Over the years, my life circumstances have changed and I've moved to the Puget Sound area (about 1-1.5 hours from Seattle).   

If I move out of the area, I'll either sell or hire property management, depending on life circumstances at that point in time.Traditionally when buying a SFH the wisdom is to not buy unless you plan to own the house for 5-10 years due to selling costs and equity gain from paying the loan.

However, if you are a commissioned employee, you will need at least 1 year of history receiving commissions, and if you are self-employed, you will generally need at least 2 years to consider that income (though there can be exceptions where you don't need a full 2 years in certain circumstances).

So, yes I would anticipate, under current circumstances, the owner might want some assurances before locking the property up in a contract."

What would you do in this circumstance?

Do you try to rent to people who can't afford to buy, or who have circumstances that make it unlikely?

Try and figure the potential for rent increases, appreciation, pay down and necessary capex/maintenance. 3 years under the circumstances you describe might be great.

Some argue to stay for two years to avoid capital gains taxes if you sell within 5 years, but I plan on owning my properties long term and most primary residence mortgage programs only require you to stay at the property for one year before you can move out (unless you have a life changing circumstance like a job relocation in which case you may be able to move out even sooner).I fully agree with Scott’s plan above about increasing your savings rate and house hacking. 

Under normal circumstances, it’s not a bad thing, it’s just a factor that needs to be considered.

I even paid to have a site plan redeveloped and got it pre-app approved( I was going to partner with a developer to develop it multifamily/mixed use with great ROI) Circumstances changed my trajectory and I put it on the market about a month ago.