Building SFH, to sell or rent?

[Jon Pope]

I was gifted a buildable 1 acre lot in Oregon surrounded by farmland. There are 3 cities within 10-20 minute driving distance with populations of 25K to 50K each. I have approximately $200,000 to develop and build a home (can finance the remainder).

The downside is that this is not the site of our dream home. It is a flat lot and not in an ideal location for our job commutes. So the question I've been struggling with is should we build a super basic rental home (builder grade or less) or build a home with features to make it sell easily? Once the construction was complete, we would want to either sell or refinance and take the cash on to build a dream home elsewhere.

Comparable sales prices would be in the $450K to $550K range. There aren't many comparable rental properties in this rural area, however, 3 and 4 bedroom SFH rentals are going for $2000 to $2500 /month in the nearby cities. These cities have multiple industries and a State University, so I don't think it would be a problem finding long term tenants.