I highly recommend Lynda O'Dea (Long & Foster) who works in that area. We have worked with her to both buy and sell a property and I know she works with a lot of buyers. Very nice and extremely professional. I found that she really understands the family needs. I believe her website is legendaryhomes.com.

Ellen Abrams. We used her in 2009 to buy and sell on CCDC.

Highly recommend Leila Harrington. She's enthusiastic, a mom of young ones, and very easy to work with. http://www.leilaharrington.com/

Highly recommend Molly Peter w/ sellmeahouse.com. She is very knowledgeable and experienced, and successful enough that she is more interested in making a client happy than making a sale.

Roz Drayer. She's with Sotheby's a great agency but not as unapproachable as you think. Her office is out in Great Falls but she's willing to drive out out to meet you (of course). She knows real estate, is very approachable, and really works for you. She's enough of a pit bull that no one will take advantage of you. Can't recommend her enough.

OP - The heavy hitters in the DC real estate market are most likely NOT going to be willing to be a buyer's agent....driving finicky (sp) clients around to a million houses is not worth their time or money. If they take you on, they may farm you out to one of their assistants.
I could be way off the mark, but that has been my experience.

Some of the agents listed above are great as listing agents, but would shudder at the thought of being a buyer's agent.

Try Art Dunning at Long & Foster.

Liz Lavette Shorb with Washington Fine Properties. She works a great deal in Spring Valley and Chevy Chase, DC, as well as Chevy Chase, MD. She seems to have her finger on the pulse of the market in that price range and up. I know of several successful transactions in which she has been involved in the areas I mentioned, but she has also shown us things in Forest Hills and Cleveland Park and seemed knowledgeable in those areas as well. Liz is the opposite of pushy and never seems to get frustrated if you pass on something. We never felt any pressure from her to buy things we were not comfortable with, and she had good insights about the process through up markets and down (we looked for a long time for a moving up home since we already had one and did not have to move). Two sets of friends have also used her and had a really good experience. Good luck with your purchase!

Sarah Howard, with TTR Sotheby's. She is amazing! We worked with her when we bought our house, and she is so knowledgable.

What part of NW? Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase, Kalorama?

I know I've mentioned her earlier on this board, so hope I'm not spamming, but I worked with Eleanor Balaban and thought she was great. Absolutely not pushy, was comfortable with the fact that I'd identified lots of listings that I wanted to see ahead of time, but was a good help on negotiations strategies, which I thought was useful (bought in '07, so the market had softened but not tanked). Then, she helped a friend of mine who needed a TON of help identifying places, went and saw bazillion units over the course of several months with her and then found just the right spot that the friend wouldn't have thought of herself. So, seems very able to meet buyers where they are rather than following some formula. I think she also hears of a good number of listings before they hit the market because she's worked in the area for a long time.

Tricia Messerschmitt sold us our house and sold our condo in the height of the nutty market of 2006. She is very knowledgeable and savvy and was extremely responsive and helpful to us. We had a 2 year old at the time. She is truly top notch.

My family (2 small kids) and I are moving back to DC after many years away. We Re looking to purchase a spacious home in NW DC this spring and we'd like to be in our home by mid June if possible (baby on the way!). Our price pint is approx 1.5-2 million. Can anyone recommend a real estate agent who is extremely knowledgable, not pushy and is familiar with the needs of young families? Thanks in advance for your time!