Primary residence vs rental allocation

hnguyen01 — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 04:39:06 GMT

Hi,

I have a triplex that I live in, renting the first and second floor while living in the third. As a result Turbotax allocates a % to my personal income taxes and a percentage as an investment.

What is the most appropriate way to allocate primary vs rental?

Is it by number of bedrooms? Square footage? And how is a private unfinished basement for my own use counted?

Re: Primary residence vs rental allocation

Mike9241 — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 22:19:54 GMT

the right answer is whatever method would most properly allocate expenses which really isn't an answer

Typically, you can divide the expenses for rental and personal use based on either:

The square footage of the rental space versus that of your entire house (e.g., 250 square foot room rented / 2,500 square foot house = 10% of expenses are deductible).
The number of rooms rented out versus the total number of rooms in your house (e.g., two rooms rented / 10 rooms in the house = 20% of expenses are deductible)

for the following type of expenses
Mortgage interest
Repairs
Improvements
Homeowners insurance
House cleaning or gardening services(?) the IRS may deem landscaping gardening as 100% personal
Trash removal
Snow removal
Security system costs
Depreciation

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certain other expenses may be more properly allocated based on the number of people in the home

like utilities

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in your situation with use of the basement that complicates matters. However, I think square feet, including the basement, is most appropriate.

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others may have a different opinion

topic Primary residence vs rental allocation in Investors & landlords

Primary residence vs rental allocation

Re: Primary residence vs rental allocation