Renting a Townhouse in Central NJ

[Zachary Graham Jackson]

So I'm looking to buy a townhouse in central nj to live there for 8-10 years, then eventually rent it out. To be completely honest, I know nothing about real estate so I'm trying to figure out everything now. The townhouses I'm looking at are around 250k and I plan to take a 15 year mortgage. I ran the numbers to the best of my ability and it seems like it doesn't make sense to rent unless the mortgage is completely paid off. 

Month Income: 1900

Expenses:
Mortgage + Interest: 1316
Property Tax: 556
HOA Fee: 215
Home Insurance: 54 (got number from realtor.com)
Vacancy: 190 (10% of rent)
Repairs: 95 (5% of rent)

Monthly Net: -521
Monthly Net w/o mortgage: 790

If I live in the house for 10 years I'll only have 5 years left of mortgage and interest, but I'll be taking a huge loss even if I rent it out. I really want to buy something and I like the idea of using the townhouse as passive income once the mortgage is paid. Any ideas of what I should do here?