The advantage is that you can indeed be free of the property in a hurry. That's OK if it's what you need, as long as you understand the situation. I would certainly run any contract by my own lawyer, though, before signing anything.
If you have the leisure to test the market in the ordinary way, your home is worth more to someone who's going to live in it.
HOME SELLERS TAX BREAK
Edith: I have a question about selling my primary residence, which has been rented for the past two years. I know that a married couple can claim up to $500,000 tax-free money on the sale of their primary residence, but I need to know if the rule has changed about how long you must have lived in it over the past five years. We bought our home back in 1997 and lived there until May 2007. Then we rented it out. When do I need to sell it to take advantage of this tax shelter? -- J. N.
Answer: The rule you're asking about hasn't changed for sellers in your situation. You'd qualify for the tax break if you sold before May 2010, because you would have owned and occupied the place as your primary residence for at least two of the five years before the sale.
You'd want professional help with your tax return, though, because there'd probably be a complicated bit of tax ("recaptured depreciation") due to the rental period.
You may be confused because there has been one recent change in the rule: if property was originally rented out and then changed to a principal residence, the opposite of your situation. For that one, at least five years' ownership is required to qualify.