Oh CRAP! HELP! Accidental Landlord given bad tax advice :(

[Gail W.]

OK. So we just could not afford our Laguna Hills, CA house anymore. The kids were gone, the electric bill was massive, the neighbors were awful...so we figured we'd rent it out and find something smaller/cheaper to rent. 

So mid 2015, we moved out and started to get it ready for renters. Then we had a flood from a slab leak, so we had to rehab the whole downstairs. Insurance paid about $22k and we pulled a HELOC for $70k to get everything repaired correctly. Insurance funds went toward floor, cabinets, counter tops (because the cabs were messed up and had to be ripped out, the counters cracked), some baseboard, some painting.

So we put it up for rent, but people would walk thru and never call or offer way less than going rate. So we started asking WHY? Cuz the rest of the place was a dump! NOTHING worked any more! So we then  painted the whole joint, repaired the rotted fascias, replaced the ancient AC/heater, new pool pump equipment, new concrete driveway to replace the crumbling asphalt, new landscape, updated bathrooms (resurfaced shower, nice, new cabinets/sinks, but off Craigslist), more new flooring extended throughout the entire house... even some upgraded pool furniture and a nice BBQ outdoor kitchen as we were told we are in a high end area that requires these types of amenities.  Took FOREVER! So now it's 2016...!  So I'm doing my own taxes Feb 2016 and asked a few CPAs if I can deduct any of this. No, as I didn't recv rent. So I just do my regular old taxes with hubby's income (I don't work).

Fast forward to mid 2016, we FINALLY rent the house out to a friend who is running a Christian Sober Living home and we're making some great money. Now, I'm sitting down to do my own taxes again (I've always used Turbo Tax) and start researching all of this. And, as most of you prolly already know, I find that I may have been able to do SOMETHING about all that dough we spent in 2015, even tho we didn't have a renter yet! SO... my question is, is there anything I can do about that NOW? Otherwise, we are getting a HUGE tax bill this year due to all that added income (I ran it as a regular rental w/ regular deductions so far).  I'm thinking I need a pro but I can't find all the receipts/paperwork due to half were lost in a car issue.

We are JUST starting to do OK (after having to pay off a TON of debt and still paying off previous federal and prop taxes-kids in So Cal are EXPENSIVE!). If we have to pay THIS huge tax bill, we may just sell and get out of Cali. I feel so lost and DONE.  A lesson to all you researching if you should rent that house out... learn as much as you can BEFORE you start spending any time or money!!