Would it be more advisable to look for deals inside DC where there asking prices are typically 500k+ on relatively small apartments or to look into PG county and purchase a newly built home that's metro accessible and costs 300-400k?

The property is in a stable or growth market.The property is in a desirable neighborhood.The property is new or has been newly rehabbed.The property is leased, or in the process of being leased.The property is under professional property management.The property is cash-flow positive.The property has been carefully selected with renters in mind.

New construction (not common today) or newly rehabbed properties are part of what I call "turnkey", and should be your preference when investing from out-of-state.

But I try to keep my spending growth at only XX% of my income growth, so a good chunk of the newly generated cash flow is going into new investments.

I have a friend who pays his newly acquired properties down at $10,000/month until they are free and clear.  

. :)  (Reuters) - Hedge fund managers George Soros and John Paulson have both taken a 92 million euro ($127 million) stake in a new Spanish property investment vehicle called Hispania, the Financial Times reported on Saturday citing sources close to the deal.Hispania, created by Spanish-based private investment firm Azora, last week announced plans to list on the stock exchange and launch a share offering in order to raise 500 million euros from qualified investors.It will operate as a real estate investment trust, or REIT - listed vehicles that typically invest in income-producing assets, such as rental properties.Azora, George Soros and John Paulson were not immediately available to comment.REITs are taking off in Spain, where they are known as SOCIMIs, as foreign investors hope to cash in on the country's economic recovery and search for real estate bargains following a 30 percent property price slump since a real estate bubble burst six years ago.

My first direct mail campaign is launching for the Indianapolis market on 07/10/15 and this post just confirmed my original plan was correct one for me and I will only focus on making sure my flip calculations also work for cash flow if it does not sell in a timely manner.  

But either way works in some cases. my comment was I think someone in the bay area or west coast should do everything they can to get a primary before they launch off into buying mid west rentals that can go upside down pretty quickly if they choose poorly to begin with..

Since you are in the area, would it make any difference if it is a newly flipped home?

The only thing that would be called turnkey is when the property is new or newly rehabbed and has a qualified tenant in it.