New to all this but this purchase is actually for a primary residence.

Like I mentioned, those are just ideas, if you two can creatively come up with a solution that is mutually beneficial, you can do it any way you want.

Don’t forget to measure potential tax obligations as well if this was ever your primary residence.    

We are looking to relocate to another city and state for more job opportunities. We have a mortgage on our current home with about $100,000 in equity. I want to take out a HELOC to purchase a short sale property in th...

We are renovating a small 800 sqft home and need an affordable heating / cooling  solution very soon. 

Reason is that it's a turnkey solution. 

However,  this is not the proper solution to accomplish this goal.See, https://www.nmhc.org/news/articles/the-high-cost-o...And, https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/rent-control...Frank

Generally speaking, if you borrow 100K (70k for the purchase 30k for repairs/upgrades) what will happen is this: To close they will require proof of 1yr homeowners insurance to be paid, eliminating the need to escrow it because HML are short term solutions they will probably require it to be paid back within a year.

You never know what can happen and if she's not involved then most likely she'd still be able to qualify for a primary residence mortgage on her own. 

If its your only option and you are currently renting or able to rent your primary residence then absolutely consider it.