I’m debating between the two right now for my first property.

That means few expect cap rates to be lower when selling in the future and are debating how much cash flow will evaporate at resale due to higher cap rates.Personally, last two deals under contract, bank wanted 50 and 55% downpayments due to purchase price overvaluations, and owners don't care, just waiting for "California money"

Hello Joel,Like yourself, I debated about taking the leap from corporate america for several years and last year I finally did it.  

I recently accepted a job in the Katy/ Houston area that starts next month and am debating if I should sell or rent my house in Austin. 

Monthly Current System (no PM) Current System (incl PM) Gross Income (what we think it's worth using last 7 mos of comps) 1,400.00 1,400.00 Principal & Interest (we refi'd in 2012 when put into service at 4.5% interest) 578.10 578.10 Property Taxes (we debate these every year) 367.76 367.76 Property Insurance 38.35 38.35 Mortgage Total 984.21 984.21 Mortgage Total Less P&I 406.11 406.11 HOA (2018 was 111.30) 9.28 9.28 Grounds 70.42 70.42 Repairs (historically averages to 146.67/mo) 146.67 146.67 Vacancy (4%, even if actual is 0%) 56.00 56.00 Property Mgmt (0%, 10%) 0.00 140.00 Misc Expenses Total Less Vacancy and PM 226.37 226.37 Misc Expenses Total 282.37 422.37 Expenses Total, Monthly Less Vacancy and PM 1,210.58 1,210.58 Expenses Total, Monthly 1,266.58 1,406.58 Cash Flow, Monthly 133.42 -6.58 Cash Flow, Annual 1,601.04 -78.96 Cash Flow, Monthly (Less Vacancy and Property Management) 189.42 189.42 Cash Flow, Annual (Less Vacancy and Property Management) 2,273.04 2,273.04 Monthly Expenses Total Less P&I 688.48 828.48 Net Operating Income (NOI), Monthly (Net Monthly Income Less P&I) 711.52 571.52 Net Operating Income (NOI), Annual (Net Annual Income Less P&I) 8,538.24 6,858.24

I am debating about purchasing before then, but feel that it would be a better decision to wait until after I return from the deployment as I will be able to have saved a decent amount of cash.

I know we have debated back and forth on this and AirBnB is not a great fit for your market, but the amount of AirBnB users is 6 times more then HA. 

Also, let's not change this thread into a political debate on the morality of the tax foreclosures in Detroit.

I was debating on renting it out at the time, but opted to sell because I was scared of having less than $15K in my savings after upgrading to a much larger and more expensive SFH.

They seem to be a different thing than EMDs, and there seems to be debate about them.one example:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/93/topics/154...