Neighborhood suggestions near public transport for house hacking

[Julie Chen]

I am interested in buying another primary residence to take advantage of Fannie Mae's 5% down for multi family homes so I can house hack. I am a single female and cannot drive since I grew up in NYC, so I'd like to get suggestions for safe neighborhoods near public transportation. (I tried taking the road test multiple times and it is a work in progress...)

I'd really appreciate it if you have any suggestions for neighborhoods in:

- New Jersey, Connecticut, Philadelphia, even upstate NY

- Seattle area 

- Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland area 

- Boston area 

My budget would probably be under 1.5 million depending on how much rental income I can get. 

For example: 

1 million, 3 bedroom home

P&I is $5,695 (5% downpayment, 6% interest) 

$3K rental income (assume I can rent out each of the 2 bedrooms left for 1.5K each)

which leaves me with paying 2,695 which I am comfortable with. 

[Savannah Yingling]

Hi Julie! Washington DC, Virginia & Maryland are all great areas for multi family. In DC there is Dupont/Logan Circle, Capitol Hill or areas near Georgetown/Adams Morgan. In Maryland, you have areas such as Silver Spring, Bethesda, Rockville, and Takoma Park. In Virginia, there is Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax. As someone else mentioned, the prices in these areas will vary but all of these cities constantly have people moving in and out.