Because almost all costs of acquisition and rehabilitation expended prior to the rental being placed in service go towards the cost basis, I question why you have so many write-offs.   

It sounds like you need to think about what your responsibility is, what it is not, and then put that in writing and relay it to the tenant to avoid future confusion.I tell tenants that we don't repair/replace expendable items not permanently attached to the home.

Expend indigestion trying to make a deadbeat pay if you want to, just don't forget to be grateful they are gone.   

If a special use type place goes dark you tend to have to land the same type of tenant or expend extraordinary amounts of money to re-purpose.I pay about 50 bucks a month for a Mr.

You could work on this for years, expending countless hours, headaches and 10s of thousands of dollars.  

Make sure to include: expendable supplies, furnishings, a budget towards linens, electronics, utilities, maintenance, str insurance.

I am wondering if I am on the right track and simply need to keep working in this way or if I am expending too much energy on something when there might be a better way.Any advice will be helpful.

However, it may be better if you expend the energy to look for another rental unit; hopefully one that is in the same district so that your son can complete his school year in the same school.Good luck....Gail

For those willing to expend a little more energy than it takes to flip a coin, consider comparing current marginal tax saving rate vs. predicted marginal withdrawal tax rate.

We can't guarantee returns but we sure as hell will expend all the blood, sweat and tears to make darn sure it does happen.