Do I need to have income to claim business expenses?

[Lucas Hammer]

So I'm just getting started and I apologize if my question is basic or ridiculous, but I'm buying my first property and depending on closing, I may not have any income during this calendar year, but I was wanting to start paying for research, learning Spanish (I'm investing in a highly hispanic area), and things like that. Do I need to have an LLC set up or make income in the current year for any write-offs or can I write those off as business expenses even if my first property isn't rented out by December 31st?

Thanks, and let me know if I can clarify anything in this post.

[Brandon Hall]

@Lucas Hammer a rental is placed in service on the day that it is available for rent (i.e. advertised). On this day, you may begin to write off common business expenses regardless of whether you are actually earning income. Expenses incurred prior to this data will either be considered start-up expenses or rolled into the basis of the property and depreciated over 27.5 years.