You will also need to pay insurance, any HOA you may have, and the maintenance costs to which you alluded.
Do you plan to move back to the same area and the same house after the two years? Are you fairly confident that will actually happen?
DH and I faced a very similar situation. At the time we moved overseas, our house was down about $125k from when we purchased it. Thankfully, due to down payment, we were not underwater. But we thought there was a good chance we'd return to that area and that house. We couldn't rent for a profit (after all costs, but before taxes), but we decided it was worthwhile. Yes, it was based largely on timing the market, but we felt pretty confident the market would start to recover and we were afraid of being priced out of the market, returning to buy less house for more money. So we decided to rent, with a management company. Our numbers were more attractive than yours, however. And, (though I know that trying to time markets is always bad practice), we felt fairly confident that the market had to be near the bottom.
I can tell you it has worked out for us. Our 2.5 year stint overseas became 4.5-5.5. We are currently at the nearly 3 year mark and our house is back up ~ $75-100k and due to a refi, we are no longer losing any money on the rental. We've realized that home is not the best fit for us going forward so we will likely sell no matter where we end up, but with the hindsight, we made the right decision.
Is $1300 the max your friend is willing to pay?