Newbie from Silver Spring, MD

[Jasper Saberi]

Hello, my name is Jasper Saberi and my wife and I live in the Silver Spring, MD, area.  We both served in the Army (actually, that's where we met) and I'm currently a reservist and work as a patent examiner at the USPTO.  We've owned our home for about 8 years and have a young son named Solomon.  We've recently become interested in investing in real estate with the goal of finding financial freedom within 5 years.  I've been avidly listening to the BP podcast as well as reading many of the recommended books over the past few months.  Our strategy is buy and hold and we've just begun looking for small multifamily units within 30 to 45 min of our home in Silver Spring, MD.  Our short term goal is to buy our first property by the end of this year (if the numbers work out of course!).  Any tips/suggestions/advice on niches and strategies in the area are most welcome (e.g. landlord friendly local laws, low property taxes, good school districts, etc.)!