I have found one major bank that will give us a HELOC on a rental and called ~30 other banks/credit unions in Atlanta, Georgia and none of them would offer the HELOC unless it is a primary residence.

I know there are multiple ways to get money for a project but I prefer traditional to get started

In Florida, the buyer may have to pay state and county mortgage tax as part of closing costs, but the seller pays primary tax for the purchase.   

I understand that with an FHA loan the property must be your primary residence for a year.

Louis, my first priority is to buy a primary residence (waiting to sell my house).

Jason,Market rent is around 1250, PITI will be around 1050 for traditional refinance or 1150 for cash out.

Traditional lenders will almost always offer better rates so it is usually best to go that route if possible.

What I mean is, do you have a primary residence?

The rental is our old primary with FHA MIP still on it, though we're about $3,346.07 away from paying down to 78% of the original purchase price when my loan servicing company will have to legally remove $123/mo MIP payment. 

We have one small 2 bed 1 bath rental house that used to be our primary residence, but now we are renting it out.