Can you claim Material Participation hours before it is being rented out

[Benton Young]

I hope everyone is having a great day. We purchased a home to be a STR and closed on it the first of April 2025. We worked on it, seems like forever but we took days off work and worked every weekend 12-15hrs a day until we had it ready about mid-July. It is about 2.5 hours' drive from our home and at times we drove separately hauling stuff back and forth. We have kept a log of it and what we done while there. We have over 500 hours with both of us and my 16-yr old daughter helped as well but it is my understanding she would not count. Depending on the places I have searched they say any work before it starts renting does not count or it does. Can someone clarify it for me. After we got it ready, we did hire a local management company and while we still go there every 6 weeks or so to continue updating things etc, I do not think we would be able to claim material participation in the years ahead while we have a management company. However, it would be nice if we could claim it this year with all the work and money we have spent. We basically took it down to the walls and everything is new. Thanks for your help.