Do I sell or rent it out?

[David Reeves]

I need some advice. I currently own a home where the value of it has gone up due to the housing market. Redfin estimates about 60,000$. That does not include things I have had done to fix the house up. With that being said I am in the military and over 800 miles away from the market I am wanting to get into once I get out. The plan was to sell the house in a year and a half and take all profits for a down payment on my first rental property. My concern is that the housing market may crash before the end of next year. If so, then my house will not provide the return I am looking for it to so that I can invest in my first rental property. I then am left with only one smart option. That is to then rent it out. I am just south of Washington, DC. The rent in this area is very high and with my current mortgage payment I could be looking at a profit from monthly rental payments. The problem I have with renting it out after I leave is that in doing so I am leaving this loan open. I do the long distance rental on the current property I am staying in and manage it from back home and then open another loan for my very first short term rental in the market I am looking at close to home. Now I would have 2 open loans and not a home for me or my family to stay in. 

I have thought about doing a re-finance of my loan with the current equity built up due to current housing market. Taking that money from the re-finance and holding onto it to confirm that I will have money for a down payment in a year and half. BUT the issue with that, is that if the housing market does crash after I do the re-finance then I will most likely be in the hole in my home now so I would not be able to sell it. The only option left would be to rent it but then with the mortgage payment going up I am now looking at no profit and maybe even in the hole on monthly rental payments. 

I hope I explained this well enough. I understand that I am ignorant in some aspects but that is what is so great about BP. I have a huge community willing to give advice and teach me ways to go about certain things. I am not the smartest one in the room. And because I am not I will always be learning. If you are not learning then you are not growing. If you read all the way through this, thank you for your time. It really means a ton.