Deducting Travel While Searching for Properties

[Nicholas A.]

Hello,

I recently listed my first Airbnb through a house-hack. As of today, we have 0 reviews, 9 days on the platform, have not received our first guests, and have $2,500 in bookings! That is a great feeling. Three solid months working away after the 9-5 in order to furnish and prepare the property.

Now, we want to find a property in a different state or country that we can travel to, and rent on Airbnb when we are not present.

What exactly do we need to do in order to claim our travel as a business trip? Do I need to book meetings with cleaners, property management companies, and realtors? Do we need a paper trail of the business we were conducting? 

This is totally new to me, and I am an open book.

Thanks, Nick