Once you add in the cost of repairs you'll likely have a house worth maybe slightly more than the others in the neighborhood but probably not enough to offset the closing costs of doing the cash out refi.This isn't to say that it can't be done and plenty of people have had success doing it........but it's something you'd have to know well to make sure it will actually work.

Used to be (and in some blocks still is) a run-down, drug infested mess.But there are signs of life, too--REAL art wall murals have replaced the typical gang graffiti; specialty coffee shops open next to bodegas, art galleries opening, and blocks and blocks of beautiful brownstone buildings. 

I would start shopping around for lenders and get some indications of their terms.

It might be like a one-stop shop, but it's best to just buy the asset and set all the other stuff yourself.

Try to find an insurance broker to shop around for you. 

I usually get grand slams with a mixture of both but looking at a nice house in a really crappy neighborhood.

Even in the so called good areas there are small pockets of those neighborhoods that you want to shy away from.

Consider setting up key word alerts for the names of the suburbs, the names of the DC neighborhoods, also be sure to have D.C. as well as DC. 

There are several near me with neighborhood sounding names like "Zellwood Station", "Chalet North", "The Hills", "The Valley", "Overland Village" etc.

Sometimes just shopping around is the best way to find what you're looking for!