[mresort]

Can he really do a short sale? He is only 50K upside down. If the market doesn't drop further, he will likely move above water in 2 years.
If I were the OP, walking away is not an option. I still want to maintain my good credit score. I still want to use my credit cards. If I walk away, I will lose my original 20% downpayment and my nice house. I see a reasonable chance to recover in 5 years. I will wait one more year to see how things turn out. In the meantime, of course I will try to do a short sale (if i am able to) or rent it out to somebody else.

[danj55]

Or, there's plan C....

Rent this home out AND buy a second home in Las Vegas as rental property. Instead of denying reality, perhaps I should take advantage of the situation.

I think I will see how this home works out and if I can find an excellent property management company and then go from there.

Can somebody DM a property management company recommendation?

There are so many available, and many of them have public complaints you can find on the net. This is perhaps the #1 thing in this whole plan, finding an excellent, reliable property management company that can take care of everything. As a general principle, I only want to be involved in businesses that work almost automatically.