Are you able to move into the property and make it your primary residence?

@Jason Khoury I purchased my current residence, a duplex, from a local non-profit about 5 years ago.

If I under insured a property and it burned down, I am certain nobody in CA will pay the gap for me.

Investment Info:Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Tenafly.

my condolences on your recent lost.there are a few ways you can do this, as mentioned above you can take a heloc on your primary residence which will give you a second mortgage, first mortgage payment wont be impacted. you can do cash out refinance which will give you one mortgage and payment. it will pay the old mortgage and give you money in your pocket to pay for the rehab.or you can do a renovation refinance which is similar to cash out refinance but we would contractor involved  as part of the refinancing and they are paid through the loan

To the nuts and bolt question of what defines occupancy, it is the place you reside and spend the majority of your time/nights.

I'm in the Tampa Florida area and it has been very accurate for me and my units. 

In some cases, after running the numbers, I’ve even faced potential negative returns, causing me to miss out on promising deals here in South Florida.That brings me to my question: I currently own two homes—one is my primary residence, and the other is a rental property.

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

A little update with the bank, they are now telling me that they aren't even going to consider a settlement or a short sale unless the past due 14 contractual payments (around 8-10k) are paid.