[quote=UCGal]I guess my questions would be about what your plans on for housing in your new location.
Since it might be temporary (since you might move back here) – does it make more sense to rent. (Transaction costs on short term ownership can kill you.)
If you plan to buy where you’re going – do you have the downpayment/credit bandwidth to finance the new purchase without selling your existing house.
My gut says that if you plan to come back to San Diego, hang on to it.[/quote]
Agree with this, especially if you can cover all of your costs with the rental income.
What are the terms of your 5-year ARM? What are the interest rate caps, annually and over the life of the loan?
What are your **total** monthly costs (PITI, HOA, MR, maintenance, etc.), and what is a very reasonable rent estimation for a house just like yours?
As other posters have mentioned, though, there are a lot of benefits to selling now, too. The selling assistance and tax-free gains are tempting, and we have no idea what prices in the $1MM+ range will be like in a few years. I think they’re as likely to go down as up. You’re far less likely to get “priced out” at those levels.
