It's worth considering my tax position if I were to finally close late in 2025 at 40% bonus depreciation or 2026 at 20%. 

If your not paying tax's not sure what additional write offs are going to do for U..

By being outside the city (the city line is a few blocks away), you save on city wage tax. 

check the tax records

my monthly income barely breaks even with taxes mortgage etc..any advice is appreciated. thanks

I am 100% Disabled veteran so i don't pay property taxes, God I love Texas, but will that apply to the second home too?

I can put down 25% considering this will be a secondary home.Reason for considering SFH - No prior RE experience, Tenant Class, Newer construction - no existing problems,newer townhomes are priced starting at 420k$'s ( higher HOA and still has a shared wall) Looking at 4000$ max as monthly expense( mortgage+insurance+HOA+ Property Tax ).I say expense , assuming the residence is not occupied immediately (Vacancy) .

Thats an easy fix DSCR all the way we do not look at income or employment.  1031 allows you to move the funds into the next property tax free. 

The net operating income (all expenses + taxes + insurance) of 12k sounds about right if this is an all-cash deal, but if financing is required, which is 25% down + CapEx, that beautiful 12k operating income shrinks down to around to 1.5k operating income which translates into $125 of monthly cashflow, and this is what gives me the 4.5 CoC that I was talking about.

If you pull permits and renovate, both your property taxes and insurance are very likely to increase, causing your cash flow situation to decrease.