Sell or Rent???

Hey ya'll!
Ben and I are busy putting finishing touches on our holiday celebrations. (Mostly just finishing up the wrapping!!) In amongst that, we just went and got new front tires on the suburban today (OUCH!!! Man I miss our mustang.), are going to a dinner tonight for our friend, Claire's, birthday, and we are doing a little research on our housing situation. We were wondering if anyone has rented out their home and/or had rental properties. We are trying to decide if we want to sell the house here in NC when we move to our new duty station next year and take the gamble on house prices when we come back here OR take another type of gamble & rent the house out while we are gone with all that entails. Any input that ya'll have would be much appreciated :-)
Another little aside.....we will be free to visit with friends during the day of the 21st, the day & night of the 22nd, and the day of the 26th for our PA buddies. Shoot us an email and let us know if we can see you!!