One question that that wasn't clear...is all of your stuff (furniture, etc.) staying in the house? I'm assuming you're planning to return after your trip?
I know opinions vary, but I wouldn't rent out my house to a total stranger if I wasn't going to be around, and that becomes a "double no" if all my stuff was staying in the home. That just seems gross, for lack of a better word, to have a stranger sleeping in your bed, etc. How do you know they wouldn't steal stuff or just trash your stuff?
And to address the net worth issue Liberty Stache brought up, how much is your house worth, and how much equity do you have? I ask because while yes, lost rent of $25K is 5% of your net worth, I'm guessing your house equity is more than 5% of your net worth, and thus the prospect of an undesirable tenant trashing your house while you're gone is a lot more disruptive to your net worth than is missing out on rents.
My wife works in property management. She sees what people do to rentals. And that's WITH a property manager on site. I can't fathom what they would do in a long-distance landlord situation.