Student Buy for 3 years then rent it out

[Vimig Socrates]

Hi, I'm new to the community and am really glad I've found it! There's been some great articles and I've used the Rental Property Calculator a couple of times.

I'm a grad student in the New Haven area and I'd be a first time buyer/eventual investor. I know I'd like to buy instead of rent donation, but given the crazy high prices and bidding wars because of COVID, don't know if it's a good idea.

The plan would be to put a 20% down on a 1 Br condo (~180K) for 3 years and then leave the area and rent it out to other grad students. Other numbers: comparable rent (~1000 per month), total monthly cost of condo (~1250 per month), I make around $3083 per month pre-tax.

I tried the NYT Buy-vs-Rent but it doesn't include keeping the property after I buy. How does that change the math? What else should I keep in mind? Is buying in a seller's market a bad idea? How will I know what the max amount I should offer is? Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!