Things to consider prior to renting out primary home

[Jeff Cliff]

Hello,

I am thinking of renting out my primary home in in California, in which I have been living for more than 10 years and move to second home (also in California) for a year or possibly even longer.

However, I want to understand what all I should consider before making this move - tax(capital gains, property and any other), insurance, liabilities, anything else?

I understand that if I have lived at least two out of last 5 years in the property then it could still be considered as my primary at the time of sale; however, if I end up staying in the secondary for over five years and then move back to my current primary, can I still stay just two more years after that and sell it as primary if I need to?

Thanks in advance for your response.