No one accountant is an expert in all areas in the tax code, so best to figure out what you want first in the world of real estate and then dive deeper there. 

I'm Nick - a 26 year old tax accountant living in Charleston, SC.

@Michael James Hamlin I'm a former tax accountant/business consultant turned fix n flipper and investor friendly agent. 

As you mentioned intentional flips are typically considered inventory-This means the income is ordinary income and as such: - Is not a capital gain, so hold time of 1 year does not change to a better long-term capital gain rate - Can not be invested in a QOF Deductions related to it can't be pushed or changed- all costs are accounted for with the inventory component 

Hi thereAccording to IRS guidelines, once a property is ready and available for rent, meaning after you completed the renovations. you would  be able to deduct expenses. snce this was your main home,  the tax accountant you will use will need to do a conversion from personal residence to a rental for depreciation purposes. the improvement you made, depending on what they are, may be added to your basishope this helps

@Caryn FischerI agree with Jaron, you should definitely have a consultation with your tax accountant and/or financial planner before you do anything. 

They get an ACH from my tenant in their account same day, but won't do the same into my account.

There are larger fluctuations in emotions as larger sums of money go in and out of your account.

Do you also create a virtual account for those? 

However, even in these cases, you typically leave a small amount of money in the deal and only break even before accounting for vacancy, repairs, and other expenses.