Hello! New to the community here :) 

6 years ago I bought my primary home at Pflugerville, it was a 1700 sqft new built home in a pocket neighborhood in the north west part of Pflugerville. 

Due to some personal decisions I bought a new home in round rock at the begining of 2020 about 7 miles further north of my current place and I'm moving there in a couple of months.

I was initially planning on selling my Pville home right after the move but now I'm thinking I may keep it for a few years, perhaps for another 5 years or so while the original builder warranty is still active, and keep it as a rental. I read a lot and I'm very interested in this real estate business now. 

The purchase price was 215k in 2015. I had put 20% down back then and my current mortgage is about $1300 which includes taxes and insurance. I've tried zillow and rentometer and it seems the house may rent for around $1700 so while the cash flow will not be something to brag about it may be a good idea for cashing out on appreciation a few years from now?

My current interest rate is 3.75 for a 30 year fixed. Is it a good idea to refinance to lower the monthly payments even if it's just something like $100 less? Can one do a refi while the house is rented?

Also I was wondering what tenants does Pflugerville attract? It's close to the Domain and somewhat close to Austin, my home is within walking distance of Dell round rock campus, but I don't see many tech workers living around here. 

Finally the house is in great condition and with a huge private backyard (no neighbors in the back) I don't know if that makes any difference.

Thanks for any insight!!

If you can afford the two mortgages, should your tenant not pay, I'll say keep it. Appreciation is good in Austin now, and I don't see it slowing down any time soon. Also, be prepared to be cashflow negative if a major expense happens.

@Jorge Avitia I'd keep it. I think you can push the rent a bit on that or you could rent by the room to really max it out.

I would keep it, mainly for the learning experience of being a landlord. 

I would not bother refinancing, especially if you only plan to hold it for 5 years. 3.75% is excellent. 

If you are looking to get experience in this business you can take pictures and list the rental yourself using Zillow Rental Manager. You can accept applications on there as well. You can of course use an agent to lease it, or hire a management company to lease it and manage it if you prefer. 

I'm not an agent and I self manage a few similar properties and find it pretty straightforward. I also use property management for other locations and a Class C property.  

Don't forget to update your insurance policy and ensure it has good liability coverage. 

You have two different opportunities.  One is to cash in on a hot sellers market and all your gains are tax free.  Nothing wrong with that.  The other is to take on a bit of risk and rent out your house and have a tenant pay down your loan while housing prices continue to rise...the downside being your house gets older and more worn down with tenants and the risk is vacancy or eviction, excess damage, etc.  And hassle.  But the area is tops in the nation for job growth and Pflugerville is a good location.  However times are weird with covid and you'd need to be extra vigilant screening tenants.  Also, I would be content with your interest rate as refinancing as an investment property would probably be higher anyway.  

+1 to what everyone says. ~400 CF sounds amazing in this current Austin atmosphere.

I’m not an accountant; talk to one to confirm... 

To qualify for your IRC Sec 121 capital gain tax exclusion on the sale of your personal residence you have to live in the house for 2 years out of the last 5. Which means you have to sell within next 3 years after moving out of the house to avoid paying cap gain taxes. This seem to fall well into your plans while allowing you to pick up 3 extra years of appreciation without paying taxes on the gain when you sell.