Pay off debt vs saving for down payment

[Jim Stevenson]

Hey everyone, I know this question has probably been posed a lot but I wanted to see if I could get some feedback on my situation. Back in September I started the uphill battle of paying off mine and my wife's $55k worth of consumer debt and student loans. I wish I had this shift in mindset about personal finance a few years ago so I wouldn't have to deal with this but it is what it is. Our debt consists of: 26k car loan at 3.9% ($479 monthly payment) 7k student loans at 5.3% ($274 monthly payment) 9k credit cards at 0% (transferred it to two 0% APR cards, $118 monthly payment) I'm currently down to 42k overall after throwing 2000-3500 per month at it. If I continue with a $3500 monthly payment everything will be paid off by April 2018. My goal after paying it off is to start saving $3500 per month for a down payment and reserves for my first rental property. I'm thinking though that it might make more sense to keep my debt payments at the minimum and save the rest towards the down payment. I know I could potentially use the cash flow to help with the debt. I think it would just "feel better" to get rid of the debt before I start this journey but I know I can get better returns than the interest rates I have now from investments. What do you guys think? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!