If you sell a rental property, you fill out a separate set of forms (via the interview, I know) to report the income from the sale. So when it asks if the property was sold, TT is trying to find out if you need to fill out another set of forms for the sale of the property, not just those for the use of the property.
SETTING THAT ASIDE,....
If the property was not used PERSONALLY, then it is 100% business use.
One situation: It wasn't always rented, but I never used it personally. Even if I stayed overnight there, it was only to take care of the property for tenants, not to enjoy it myself. This is 100% business use, whether you call it an "investment" or a "rental property" or a "beach house."
Another situation: I have used it some of the time personally and some of the time I rent it out to others. This is NOT 100% business use. A portion of the use is personal and a portion is for business. In this case, expenses have to be apportioned between business (investment, rental) and personal use. If I use it 10% of the year personally, and I put in new carpet, only 90% of the new carpet is a depreciable expense on the rental property (as a business, investment, rental or whatever you call it.) The other 10% is like putting carpet in my own house, not a cost of doing the business, investment, rental property reported on Schedule E. For instance, I have a house in the woods and it is available for rent in season--10 weeks of the year. The rest of the time it is closed up. If I use it personally 1 week of the year, that is probably 10% personal use and 90% an investment property, rental business, or whatever language TT or I use to describe that profit-motivated activity. Of course, if the week I use it is the week the Master's golf tournament takes place across my back fence, the question of whether I am only using it personally 10% might be debatable, but that's a more unusual situation.
