Good idea to convert primary residence with $250k gains to rental

[Jonathan Gray]

Hello everyone! This is my first post. 

I have been looking into the tax implications of converting my primary residence to a rental and have only grown more confused as my particular situation doesn't seem to be described much on the internet. 

I paid $230k for my place in 2011 and it's now worth $480k. I'm single, so I have earned the maximum $250k I can tax free on this property as a primary residence. I'm looking at buying a house and converting this property in to a rental. However, from what I understand if I do that, it seems I'll lose my capital gains exemption if I don't sell it within 3 years? Excluding land my basis will be only $150k, so to me it seems deciding to keep it as a rental will trigger a huge tax bill when I eventually sell it. Should I just sell this property and look for other investment opportunities, or am I missing something?