@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.

I'm new to investing and found a house that we're thinking of using as our primary residence and we would rent our existing home.

You can also ask for an early termination buyout where if they still owe 2 years on the primary term they pay you for 1 to cancel.

Of course, you should be doing the same with your seller ... since your primary goal is to have them sell their property.On the other end of the transaction, if you were to offer to purchase a property from us and ponied up less than 1K or 1%, I'd probably hurt your feelings.