Shoul I sell?

[Gen Acc]

Hello - I am not a citizen of this country. I bought a property in 2007 at $333,500 putting down 10% and taking an 80-10 first and second mortgage. I am seriously contemplating getting rid of it now since I am on a work visa and I am finding it a bit difficult to stay here. For example, I recently got married and my wife is still in my country awaiting for her visa. They put me through 4.5 months of waiting outside the country while I had gone for my wedding before letting me in. So, I don't know if I want to continue to stay here. I will know in a couple of months. In between, i thought of selling my property so that I can make a clean exit. Given my visa situation above, I approached an attorney to see if I could go for a short sale. Given that I make over a 6 figure income, she says I cannot go for short sale. I told her that the next option would be to foreclose if I left the United States. Would the bank prefer that and she is not answering that question. However, I tried to evaluate my loss. So, I contacted a realtor. Per his estimate, the house can sell at $285,000. Taking away 6% in Realtor commission + transfer fees etc., I will net 267900. My loan balance is $286000 which means I would need to bring $18000 to the closing table. My questions are as follows.

1. Should I rent out the property for the next few years assuming market will pick up? Point to note is my rent will not fully cover mortgage. If I rent, I will move to smaller apartment and make the lesser cost cover the difference. Atleast I wouldn't have to come up with $18000. However, there is a dangerous assumption that property prices will come up. Is this realistic?

2. Is there any way to negotiate a short sale with the bank given what the attorney has told above?

3. Are there any other options to make a clean exit? In the worst case, if I have to leave the country and none of the above options work, I will just have to foreclose with the satisfaction that I tried my best.

4. Or should I just sell and swallow my loss?

Kindly advise.