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This is important and something a lot of first time investors mess up-- you cant deduct against your W-2 income with RE investing (unless you're in the RE business like an agent)
Coach
You won’t qualify as a real estate professional with a W2 job unless your W2 job is directly tied to real estate. Even then, you need to work on your properties more than your W2 job.
Time spent “researching” real estate doesn’t count. I find it very hard to believe that you spent 750 hours with 2 rental properties, especially if they were long term rentals. Listening to podcasts or learning content doesn’t count either.
Remember that REPS is highly litigated, and if you and/or your accountant tick that box, you need to have a paper trail to prove all 750+ hours you spent. And if you have a W2, none of those hours should be during “normal” work hours (unless you take PTO or a sabbatical or something like that).
Your repairs are deductible if they are maintenance and not improvements or if they are improvements that would qualify as de minimus. Your interest is deductible and your depreciation is deductible. As A1 says, you can’t deduct this against any of your other income so likely you will have $0 taxable income and have a carry forward loss. You could have that situation until you pay off the loan or fully depreciate the asset. When you sell, you can apply any remaining roll forward losses but also will have to reverse the depreciation. The taxes are pretty simple for 2 properties. Just keep good records and receipts for every penny you spend.