Buying vs Renting Before Traveling Abroad For Young Couple!

[Walter Elder]

Hey Everyone! 

 I am 25 yrs old, work as a foreman for a custom home building company in Kansas City, and am about to get married. The general plan for us is to get married in May and then head overseas to travel/work abroad for a year in December. So, my question is this: would it be wise, if we could find the right deal, to buy a single-family, fixer-upper a few months before the wedding, fix it up, then live in it till December, at which time we'd hand it over to a property management company for the year we go abroad and collect a small income from the rent. When we returned to the States, we'd either move back into this house or buy another investment home for ourselves and re-sign the lease with the tenants.  

   One of the biggest reason this option is attractive is because we'd be paying less in a fixed-rate mortgage finance option then we would if we rented in the area we want to live (around $800/month vs $1300/month, respectively). Additionally, because we will only need a place of our own for 6 months, we would probably pay some sort of short-lease fees if we rented. 

  Please share any words of advice or caution! Much appreciated! 

Walt