Hi, Mjkzeus. Well done on reaching out, and accumulating money in a society where millions of people's jobs are basically to suck that money right back out of your bank account.
You've been getting great advice. I support all of it!
Fwiw, there are studies that show real estate on average does get returns roughly equal to the stock market, and does also go up and down less. It's a business, though - if you invest in it, you have risk there too unless you learn the business as well as the other guy, or better.
In your shoes, I'd:
1. Pay off the mortgage, that's a hell of a lot better than $ sitting in the bank.
2. Leave $100,000 in the bank and invest the rest in mutual funds at the investment company Vanguard. Cheap, trustworthy - I'm a customer. I'd put 2/3 in a basic stock fund like VTSAX (they have a bunch of choices, this is a very middle of the road one) and 1/3 in a basic bond fund like VTIIB (again middle of the road). You can Google these.
3. Make a pledge to your wife not to make changes more than once a year. Never make changes because of news that the market is up or down, only because of changes in your own life. This will keep you from making fearful mistakes. Financially it's a very efficient strategy.
4. Every year, "rebalance." This means add up the value of both funds, and then buy or sell whatever amount is needed to bring them back to where they are 2 parts stock to 1 part bonds. This trick gives you a systematic way to always have a reasonable balance of each. In the long run, you buy cheap and sell high, very safely.
5. After 5 years, when I became more confident, I'd take $75,000 of the $100,000 and add it to the Vanguard funds. You should really do this now, but slower steps will feel safer and work out fine.
If you get a paid financial advisor, here are a couple of suggestions.
6. Get a "fee paid" one. You pay them a fixed fee, such as $600 or $1000 or whatever, instead of them getting commissions from products that they sell you. The commissions and hidden fees on "free" advice from investment professionals would probably cost more than the fixed fee. Example - I have a parent whose accounts were at Edward Jones. Edward Jones' commissions and fees on the parent's accounts were more than $2,000 per year.
7. Ask the advisor if are a fiduciary, and would have a fiduciary relationship with you. A fiduciary is someone who is legally bound to act in your best interest. Many advisors are not fiduciaries. A non-fiduciary can legally rip you off!