House Hack in C class neighborhoods

[Marcel Pean]

Hello BP community,

I would like to start investing in real estate but I live in Washington DC which is an expensive market. I found a 4 bed, 2.5 bath house in SE that I could house hack. I would live in the basement and rent out the other bedrooms to cover the mortgage. 

My concern is not being able to find quality tenants that can afford the rents I’m looking for to be able to live for free. The area isn’t the hottest part of town either. But the property is recently renovated and at $375k is it worth the investment? 

The goal is to produce income to be able to scale to multi family properties. 

Any feedback and advice on the topic and area is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.