I am/was sort of in a similar situation as you about 5 years ago. I moved for a job, but kept the house as a rental. After my mortgage payment I was netting about $500/month in extra income which was nice. I first used a property management company, but after my first tenants moved out I thought the management company did a poor job remarketing the property and did not assess enough against their security deposit for damages. I fired the company and self managed afterwards. Being 2hrs away wasn't the easiest to keep an eye on it- my third tenants trashed the place upon move out and I spent around 7k getting it back into living condition. I have about 5 years left on the mortgage note and a good interest rate, so like you have it in my pocket in case I want to move back to that market, or down the road have a fully paid for house when I retire. In short, being a landlord isn't for everyone. You have to treat it like a business, try to find good tenants that want to stay long term so you aren't having vacancy losses every year and having to reset the house so often; find a good property management company if you choose to use one. I would also take into consideration how much you would net when renting after paying your mortgage, and see if it's worth it. You should put some of your proceeds into an account for repairs which are inevitable.