STR loophole on ~$600K combined W-2 — how do I capture the Year 1 tax benefit without bleeding cash every month for the next decade?

Title: First-time STR for the tax write-off, ~$600k household. Am I crazy or does year 2+ just bleed cash forever?

First time posting. Been reading this sub for a while and finally have a real question.

Quick background:

• EM attending, wife is non-physician, combined we're around $600k W2
• Texas, no state tax
• Maxing the usual (401k, backdoor Roth, HSA), loans refi'd, regular taxable account on autopilot
• Zero real estate experience outside our primary

Looking at the STR loophole because it seems like the biggest legal tax move available to us right now. Marginal rate around 32-35%. With bonus depreciation back to 100% under OBBBA, a $500-600k property with a real cost seg study should kick out something like $120-180k in year 1 paper losses. At our bracket that's $40-60k in actual tax savings give or take. REPS isn't on the table for either of us.

Here's where I'm stuck though.

Every deal I run the numbers on comes out cash flow negative. Not a little negative, like $500 to $1500/mo negative. Year 1 the tax savings cover it and then some. But year 2+ once bonus is gone, I'm just losing money every month for years until rates drop or the loan amortizes down enough to matter.

So my actual question: how do you take the year 1 tax win without locking yourself into a decade of bleed?

Stuff I've considered:

a) Buy smaller and cheaper, underwrite for cash flow positive day 1. Smaller deduction but no bleed.

b) STR for year 1, convert to LTR after. Bonus already taken stays taken until you sell. Future losses go passive and become useless against W2, but at least the cash flow stops being awful.

c) Plan on 3-5 year hold then 1031 into something with better fundamentals. More moving parts.

d) Eat the bleed. Year 1 tax savings basically pre-pay 3-4 years of negative cash flow. Then sell or convert.

e) Put 30-40% down to get to neutral. But that's a lot of liquid I'd rather have working elsewhere.

Honestly leaning a or b. Want to hear from people who actually pulled the trigger though, not the cost seg salespeople and CPA marketing content that all conveniently stops at year 1.

The plan if I do go forward:

1. Confirm the math at our actual marginal rate. Make sure we genuinely have 100-150 hrs/yr between the two of us. Make sure down payment + furnishings + reserves don't blow up the rest of the financial plan.
2. Pick a market. Houston-based so FL is a 2-3 hr flight. Looking at:

• Orlando area (Davenport/Kissimmee/Reunion). Theme park demand year round but feels really saturated, lots of new product coming online.
• Tampa Bay (Clearwater, St. Pete). Good demand but insurance post-Helene/Milton looks brutal in the quotes I've seen.
• 30A/Destin/PCB. Highest revenue but entry prices are scary at our budget.
• Corpus christi, Galveston, or Port Arthur, TX

Honestly not sure if any FL or TX submarket actually pencils for cash flow in 2026, or if everyone in the game right now is just betting on appreciation and hoping rates come down.

3. Financing. Second home conventional at 10% down vs DSCR at 20-25% down. Not going to misrepresent occupancy for the better rate, not worth the fraud risk.

4. Close and have it listed for rent before Dec 31. Placed in service = ready and listed, doesn't have to be booked.

5. Material participation. Going for the 100 hrs and more than anyone else test. Self-managing bookings, comms, pricing, listing, minor stuff. Cleaners are fine but I need to make sure no single helper logs more than us. Time log from day 1, not reconstructed in April.

Year 2. This is the part I have no plan for, see above.

Specific stuff I'd love takes on:

1. Anyone here actually done this at similar income? I want to hear about year 2 and year 3, not year 1. Year 1 always sounds great, that's the easy part.
2. Cash flow vs tax savings. What's your actual ratio? Do you optimize for one or split it?
3. STR to LTR conversion. Did anyone here do this and have it work? Did your CPA flag the timing as too cute?
4. Florida submarkets. Is anyone hitting cash flow positive in 2026 and where? Or has the music stopped on this whole thing?
5. CPA recs. Someone who's done this for high-W2 households and won't take a position aggressive enough to draw a letter. DM is fine if you don't want to name names publicly.
6. Engineering vs modeling cost seg. For a $500k property is the engineering study really worth the extra cost, or are the modeling tools defensible enough?
7. Material participation in real life. With two full time jobs is 100+ hrs actually doable, or did most of you find it harder than the blog posts make it sound?
8. Audit triggers besides the obvious ones (avg stay, time logs, helper hours)? What else has tripped people up?
9. Better first moves than STR for someone in our spot. Oil and gas working interests, DB plan if one of us picks up 1099 work, Augusta rule, syndications with K1 losses to match. Anything I'm not thinking of?
10. Do you use AirDNA or some other tool to help you determine if it makes sense financially?

First time doing this for real and I'd rather get torn apart here than learn it the hard way from a 5 year cash bleed or an IRS letter. Anything you wish you'd known before starting, lay it on me.

Thanks.