Want to combine 2 home equity loans - how to claim on taxes.?

[julia j]

I am considering combining 2 home equity loans. At the moment I can claim the interest paid on 1 of the loans as it was for home renovation, but not the other, because it was better to take the standard deduction under personal expenses. I rent my house out, and need to know if I will still be able to claim interest for my taxes on the $ used for original home renovation.

We are in the military and stationed in Japan. We rent our house out in FL. I took out a home equity loan when we first moved into our FL house, and because it was for renovations, I am able to claim this under the rental expenses. The 2nd home equity loan was taken out to consolidate debt, as it is easier to make one payment while in Japan. We have equity in our house still. I want to consolidate is because we are going to be stationed in VA, and as we don't want to sell our FL house and don't want to rent we are going to try and buy a 2nd house. If I consolidate these 2 loans it frees up $400 for 2nd mortgage.