Help finding affordable, safe, roach free apartments in DC?!?

I am planning on moving to DC in a year or so for grad school and have been working on saving up for the move. I would like to know if it would be possible to get an efficiency or one bedroom for about 1200 dollars a month. I could possibly go up a bit if it included utilities...but definitely no more than 1300. That being said, I would really like to avoid unsafe neighborhoods as well as apartments with pest problems. (Even though I have no idea how to make sure that an apartment has no roaches before moving in and seeing signs of them. I know landlords will clean them thoroughly before showings). Anyway, any tips on where to look or how to spot signs of a not so great apartment (aside from the obvious) would be great!