Any tips on tracking hours and proving material participation?

Overseeing tradesmen while they work on your properties sounds like material participation to me.

I’ve been hearing from a lot of investors lately about how renovation costs keep sneaking up — whether it’s materials, labor, or even permit delays.

If you do the work yourself, you can charge for your time at a fair market rate, but be ready to document hours and materials in case questions come up.

Yes, the hours you spent setting up the property before it was officially rented can count toward material participation.

Would that not fall under the same category of “material participation” in day-to-day operations?

My local banks either want too much down or want me to have a material list of absolutely everything the property needs.

Materially participate in your rental activities How do we materially participate in our rental activities?

.), you're often limited to $25,000 of passive losses per year—and that phases out completely if your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) exceeds $150,000.Real Estate Professional Status (REPS) or the STR Loophole: To use rental losses to offset W-2 or other active income, you must either:Qualify as a Real Estate Professional (750+ hours, primarily in real estate) and materially participate in the property.Or, if it's a short-term rental (average stay under 7 days), materially participate (100+ hours and more than anyone else) to convert it from passive to non-passive—even without REPS.Standard deduction vs. itemizing: You mentioned your CPA said deductions didn’t help due to the standard deduction.

Just another reason that investors should not wait until the last minute to get cost segregation studies done or find a new CPA.