Instead, he insulted my profession as an ortho surgeon which indicates to me I was right about his videos. 

The other key is to record it on the same day ("contemporaneous log") as opposed to reconstruction at the time of an audit.

.: I'm looking for some Dwelling/Fire insurance providers in Illinois with higher reconstruction caps/ dwelling liability.

But if a surgeon misses a case or two a month so that has some time to self-manage his rental, he's not coming out ahead.I could keep more of my income by changing my own car oil, ironing my own dress shirts, and hand washing my car in the driveway.

I’m currently working on reconstructing a house I own in Tbilisi, Georgia — deciding whether to rent it out or sell after improvements.

Real property trades or businesses include: developing, redeveloping, constructing, reconstructing, acquiring, converting, renting, leasing, operating, managing, or brokering real property.Items under your “research” category would likely count under “acquiring” real property.Items listed under your "leasing" and "maintenance" categories would count under "operating/managing" real property.Re: wages - Unless your LLC is being taxed an S or C Corp, you're not even allowed to pay yourself wages (owners of an LLC are partners, not employees).

I will be qualifying for Real Estate Professional Status (REPS) in 2026 to use the marriage loophole to help create paper losses against my wife's W2 salary (she's a surgeon).

You could be the best "brain Surgeon" in the business and not be able to tell me how heart surgery works.  

Reconstruct.

The IRS (and courts) prefers evidence created when the work actually happens, not a spreadsheet reconstructed months later.