Will my primary residence make a good rental property?

[Amanda Penna]

Hi everyone: I'm a brand-newbie with a lot of things on my brain, but I might as well begin by asking about the primary reason I stumbled onto Bigger Pockets. Recently, I've been trying to understand if my primary residence (4 BR townhouse in a very desirable neighborhood) would make a good rental property. I had always wanted to get into rentals, and seeing as my family may be moving on to a SFR later this year anyways, I thought it sounded like a "good idea". But as we, and I now know, there has to be a whole lot more to the situation than it just being a "good idea". I'm trying to find a more mathematical way to predict if this would be a good investment, if you could even call this strategy an investment? We've owned the place for several years and already have equity in it that would have been spent regardless of whether or not we choose to rent it out. Has anyone come up with a good way to analyze your own home? 

To give you a few more details, the townhouse is well maintained, relatively new (2007) and in an attractive rental market. Great schools and proximity to local businesses, shops, etc. I don't predict it would cash-flow very high though, if much at all, and refinancing doesn't seem like an option there because the interest rate on our mortgage is already quite low and close to today's current rates. 

It seems to me like this might be a great first step in getting familiar with renting and landlord life. However, I do want to make an informed decision. I'm OK with breaking even and having someone else pay down our loan. I'm not OK with losing money. Has anyone been in a similar situation?

Thanks for your input!