If you're not maxing tax-advantaged accounts, investing in rental properties is *probably* not going to make sense unless you live somewhere that is just bursting with awesome deals. Probably worth posting a full case study at some point - if you're only making $50k/year, then the tax advantages aren't huge. If you're up higher, it's a pretty big deal.
You should also think about what your RE strategy is going to be (ie buy/hold rentals? Flips? Slow flip/fix up?) and how much time you want to put in. Make a real plan, look at what's on the market and see if there's anything that will make the 1% rule around you, etc.
-W