[Calc Review] Help me analyze this deal

[Maki Bick]

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*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

WE NEED YOUR ADVICE!! 
Hi, me and my husband purchased our first home in April 2020 (Bought it for $312,000). Fortunately, we bought it at the right time and the house appreciated in value by almost 160K in just 2 years. Due to my husband's job (US navy) we are moving to North Carolina in the summer and planning on coming back here in 3-6years. The house is in a city called Mount Juliet (Suberb of Nashville Tn 20min from downtown). A great school district, low crime rate, and family-friendly area. Since Nashville is a fast-growing city and a lot of population coming in, we believe the house is in the desirable market. But If we were to rent out the house, it will cost us around 5-7K to make it to a move-in ready condition (Repair the master shower, Paint, cleaning, etc). And looking at the analysis, we won't have any cash flow for a while. (Our mortgage amount was not right on the calculator. Our monthly mortgage is $1640). Therefore, we are having trouble making up our minds if renting out the house or selling it and using the profit toward our first Brrrr project is a better way to go. 

Becoming a real estate investor has been our dream for a while now and we thought this could be a great opportunity to start our dream journey. If you think we should rent it out, we would love to hear any tips and advice on how to maximize our rent. Looking forward to hearing from you guys! thank you so much in advance.

[Reid Chauvin]

Hi @Maki Bick - if this was me, I would be holding on to this property and renting it out. Especially given the fact that you are planning to return to the area in a few years. I'd have to have a no brainer slam dunk of a deal on the other end to want to sell the home and use the proceeds. All signs point to middle TN continuing to appreciate and rents continuing to rise, so with the right property management company I would imagine you could at least break-even renting it out. 

As far as tips/advice, I would put an emphasis on vetting property management companies since you will be out of state. Maybe you can get them to come out to the house and tell you what they think you need to repair in order to maximize rental value?