Taxes when renting and investing & women owned businesses

[Kayla Doan]

Hi there,

First time investor here- I'm hoping the BP community can share some advice on two questions!

I'm purchasing an income property with a friend/business partner, and I personally will keep renting my primary residence (I live in a downtown Boston neighborhood that peaked a few years ago, renting is smarter than investing).  I'm struggling to find out how this will affect my taxes - am I able to claim mortgage interest if I am on a loan but it's not my primary residence? Right now I am forced to take the standard deduction. Also, this will be my first home purchase, but again, I won't be residing there, so I'm not sure if I qualify for any first time homebuyers credits?

Secondly, my business partner and I are both career women (girl power!) but I haven't found many programs or credits that support women owned businesses. I read that this was a bigger thing a decade or so ago - are we missing anything?

Thank you!

Kayla