I have a few questions about a new property I have bought for rental purposes.
1) The property I just bought a few months ago is located in a different state than I live. As soon as I bought it, I moved my pre-owned furnishings interstate to the property in order to fully furnish it as an intermediate rental (as a 6 month+ rental lease). I don't necessarily want to depreciate the pre-owned furnishings, as I'd like to potentially use them one day again for personal use. However, I would like to claim the expense of moving these furnishings interstate to the rental property on this year's taxes. The cost to move the furnishings was about $5,000 dollars (self-move and Pods). It took me about 7 weeks to set the house up before I advertised it. Can I claim the cost of transporting the pre-owned furnishings as an expense this year, or do I have to add that to my capital depreciation given that I did not start advertising the rental until close to two months after I bought the property -- the time it took for setup of the rental and home repair work?
2) Additionally, can I claim expenses for property tax, insurance, and HOA association fees from the point I bought the rental property -- for the 2 months before I started advertising it to rent while I was getting the property ready to rent -- in this tax year? The intention of buying this property is for income/rental purposes from the get-go. In other words, can I claim these monthly costs as an expense in this tax year if I hadn't yet advertised the rental, or do I have to add these expenses to capital depreciation?
3) I began advertising the property one month ago, and it has not rented out yet. My HOA is strict about shorter term rentals, and so I'm advertising it as a 6+ month furnished rental. It is taking longer to rent out furnished then if it was unfurnished. I'm concerned about being audited if I claim these legitimate yearly expenses (HOA fees, property tax, and insurance) when the house may stay vacant for three to four months a year while advertising until an intermediate (6+ month) renter moves into the furnished unit. Might this be a concern? I'm good about keeping my expenses well documented. If I have a loss this year, can the loss be carried forward or deducted from my other passive income sources?
Thank you for your advice!
