Buying 2nd Home with 1st home HELOC, then 2nd HELOC?

Sorry for the confusing title.

I have a house in Tennessee that's worth about 150K. The house is in my name only - not my spouse's name. The only lien on the house is a 120K HELOC at 2.4%. The HELOC is in my name and my spouse's name. We pulled 100K out of the HELOC about 6 months ago to prevent HELOC freezing/closure and put it in an interest-bearing account.

I currently have a contract on a foreclosed house just across the state line in Georgia. We'll close in 3 weeks. I'm buying that house for 'cash' with the 100K that we previously pulled out of our HELOC.

I'd like to immediately turn around and pull some cash out of the 2nd house via a(nother) HELOC in order to do some repairs on the 2nd house. Then I'll sell the house (hopefully) for a profit (hopefully).

I have some questions listed below, but please comment/ask/answer unasked questions if you see issues that I'm not seeing.

Question 1: Should we title the 2nd house in my name, my wife's name, or both names?
Question 2: What is the best/easiest way to get cash out of the 2nd house? Will there be issues with this?
Question 3: What would it take to establish the 2nd house as a primary residence 'temporarily'? We're fine with moving into the 2nd house for a few months to manage the repairs, but are there issues to consider here with the houses being in different states and the HELOC on house1?
Question 4: How long should we keep the 2nd house (ideally)?

Any other advice?

Thanks

How much are the repairs? Your cheapest money might be in the form of a purchase money mortgage on the second house. You might be running out of time with only three weeks to go, but that is probably what I would try to do.

Ah, hope and change. Hope for a profit and change in your pocket. Good luck in the RE business.

ilikebtmoney said: Depends on your state's laws. You may have to put (some) of the paperwork in your spouse's name as well. I got approved for the mortgage and started the process on a second home in Florida just a few weeks ago, but when we went to closing my wife's name was listed on some docs as title said it's required in Florida.

HELOC is the cheapest way.. least closing costs, and lowest rates for sure, and of course it's tax deductible just like a mortgage.

What do you mean primary residence temporarily? Are you looking for state domicile issues? Or insurance or HELOC/Mortgage terms to be based on that?

How long is up to you.. keep it as long as you want or need to until your goals are met.

Thanks. I'll look into the state laws. I was thinking if we put it in my wife's name we might save on taxes somehow, since technically it would be her only house.

Yes, for the primary residence question I was thinking about the HELOC terms.

You don't file your taxes joint?

staci86 said:

If his concern is liquidity, then he should take a HELOC on the second after closing.

Is this easy to do if I already have another HELOC on another house?

SASMel said: staci86 said:

If his concern is liquidity, then he should take a HELOC on the second after closing.

Is this easy to do if I already have another HELOC on another house?

In 2007, I tried to get a HELOC on a rental and could not get it. I have the house free and clear and I found only 1 lender - the offer was a HELOC at 11% [Eleven percent].

My rental was in Las Vegas, that could be one reason. Value was once $300+k, now $150k, I was asking for a $100k HELOC. Could not get it. Debt to income was not the reason.

-Peter