As far as I know, no, you don't have to refi the first one to buy the second, so long as you have lived in the first long enough to satisfy the seasoning requirements to have called it your primary residence as an O/O.Once you have been there for a while, call up your lender and tell him/her that you want to buy a new place and you plan on living there for a while.  

If it doesn't work out for me, I was going to have my friend purchase it as a primary residence.

I am currently looking for a second house as a primary residence while turning my first house into a rental.

@Jeff Wangwas this house by chance your primary residence?  

So; I realize most of these threads on purchasing pre-FC properties are for investment purposes, but, I wanted your thoughts on utilizing this same strategy to buy a primary home.Live in So Cal where listed properties are going for far above asking prices, multiple bids per property within 24 hrs, etc......What are your thoughts on mailing to pre-FC homeowners, in the cities I am looking to move to and see if I can get in contract on one of those?  

I applied for a HELOC on my primary residence earlier this year.  

Tracy, CA Home, value is 400K, rental income is 2100-2400/month range (signing property agreement next month, converting this to rental from prior primary residence); no debt, no mortgage.2.

-Lived in it for 5 years as primary residence. 3.75% interest rate.

Combining a reverse exchange with repositioning a portfolio geographically and taking advantage of combining sec 1031 with your primary residence exclusion - There's some awesomely savvy moves you're contemplating.  

Considering you are trying to close June 2nd, that is really not enough time to get anything done, especially since this will be your primary residence.