Airbnb until I graduate and move in?

[Reese Alley]

I am planning to buy my first rental next year and obviously want the best deal possible. I have heard, read, and been told that the very best time to buy in during the winter. I would be living in this first residence. The people that would be renting would be my friends that are going to college but we graduate in the spring so that would be the first opportunity they would have to move in and start paying rent. So, to still buy in that winter time frame and fill in the empty renting space in between, would it work to just airbnb that time period? Would I get renters write off the bat? Even if I didn't have renters for a long period of time, I could easily afford the loan but would much rather someone else pay for it! Opinions?