Selling Rental Property At A Loss

[Anthony Fecarotta]

Merry Christmas everyone,

I want to preface this by saying I do have a CPA that I have used my entire career (mainly W2 income only), but before I bother her on Christmas day I was hoping I could get some insight on the forums regarding my situation.

I bought a townhouse in 2019 that I rehabbed and then lived in until the end of the year. In January of 2020 I moved out, put the property on the market, and then rented the townhouse out (at a loss) for four months (Jan-April); it finally sold October 5th of 2020; the property sold at a loss.

I know I am going to claim the sale of the rental property as a loss on my taxes next year, but what I am unclear on is if I can (or should) claim depreciation for renting it at a loss and the five months it was vacant? I've been reading up on depreciation, but don't completely understand how it applies to this unique situation. FYI - I did own the property for over a year. It was a rental property for a little over 9 months after I moved out.