Advice on living in hood

[Daniel Maciag]

I am thinking about buying a 3 Unit MF house within 1 hour of train/bus commute to NYC for about 300-400k. The issue is, this is in the hood. I plan on being in and out within 2 years of renovation and renting out everything, and staying in basement before I find another deal in a safe area.

I figured, the market cant go lower in this area as it's already low, and even if it goes lower, the downside is dwarfed by the long term potential upside due to spacing issues in the city.

The question is, during these two years, what do I bring with me to work/home? Do I carry a pocket knife (not pun) or attend a Martial Arts class (pun)? The safety rating on trulia is about 45-50% for this area, so it's not like im buying in detroit or hunts point where you can't walk down the street. I don't plan on returning home late, but if I do, I'd be sure to drive out the garage through back door. 

If anyone has experiences doing this, any feedback will be good. I can run fast but I'm not willing to take a bullet. I'm eastern european (slav) and am medium height and fairly athletic, but not bodybuilder and definitely not bulletproof.