Because they aren't traditional tenants in the sense with a 1 year lease and to determine fit for the house, I like to start everyone on 2-4 month leases and see how they perform.

Hope that makes sense and explains the why behind it.

I am afraid we will fall for a property with a false sense of a good deal.Are there any suggestions to help me run an analysis that would better account for the larger down payment and allow me to better analyze potential properties in the future.

Hello, if you must live in San Jose, I'd say renting makes more sense, especially a 2.5M house for 5K a month.

@Jason Tucker  you need to add in your utilities, common area cleaning, and turnover costs to determine if it makes sense. 

As it stands, the post makes no sense to me.

Makes complete sense - it is a hassle!

And that will be hard in short amount of time.Hope that makes more sense...but certainly feel free to just call me if you want to talk anything through.  

If I were you, I’d consider chatting with a property management firm active in that area...SlateHouse Group’s name comes up in local investor circles now and then...just to get a sense of what rents are really doing on the ground.

I hope I make sense haha