Tips/Pitfalls When Converting Personal to Rental

[Marco G.]

Searching for tips and pitfalls encountered when converting personal residence to a rental.

When calculating cost for depreciation, what number do you use? Purchase price attributable to structure? Do you add in costs incurred over ownership for upgrades (paint, appliances, etc that would be added to cost basis when calculating section 121 cost basis)? What about costs to get the property rent ready? Anything different there from usual rental property rules?

I'm also in the process of doing a cashout where I am pulling out cash to use as down payment on new personal residence, pay off HELOC balance that was used as down payment on other rentals in prior years, and to improve the property for rent readiness.

Any tips or lessons learned highly appreciated! First time converting a personal to a rental.