Techniques to report Capital Improvements as Repairs

[Mike D.]

I will be closing on a 4 plex apartment building this month. Each unit in the building needs new windows and could use some updates to the kitchen and needs new carpet. IRS rules require that repairs, when done as part of a capital improvement project must be amortized over their useful lives instead of being expensed the current year.

Are there ways to piece-meal the improvements and report them as repairs? For example replace the refrigerator while the tenant is still there.

Where does the IRS draw the line between an overall improvement of the unit, and miscellaneous repairs from a previous tenant?