He owns a primary residence which he currently lives in. 

At this point you can buy another primary if is near you work or an investment if is far.

I think my insurance broker (AAA) was able to rig it somehow that one is considered my primary residence and the second a vacation home.

Due to multiple offers, we paid cash, but have a mortgage on our primary. 

Cities can require that the primary unit be owner-occupied at the time of permit application. 

I Have Excellent Credit And Equity In My Primary Residence To Get Started.

To be clear, it is totally ok to APPLY for more than one (shopping rates/lenders/brokers) however having multiple loans going at once (if you were doing a loan for your primary and one for a rental at the same time) requires disclosing on the application that you are getting another loan while your current loan is processing.  

@Keith CuddebackIn addition to the methods already mentioned for finding the outstanding loan balance of the primary mortgage, you'll also likely want to determine if there are any other loans/liens attached to the property that the seller will need to cover/pay off before they could transfer title to you.

I’d like to put a primary mortgage on it during renovation (once livable) to get the 12 month rental clock rolling.I know that I must live in this house the “majority of the year”.

(Imagine buying a primary home from a relative for $200k more than it’s worth.