New here in DC Metro area

[Ryan Gandy]

My name is Ryan & I live in Rockville, MD just outside of DC. I am a professional economic developer in the City of Rockville, so I have decent knowledge of the commercial real estate industry due to my interactions with brokers and landlords. I'm just getting started in real estate investing after listening to the Bigger Pockets podcast and reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad. These two resources have really taught me more about finances and investing than I have ever been exposed to and changed my mindset about retirement. Additionally, my fiancee is a new real estate agent here in Maryland after almost 15 years in the corporate world. She has owned 3 homes and renovated 2 of them, so she has experience in rehabbing and renovating properties. However, we both are new and would welcome any advice from the community in identifying areas in which to invest and any input you may have for those getting started. Any property we purchase would be my first home purchase ever, so there is some apprehension from me about buying the right property to either BRRRR, flip, or hold onto, but I continuously hear people say on the podcast that you just have to get started, so that's what I plan to do in the next 3 months. I am looking forward to connecting with other members across the world, and would love to hear from any local investors that have been doing it in the DC Metro area. Thanks and I hope to hear from you!

[Michael Belmore]

@Ryan Gandy

Hi Ryan, Congrats on joining bigger pockets !

I used to work as an agent in Arlington VA and lived in DC.

I was seeing a lot of investing in the Brentwood/Brookland/Trinidad/Anacostia  (More NE) parts of DC. 

Keep an eye on Virginia. Has a lot of expansion happening (not just Amazon HQ2). Theres a huge tech community emerging in the Dulles area. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/06/22/feature/forget-silicon-valley-the-dulles-tech-corridor-is-cultivating-companies-that-break-the-mold/

With DC and Northern Virginia booming I see some serious upside in towns in Fairfax county(VA), Prince Williams County(VA) and like what Russel said western towns in Prince Georges county Maryland. Schools are decent,crime is low, in Virginia landlord tenant laws are more favorable towards landlords, metro expansion seems to be heading more south of the city, and cost per sqft is significantly lower (in general) than Arlington and DC.

Good luck

- Mike