Primary to Rental- Pros and Cons?

[Ab John]

Hello everybody,

I am totally new to RE world and I am glad I found BP. I have searched the forums for an answer because I don't want to be the one newbie that asks questions which has been answered 100s of times here. I saw similar posts that explains taxes and stuff, but not anything specific to my situation.

Here is my situation that I would like to get yalls thoughts:

- The home we currently live in was bought in 2016 Oct

- We are planning to move this year or next year and would like to keep the current home as rental (was looking to refinance this current home in case we end up keeping this as rental)

- There are two houses near by that rented out at close to $2k/ month

- Would it be better to sell this house, get the equity built in to put down on the next primary house and a separate property for rental?

What are the things I need to be thinking about before making a decision? Thank you to whoever is going to reply. Your thoughts are helping a total newbie with no mentor. 

Have a great day!!