I am not a CPA, but have dealt with tax issues on rental property for almost a decade. I think you are mixing two concepts here.
On an investment property (which the IRS considers a passive activity) you can deduct travel expenses, cleaning and maintenance, utilities, insurance, taxes interest, points, and other items related to the management, care, maintenance, and financing of the rental property. Regardles of whether you are a real estate professional.
The “benefit” if you are a real estate professional is that you can deduct your losses, independent of the passive loss limit of 25K, which declines to zero if you make over 150K.
The IRS definition of being a real estate professioinal is more strict than “with a rental you could also loosely qualify as a real estate investment professional”. The IRS requires defines it as such :
Real estate professional. You qualified as a real estate professional for the tax year if you met both of the following requirements.
1. More than half of the personal you performed in all trades or businesses
during the tax year were performed in real
property trades or businesses in which you
materially participated.
2. You performed more than 750 hours of
services during the tax year in real property
trades or businesses in which you materially participated.
For prospective landlords, whether by choice or necessity, I recommend the following light reading:
