Can R/E Losses on a property be used to offset Profits from another property?

[Matt Kvalheim]

Hi,

I’m having a tax discussion with my accountant, and I just want to double check that he’s got it right, so I thought I would reach out to the BP community!

If I own 3 SFHs as rentals and two of them produce profits that need to be reported for tax purposes (basically, rental income collected is higher than all expenses and depreciation) and the 3rd property has losses to report, can the losses on the 3rd property be used to offset the income of the other 2 properties?

What about accumulated losses from prior years? Can accumulated losses from a property be used to offset income from a different property?

Thanks so much!

[Steve Vaughan]

Sure.   My schedule E (for personally owned rentals) nets out all gains and losses at the bottom.  The only number that transfers to your 1040 is the net.  Now to get that one property in the black, right?!