Upload photos. Get an IRS-defensible cost segregation report with your Year-1 bonus depreciation deduction calculated to closely calibrated to a formal $5,000 engineering study's bonus-eligible %. Built for STR and single-family rental investors — not commercial real estate.
Three steps from listing photo to IRS-defensible cost segregation report. Built specifically for residential investment property — single-family STRs, long-term rentals, small multifamily.
The system pulls the county assessor record, identifies the land value ratio, and calculates depreciable basis. Aggregated county-assessor data handles 95%+ of US addresses; FHFA zip-level data covers the rest.
Computer vision identifies finish flooring, cabinetry, appliances, lighting, plumbing fixtures, FF&E, and outdoor amenities. Each detected asset maps to its IRS class life — 5-year personal property, 15-year land improvements, or 27.5-year structure.
The IRS-defensible PDF includes itemized 5/15/27.5-year breakdowns, supporting photos, basis allocation worksheet, methodology statement, and IRS classification citations. Hand it to your CPA at tax time.
For residential rental property, the difference is dramatic. Same methodology. Same deduction. 1/50th the cost.
| Traditional CPA + engineer | DepreciMax software | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per property | $5,000 – $8,500 | $99 |
| Time to delivery | 2 – 4 weeks | 5 minutes |
| Property visit required | Yes (in-person walkthrough) | No (photo-based) |
| Year-1 deduction accuracy | 100% (benchmark) | Closely calibrated of benchmark's bonus-eligible % |
| IRS-defensible report | ✓ | ✓ |
| Itemized 5/15/27.5-year breakdown | ✓ | ✓ |
| Supporting photo documentation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Works before you make an offer | ✗ (too slow + expensive) | ✓ |
| Pre-purchase property screening | ✗ | ✓ |
| Form 3115 catch-up support | Sometimes | ✓ |
DepreciMax is purpose-built for residential rental property. It's not the right tool for every situation — here's where it wins and where you should still use a formal engineering study.
| Property type | Best option | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family STR ($400K–$2M) | DepreciMax ($99) | Best ROI in the entire cost segregation market right now |
| Long-term SFR rental | DepreciMax ($99) | Same methodology applies; CPA decides how to apply the deduction |
| Furnished STR (turnkey) | DepreciMax ($99) | FF&E auto-detected and categorized as 5-year property |
| Pre-purchase screening | DepreciMax ($99) | Only AI-driven tool fast/cheap enough to use before making an offer |
| Form 3115 catch-up on prior-year property | DepreciMax ($99) | Same analysis, applied to prior-year property; CPA files the Form 3115 |
| Property over $2.5M | DepreciMax + optional formal study | Use AI for initial; consider formal for audit defensibility margin |
| Small multifamily (2–10 units) | DepreciMax with caveats | Per-unit photo analysis works; HOA / common-area needs supplemental input |
| Large multifamily (50+ units) | Formal engineering study | Asset complexity outpaces photo-based methodology |
| Commercial / industrial | Formal engineering study | Specialized installations require engineering judgment |
Most cost segregation tools target commercial real estate. We target single-family STRs and small residential rentals — the segment traditional engineering firms can't service economically. Three things make us purpose-built for residential investors:
Pools, hot tubs, fire pits, outdoor kitchens, and pergolas are the differentiators between properties. Our methodology applies high-end 15-year land improvement values to STRs where these amenities exist — calibrated against post-audit data.
Turnkey STR purchases include $40K–$90K of bonus-eligible FF&E. Our system auto-detects whether a property is furnished from photos and applies the appropriate 5-year personal property allocation.
Single-family land ratios vary 10×+ between markets. Our system pulls aggregated county-assessor land value data first, FHFA zip-level fallback second, and surfaces the land ratio before you commit to a property — so you don't buy a 60% land ratio by accident.
For the market-level view before you drill into individual properties, our 2026 STR Bonus Depreciation Market Study ranks 197 US STR markets by median bonus-eligible share of purchase price.
Probably yes. Most CPAs use straight-line 27.5-year depreciation on residential rentals because cost segregation has historically been too expensive to justify on single-family property. That means they're missing 22%–35% of the Year-1 deduction. DepreciMax produces the cost segregation analysis your CPA uses to file the return — we're not a replacement for the CPA, we're the analysis layer they previously couldn't economically run.
Yes — via Form 3115 catch-up. Run the analysis on the prior-year property; your CPA files Form 3115 (change in accounting method) and you claim all the missed Year-1 bonus depreciation in the current tax year. This is the most underused move in real estate tax.
No. $99 per property, one-time. There's an optional $149/mo membership for investors running multiple reports + weekly market alerts, but individual reports are pay-and-go with no recurring charge.
Yes. If the Year-1 deduction we calculate is more than 5% off a formal engineered study on the same property, we refund the $99. Our calibration data on the published Ketchum, ID engineered cost seg benchmark is within ±4%.