Ox,
All in all very sound advice across the board. As the psychology of the decision you face has been pretty well covered above I’ll stay away from that side. As good as all the advice is, the answer lies inside you not here.
Based upon the information you provided, you are likely an original owner in LCV. Based upon a current FMV value of approx 900K your home is probably down $150K from the peak and $200K at most. It’s a good time to take those chips off the table because another $150 to 200K is not out of the question.
The places you mentioned like SEH are down 300 to 400K off a lower peak number so they are likely closer to a bottom than what you’ve got. While certainly not at a definitive bottom, a lot of the risk associated with your proposed move has been eliminated.
If it were me, I’d have a tough time being a renter at this point in my life but I’m not necessarily the norm. My generic advice to the someone in your position would be sell now, put the stuff in stoarge and find a place to hang your hat for 6 months. In 6 months, you will either be a happy renter or a fed-up nomad craving stability again. If you are the later, the 6 month gap between selling now and buying after the Summer will likely bring you a very nice return. The market wont run away from you so you are in a good position. Take advantage of that position and set yourself up for a good life the next 10 years in whatever way you define that.
