Torn on Whether to pay off home or jump into real estate

[Casey Lodes]

Hello Everyone.  I have a conundrum on my hands.  My wife and I are torn on whether to pay off our existing home or take that money and start investing.  

I live in the middle TN area.  I will be retiring in the next 4 years and don't own any rental property.  I own land behind my existing home with road frontage on another road.  We have carved out 8 acres of it for a future sell and with land being what it is here in Middle TN, we can fetch a pretty penny.  My existing mortgage on my present home is less than 200K and we are around 2.75% on our interest rate.  

I would like to enter the investing market but my wife is more conservative and would rather pay off the current mortgage.  I don't really want to sell that land just presently as I want to get a season of deer hunting in this next year, but am leery on if we will see a pullback on the land pricing.  We would hate to miss a opportunity to strike at high pricing.

I'm hoping to get some pro's/con's on paying off vs jumping in from some of you fine folks that have done either/or.  I appreciate your help!