Do I have to advertise to deduct repairs between tenants?

[Matt R.]

Hello all!

I own a SFR that the current tenants are moving out of. I plan to do some repairs and rent it out again. Do I need to advertise the house for rent before I do the repairs in order for those repairs to be tax-deductible?

I think I know that when you first buy the house, anything you fix before you advertise it for rent goes into the basis and gets depreciated.  But I'm not sure what happens between tenants, when I've already owned the house for a few years.  Is the fact that it was recently rented out enough, or do I need the ad to prove that it's still a rental?

(The main thing that's driving this is that I have to fix something expensive, so I want to deduct it, if that's possible.)

Thanks!

Matt R.