Maybe.

Regardless, it would need to be cleaned up / fixed up before it could be rented, just as much as if I'm going to sell it. So the sell vs rent distinction doesn't make any difference to what I need to do with the house right now.

When I get to the point of picking out a seller's agent, I will see what they think about what they could rent it for. I do agree that real estate that can be rented out is a good investment, and transaction costs of buying and selling are something to be avoided. As a rental property, though, I feel it's not great. There's a lot of work involved in keeping the place up. There's less demand than in the city. I think people will pay more to get a lot of room when they are buying than when they are renting. As long as they are renting, they tend to be more frugal and so they are willing to cram themselves into a smaller space, but when they are buying, they want to buy all the room they might ever need, and look at the correspondingly higher mortgage payment as an "investment". (The house has some absurdly large rooms, and many of them. Plus absurdly large garage + studio space, and a reasonably large yard.)

I will keep an open mind about the possibility, though.