I am not an expert in that zip but lived there years ago. 21215 is bad north of nothern parkway and worse south of that.

@Victor Nguyen for starting out either is fine if the numbers work, but if you do a duplex I would recommend starting with the a side-by-side duplex the first time you do one rather than a multi-floor building.The reason being is that managing multis (duplexes) with tenants living over each other come with different problems such as noise complaints, and can limit your options accepting pets.

Hi everyone,My name is Jess Derr and I live in Charles Town (not to be confused with Charleston!)

I would live in the vacant unit.

Not to say that you can't jump to long distance investing right away but if you don't have any experience I would try to at least invest in one property within a 1-2 hour drive from where you live.

You've lived in the property for at least a year which is the expectation for FHA loans.

You need to keep in mind the person that was living in your property is a seasoned lowlife.

You would just open one in the state you live in (or the state you're investing in). 

There are other cash shortfalls that will come up, which you will need to cover, especially if your stretched at the very start.Work on your own living arrangements as your first investment. 

I have a tenant who has lived in our 4 plex for almost 15 years, long before my husband and I purchased it 6 years ago.