As we are chronically optimistic we thought it would be great to use this opportunity and start from scratch somewhere else so...Florida it is!  

Hey Larry,I agree with @Will Barnard - it's a personal decision but house hacking has an extremely high ROI.

They’ll be able to help you in making a well-informed and well-calculated decision.

(Am I making the right decision here?

Hello Jacob,The most important decision you will make is the location, not the property.

We are old enough to do that without penalties, but that may have some unwanted tax implications due to our current W-2 income.What's going to be the best way to analyze our options and make a decision, and if it IS to get a HELOC, are there any recommendations?

Do all decisions need to be finalized before construction begins?

Since they are reliable in terms of their rent, you may want to let them the know the reason for your decision and give them the option that you might be willing to extend the lease based on the new terms which would include the deposit, pet, etc.

We want to make the best decision, because we're likely to stay for a long time with the company we choose since it's a lot of work to switch. 

Tough decision but at the end of the day you're selling an asset to buy another asset.