My accountant does not do the studies himself but is familiar with the process and can help me (both decide if the STR loophole strategy is a good idea for me and implement it if necessary), if I can get the study done.

@Zachery HitchcoxYou're mixing together two unrelated tax strategies: the so-called STR loophole and REPS.

Be on the lookout for loopholes within the work agreement contract that may not be favorable to you.

My question is am I able to take advantage of the short term rental tax loophole when I convert a long term rental into a short term?

I'm not trying to find loop holes and want to operate "above board," but some of the language is slightly confusing as to what would or wouldn't apply here.

but i don't think this is the case here .. i think they are just new here ... they tried to negotiate the otherwise very cheap rent (by comparison to other comparables) in the area which i did not like but they did not came across as people who would use legal loopholes to squat and take advantage... 

.- Augusta Loophole: An S corporation owner can rent his or her entire home to the S corporation for up to 14 days per year and get big tax deductions.

We try to utilize some of the loopholes, but we have two that will be getting permits soon. 

This article seems to support what I'm saying, though it doesn't go into much depth (8 Keys to Understanding VA Loan Occupancy Rules | Military.com).This could actually be a beneficial loophole where you can use a VA loan, but still legally plan to rent it out in the first year while on a deployment.

most of the BP articles i read simply state that if you spend >750 hours in real estate per year you can use this awesome tax loophole, but as i dive deeper this designation seems incredibly complicated and almost guaranteed to invite an audit the way i want to use it, which is to designate my non-working spouse (who spent at least 750 hours on this stuff last year), with whom i file jointly, as our "real estate professional."