Depreciation building value

[Jeremiah O'Neill]

Last year I converted my primary residence into a rental property.   We purchased the home for $295k in 2006 and it lost value over the next few years, now at around $250k.  Per the IRS, I need to use the $250k for depreciation purposes.

In order to determine the ratio of the improvements to the land I looked at my assessors website where they say that the land is worth $170k and the improvement $50k.  That puts the land at 77% of the value and my depreciable amount at $57k! The home is a 1000 sf ranch and according to my insurance policy has about $150k replacement cost.  Question is am I stuck with using the $57K or can I justify a higher amount.

Thanks