Our house is well laid out to have a short term rental in the basement, with two exits, and we live in a great place for people to vacation. We were thinking about throwing $10-12,000 into making the basement an Airbnb. The basement is already semi-finished (painted paneling on the walls, LVP on the floor, drywall ceiling, climate control, a half bath). Basically all we need to do is extend the bathroom wall out a bit to add a shower, then put a kitchenette/sink just outside of the bathroom.
The question is, if we spend the money to do this renovation, what can we depreciate on our taxes? We’re planning on just having it rented in the weekends, and we’re already more than halfway through the year.
I know that with normal long term rentals, it’s common to list a non-renovated property before it’s even ready, just to start the clock so that renovations count towards the rental business, is that the same with the short term stuff too?
