Buying vs. renting for a 2-3 year job

[Chris Scully]

I am just out of college and very interested in having the financial independence of landlording some day. I currently work in northern Virginia (DC metro area) and make $68k at my job. I like my job but have no idea if its my longterm job, but 2-3 years there at the minimum definitely seems likely. My job is the only thing keeping me in VA, and I am very interested in someday living elsewhere.

My roommate and I currently pay around $2600 combined for rent, so I'm looking into the potential of house hacking. I'm not sure what his long term plan is, but I'm confident I could convince him to move with me for 1-2 years at least. My goal would be to find somewhere that I could essentially live in for free, so a monthly mortgage of $900-$1k would be ideal. 

I'm curious what the community think about me potentially buying a home knowing that I may sell it in a few years. Most "houses" in my area in my price range are actually condos, and I was also wondering what you all thought of a condo vs. a house.

[Brian Schmelzlen]

I don't like the idea of buying a home if you are going to sell it in a few years (unless you rehab it to force appreciation into the property) because you have to assume that selling costs can be as high as 10% of the selling price.  If you are just banking on market appreciation, you might lose a lot of money on the sale.

If you would consider keeping the house as a rental once you move out, I would be more in favor of it.