Newbie here, best way to classify rental for tax season

[Jon Barnier]

Hello! I’m new to investing and live in the Seattle area. We purchased a second home this year with the intention of renting it out whenever we aren’t using it. I know there are specific rules as to whether you can classify something as a second home vs an investment property in terms of how often it is rented out and how often it is used for personal use, but as far as I can tell, it could be classified either way this year. 

So we bought it in July, and it took quite some time to actually get it ready to rent. By the end of the year it really was only rented for 2 weeks of short term rentals (finally finished it up mid-december). So for 2021 tax year, I don’t know the best way to classify it (second home vs investment). Offsetting some W-2 income would be ideal but I want to make the best move. We had quite a bit of expenses compared to income this first year due to 6 months without renters, but next year looks promising for flipping that around. 

Thank you BP forum for all the help :). 

Jon