Im just kind of hesitant to pull the trigger.

If you have structural issue or are re-designing the property you could have one pull a building permit. 

I pulled the list from the tax records the other day and there are approx. 18,000 2-4BR properties in DC. 

Let us know if you pull the trigger, would love to hear how it turns out!  

Had my realtor walk and video the property and pulled the trigger.

That way if it's vacant I don't have to worry about paying a mortgage and I can pull money out for other properties using equity. 

There are tons of commercial real estate investors on here that are dealing with millions of dollars work of real estate and don't have any type of real estate license, they just build relationships with brokers, follow up and pull the trigger when they get a good deal put in front of them.

The only reason I'm considering doing this deal (with the assumption I can get it under contract for the price mentioned above) is that I might be able to pull most if not all my equity out of this deal and find another deal to do.  

Keep in mind that there are minimum requirements that you may need to physically occupy the unit (6 months to 1 yr) but if you chose a property below market value, you have the option of doing a cash out refi and pulling money out of the property for your next investment. 

Usually, your GC will pull any necessary permits but you can do it yourself if you want to save some money on your project.