Leverage or Cash in the Beginning?

[Josh Paulley]

Background: I am a stay at home dad who's kids are in school and/or daycare through the day. My wife is a doctor and currently makes plenty of $ for our family of 4. Our home and cars are paid off and we have no student loan payments. We are incredibly fortunate to say the least. 

Situation: My wife has recently inherited $300,000 from her father's passing that we are now sitting on.

Goal: $250,000 in passive income by year 5.

Synopsis: I've always had the drive to get in to real estate investing but now we have the time and money. I realize that, given my goal, the field of strategy suggestions and advice will narrow. All that being said, anyone have any advice, suggestions or aggressively worded reality checks that they would like to share????