Neighborhoods and Areas in the DMV for multifamily

[Gerrard Allam]

Hello BiggerPockets Community, 

My wife and I are looking to purchase our first home within the next year or so.  I was wondering if anyone had any advice as to which areas in the DMV would be good to focus our search on. Ideally we would be looking for a 2 or 3 unit multifamily. Having only lived in Washington DC for 1 year it has been hard to get a feel for the area, so any advice helps. 

Thanks

[Russell Brazil]

Quote from @Gerrard Allam:

Hello BiggerPockets Community, 

My wife and I are looking to purchase our first home within the next year or so.  I was wondering if anyone had any advice as to which areas in the DMV would be good to focus our search on. Ideally we would be looking for a 2 or 3 unit multifamily. Having only lived in Washington DC for 1 year it has been hard to get a feel for the area, so any advice helps. 

Thanks

 Most multifamily properties are located in DC proper, and are typically within a few select neighborhoods...Kingman Park, Capitol Hill, Ivy City, Petworth, Shaw, Bloomingdale, Deanwood, and Anacostia. A few can be found here and there outside those neighborhoods. In Virginia you have a few in Alexandria and Arlington and virtually no where else. In Maryland you have a few in Takoma Park and virtually nowhere else. 

Only about 200 multifamily properties sell on average per year in the entire metro area. Additionally, many of them get improperly listed as single families due to the inexperience of many agents in the multifamily sector.