Assets (since you can't change your original depreciable Cost Basis once you set up your rental).
When you set up your Rental Property, you will need to split out the Cost Basis of the Home/Land separately.
Click this link for more info on Rental Property Cost Basis.
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