Bought new home can i deduct improvements?

[Clyde Stackhouse]

So here's the story. My wife and I have finally started in on our REI journey and bought a second home. We will be moving into our new home (Oct 1st) that will be Owner Occupied for 6 months as we do repairs, updates, and reno. Once we have completed the work and hit the 6-month mark we want to move out and use this second home as a rental. My question is, Can I deduct any of the repairs and reno costs as part of our rental hustle (Not forming an LLC yet) even though the house is technically Owner Occupied while the repairs are happening?

FYI our first house is being rented (Oct 1st). In an ideal world, we could 'expense' the reno cost on the new home from the rental income from our old home.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!