Questions About Taxes for a House Hack

[Shannon Richardson]

I just purchased my first investment as a house hack, with the intent of living there for a year or two, and I am seeking clarification on a few things relating to the accounting side of this. The property is a 3-unit and I'm planning on doing some work to each one over time, in addition to the house itself. If I'm saying anything wrong please correct me, but my understanding is that any repairs or improvements that I perform to my unit will not be tax deductible, but after I convert it to a rental will be wrapped into the property's basis for depreciation. Any repairs that I do on a rental are deductible, and any improvements will be added to the property's basis. Work pertaining to the house itself will be split by a percentage based on occupied space, being deductible or depreciable based on whether it is a repair or improvement respectively. 

To do everything by the book while maximizing my tax benefits, some questions that I have about this are:

-Should I keep separate bookkeeping logs for the rental side of the house and the unit I'll be living in?

-Would non-structural improvements to the unit I'm living in (I.e. updating appliances, flooring, etc.) be on a reduced depreciation schedule, or would it all fall under the 27.5 year schedule of the property? And would that schedule just take off the time I've lived there (26.5 year depreciation if lived in for 1 year)?

-Would the purchase of tools/equipment/materials used to perform work on both sides of the property be split by a %, or would that be fully depreciable under my business?

-Are major capital expenditures (namely roof, furnace, ac, water heater) considered improvements even after they are past their rated lifespan? What if one fails?

-Would it be more beneficial to take care of these capital expenditures after I've moved out?

I'm in the process of looking for a CPA for help on some of this, but any input is greatly appreciated!