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.