I'm currently reading the Bigger Pockets book, "Tax Strategies for the Savvy Real Estate Investor" and was a bit confused on the section that discussed reporting losses. They claim that real estate losses are considered an "ordinary loss" instead of a "capital loss" which means you can offset your W-2 income with it. I was under the impression that real estate losses could never offset W-2 income. I would love to be wrong on this, but they say it is a common mistake. They mention people get confused because selling a rental property for a gain is considered a capital gain. They then go on to incorrectly treat a loss as a capital loss. Anyone have any input on this?