Make the large primary photo your backyard pool, and include the room with the king size bed, in the primary photo collage.

I buy a primary here in the bay area but that would stretch my budget out dratically because of the high prices here but turn it into a rental after.

That takes my time most nights, and weekends to receive/pack/ship those products but is super flexible with time.On top of that, I self manage 6 of my own rentals, the cash flow pays for my current mortgage and repairs so it makes living in my primary house free.Experience now:My wife and I have 6 rental homes locally, all rented, all cashflow.

(So yes, you may win the auction for $12,000 owed to the HOA -but now the first mortgager will come after YOU if their primary mortgage isn't paid... and you can be sure the original owner isn't going to continue to pay that if they are out of the house). 

Make sure you're accounting for the property tax rate differential for investment properties in SC - if you're going off of primary residence tax rates for the property (4% ratio), then the investment property rate (6% ratio) will likely be about 3x that amount.

Bought it as a primary residence.

@Anna Brown, it's not clear if that property was your primary residence or not. 

The plan is to use a 5% conventional loan to purchase a Primary residence.

One key differentiator is first time investor vs. first time homebuyer - it will be much easier to qualify as a first time borrower for an investment property loan if you own a primary or at least have done so recently

My question is, if I intended to use the main house (over 51% of sq ft) as the primary residence, is there a way to use FHA or any residential lending?