[TheMetetron]

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I am actually in a very similar situation. I live in the Bay Area, and play poker for a living, and am trying to decide b/n staying in the Bay, moving to LA (near the beach) or moving to Vegas. I would buy a house though (and I think you should do same with your income, esp. if you move to Vegas). I posted a poll and thread in General a while back, but didn't get any real advice.

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Market sucks, see above, not interested in buying at the current moment.

Also, you should definitely move out of the Bay Area... LA is my preferred place to live, but it's so ridiculously expensive that I can't do it right now without wasting a ton of money on really high rent for a really crappy place.

It should be noted, that prior to this year, I made just about nothing. So my actual savings is only going to be about $25-50,000 after I pay my taxes this year. California 9.3% state income tax was not something I thought much about until recently, and didn't really save accordingly.

So a few years in a no state income tax state and low rent would a decent way to save up some good money to buy a home.