Since most of the stuff is taken out, do I need mold restoration done?

The last spending to get restored back to normal is the discretionary stuff.

If it starts to come unglued (defaults) harry dent will be right, $600 gold, 80% off the stock market, and real estate cut in half...so pray they have the tools to restore confidence

I would bring in a couple of restoration companies to get the hard facts about the extent of the fire damage.

If you have a de minimis safe harbor election in place for the tax year and expenses related to the building structures subsystem are more than $2,500, the expenses would be capitalized.It might make a lot of sense to forgo the de minimis safe harbor election and apply the betterment, adaption, and restoration (BAR) tests instead if doing so doesn't jam you up in other areas. 

If you have a DMSH election in place for the tax year and the total expenses allocable to the HVAC subsystem are more than $2,500, you would capitalize.If there is no DMSH election in place, you'd apply the betterment, adaptation, restoration (BAR) tests to make an expense vs capital expenditure determination.Either way, if the allocable costs are capitalized, my firm takes a partial asset disposition for the old system, which helps.

I'd like to flip houses because one of my creative outlets is in music production, and just like home restoration, it gives me the ability to create something out of what appears to not have value, and by doing so providing a service to others.

I used Aaron Bible from Mayday Restoration.

NAR also signed a coalition letter(link is external) that would encourage Congress to provide readily accessible, unsecured credit to employers and self-employed individuals of all sizes to ensure they have the cash to pay their workers, rent, and other costs during this crisis:Suspend the filing of business returns and the payment of all business taxes to the federal government for the duration of the pandemic; and amend the Tax Code to, among other items, restore the ability of businesses to carryback any net operating losses against previous year tax payments;Suspend the application of the Section 163(j) limitation on interest expense deductions for tax year 2020 to avoid penalizing businesses for borrowing during this crisis; andSuspend the Section 461(l) loss limitation on pass-through businesses to allow businesses to full deduct any losses they incur this year.Essential Real Estate ServicesNAR is working with state associations, many of whom are reaching out to their Governors to request that certain real estate services be deemed “essential services” during emergency declarations.

I still need to consult contractors to see if something like this would even be worth the time and effort of restoration, though, so that will be my next stop.