If you add to the title, you may trigger a new accessed value losing that low property tax basis. 

My STR performance is the lowest ever excluding the Great Recession and Covid lock down periods.  

. $240k is priced to trigger a bidding war, I just am not a fan of the neighborhood.

I don't plan on suing myself, so the risks a VERY low.Before you lock anything in, it may not make sense to keep that property as a rental.

If the conversion of use doesn’t trigger any depreciation recapture or other negatives, then I could theoretically: buy a home, rent it as an STR for one year, claim all my bonus depreciation to offset W2 income, and then covert it to an LTR year 2.

Appreciation is locked in for a two-family there, but it will be more about how much it will take to get it to what you want and what you might be missing along the way.

I had my handyman change the locks on the house and it was good to go!

That usually does not happen if your interest rate is locked.

There are opportunities today where you can lock in a low rate with no points. 

Mike - I have been looking in Allentown, but havent pulled the trigger on anything here (although I do have properties in Easton).