What would you do in my shoes?!

[Ryan Tam]

Hello BP community!

2nd post (yay). Have been browsing content on here and loving the community camaraderie so far.

Wanted to share my situation and see what you guys think.

I have 2 properties: 1) primary residence; 2) rental property (former primary residence). Both properties are situated in the Greater Vancouver Area (Canada).

The market in Vancouver has been on fire, as a result, I have decent equity in both properties (over 50% on both). I want to sell my primary residence for climate reasons (no need for debate on this pt pls) as it sits in a low-lying area. My predicament is that I just became self-employed and don't have 2 yrs of income for a traditional mtg. Therefore, my options are:

a) sell my primary and move back to my rental

b) sell my primary and rent

c) sell my primary and rental and buy another home cash (not optimal)

c) don't sell and hold until I have enough provable income for a conventional mtg.

Hold on there's another kicker. My rental property is a decently sized lot that could be re-developed with a new home or potentially sub-divided (if I can convince the city to amend the "official community plan". 

I'm leaning towards option "a)" as that would be the most beneficial for capital gains purposes, but sub-optimal for living standards (older house, needs updating).

On-top of all this, I would like the leverage the equity in the homes to invest in some properties in the US.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!