shouldi sell it or sublet?

[nycapt]

Age: 43
Single income family, single parent, one toddler
Current income $176,000
Got a new job, expected income $235,000

Planning to move close to job and rent there for one year and see if I like it there. I can try commuting there from my current place if I don't like living there. Or if I don't like the job, I can try coming back here.

I am trying to decide if I should sell or sublet my apt.

1) If I sublet it, it will still take a long time to rent it as it is a coop and board needs to approve it. Besides, I will need to give the tenant an option of renewing for another year. So, I may not be able to come back to my home after a year.
2) It will be nice to have a bigger apt in the future. So I will have to sell this apartment anyway, but probably not right now because of the low market
3) I am not sure if I sublet it for two years, if the price of the apt is going to go up to cove for all the deficit (probably not, but trying to be optimistic)


Sublet:
I bought the coop apt for $420,000 five years ago.
The mortgage payment is $1650/month
The maintenance fee is $600/month=
The cost of the apartment to me $2250/month
Probable rent for this apartment is $1800-1900 right now
So, there is already a deficit of $350-450/month
The maintenance will go up 75% ($1050) if I sublet the apartment
The cost of the apt to me will be $2700
The deficit will be $800-900


Sell:
Bought in 2005 for $420,000
Paid $84,000 in 20% downpayment
I can sell the apt now for $400,000 if I am lucky and probably lower than that
If I sell it for $400,000, the cost of selling to me will be around $48,000 (5% broker fee, 5% flip tax, 2% lawyer fees)
I owe $303,000 in mortgage
So, I will get back around $50,000 optimistically speaking
The deficit is $34,000 (maybe more)


What would you do? Sell it or sublet it?

I am so puzzled. Please help!

[swanson719]

If you're dead set on moving, mathematically it makes more sense to sublet. You would be out around $22,000 over the entirety of two years, which if you sold at the end of that time, you should see enough appreciation to make up the difference. I wouldn't move in the first place, because when you throw in moving costs in the new area, you're talking about upwards of $25,000 over two years. That's small potatoes to your budget, but still an outrageous amount of money.

[nycapt]

I thought about staying, but commute will eat away 1.5-2 hrs everyday from the time I can otherwise spend with my child. The company is paying for the moving cost up there.