Military move (personal home turned into rental property)

[Ed Florack]

I'm moving to Valdosta, Ga in mid to late September and am looking to purchase my first property. My assignment lasts approximately three years. The goal is to purchase a single family home for my family, and then turn it into a rental property after I leave. My problem is trying to figure out how to analyze the deal vs. renting knowing that I will live in it for three years and then turn it into a rental or try to sell. Do I project my cash flow based on equity, loan pay down, etc based on the property status in the future (3 years out?)? I'm also having some trouble determining market value for the home because the neighbourhood is relatively new and their don't appear to be any homes rented out currently in the development. Zillow is estimating it at 1200 and the overall average for the city proper is less than that. The home is a newer 4 bed 2 bath at 1911 sqft, built in 2013, and is currently being offered at 184,000 w/ 3.5% mortgage and 10% down on a VA loan. My realtor said I might be able to walk it down to 179,000, but that's it. This is comparable to most of the homes in the neighborhood, on the low end, but not substantially lower than normal. I used dealcheck, and am not showing a positive ROI until about year seven with no positive cash on cash return until year 21. Is there a way to account for the 3 years of home ownership? Should this affect my numbers at all or no?