Rent, Sell, or Stick? (Long Post)

[Brian Hourigan]

To start out, I want to openly admit that part of the decision I'm trying to make is based on emotion/QoL, but I just want to get the opinions of the BP community because you can tell me if I'm being crazy and making a huge mistake! Here's my situation:

Last year I decided "I'm sick of wasting money on rent, I'm going to buy a house so I'm not throwing away money anymore!" (this was before I discovered BP). So, I moved out of my downtown apartment, where I was paying $1,400/month in rent and bought a house about 20 minutes outside of town with 3.5% down using an FHA loan. It's in a good neighborhood/area outside of Nashville that I expect to grow quite a bit (speculation, I know but worth mentioning nonetheless).

I've been in the house for a little over the year now, but I find myself REALLY missing living downtown for quite a few reasons (convenience, saved time, yardwork, etc etc), so I'm trying to see if it can make financial sense at all for me to make it happen or if I just need to suck it up and stick where I am for a while.

I ran some numbers, and here's where I landed (Please let me know if I'm missing something):

House Expenses:
Mortgage/Interest/PMI/Insurance/Taxes = $1,370/mo
Maintenance (Assuming 1% per year) = $181/mo

If I were to rent it out, presumably the tenants would pay the utilities, which come to an average of about $187/mo (heat, water, electric)

I expect I could get $1,600-1,700/mo in rent.

Obviously if we were talking about a pure rental investment, the numbers don't really add up, but since I already own it, I'm trying to determine if it makes sense so that I can move pack to the place I want to live. Another factor (which I include in my summary tables below) is that I would eliminate my commute (20 miles each day, which I estimate comes to about $71.25 per month).

I don't think selling would make sense at this point, since the 6% real estate fees would take away ALL of the equity I've built on the house.

Now, if I look at it strictly from a financial perspective, it probably makes the most sense to stay in the house, but I find myself wanting to pull the trigger anyway. Tell me if I'm being an idiot! Here is my breakdown for each scenario.

Stay in House
Mortgage/PMI/Insurance/Taxes	$1,370.46
Maintenance	$181.25
Utilities	$187.42
Commute	$71.25
Rent (from my roommate)	-$700.00
Net Cost Per Month	$1,110.38

Rent House	Assuming I get a 2 BR Apt
Mortgage/PMI/Insurance/Taxes	$1,370.46
Maintenance	$181.25
Commute	$0.00
Landlord Insurance	$27.25
House Rent	-$1,700.00
House Net	-$121.04
Apt. Utilities	$30.00
Apt. Rent (split with roommate)	$1,100.00
Net Cost per Month	$1,008.96

Rent House	Assuming I get a 1 BR Apt
Mortgage/PMI/Insurance/Taxes	$1,370.46
Maintenance	$181.25
Commute	$0.00
Landlord Insurance	$27.25
House Rent	-$1,700.00
House Net	-$121.04
Apt. Utilities	$47.00
Apt. Rent	$1,500.00
Net Cost Per Month	$1,425.96

I'm a crazy over-analyzer but I'm really struggling with this one. What do you guys think? And thanks again for taking the time to read this long post!

[Brian Hourigan]

Originally posted by @Luka Milicevic:

Don't get a 1 bed room. Can't rent out another room and will be harder to sell. 

 Thanks or the response Luka! I won't be able to sell regardless as I'm looking to rent for now. But yes, I'm almost certainly looking for a 2 bedroom, just because having a roommate drastically cuts down on costs. The main debate I'm having is if I should do it at all or just deal with my current living situation since it may be risky to rent out my house given the numbers I outlined above.