@Jeremy D.
I was in the same situation as you a few years ago. I ended up getting a short sale condo on the route 1 corridor in Alexandria near the Target... it needed moderate work, so I house hacked with a buddy and fixed the place up a bit over the course of a year, then rented it out and cashflow about 150/ month. HOA fees suck, but at the time a condo was all I could comfortably afford. IMO as far as appreciation, I'd look in PG county, specifically historic Hyattsville and the Riverdale area. Over the last 5-10 years, you can't even recognize those neighborhoods because they've changed so much... and for the better. Additionally, the purple line is slated to have a station at Riverdale rd and Kenilworth and another one in Langley Park (depending on your risk tolerance.) Common sense tells me that the cheapest real estate within the beltway is in PG, and people are getting pushed out of DC and moving there for affordability. Tacoma Park is nice too, but more expensive than the Hyattsville/ Riverdale area. I worked for PG fire for 8 years and did handyman work for 3 house flippers in the area. Initially they bought all their houses in AA county and Annapolis, then it seemed like all their flips migrated towards the Hyattsville area. Working for the FD gave me the opportunity to literally see every street/ neighborhood change throughout the years. I know ill probably get ripped on by the senior guys here, but there are some really nice condos in the Arlandia area that are well maintained and have somewhat functional HOA's. It might be worth looking into and see if the numbers and price points work for you. Best of luck and let us know what you end up doing!
