If you want passive investment and you do not yet have the skills or knowledge to do your due diligence (which would only come after some hands on experience in active investing mentioned above), then buy a basket of REITs and/or S&P500 index fund and call it a day ... you could expect 8-10% returns over the long haul and a 4% safe withdrawl rate.Having mentioned your financial status in an online forum, you are about to get inundated with folks telling you they can do much better than above with less risk if you will just invest your money with them or let them sell you a property that will do way better.

It's never wise to put all of your eggs in one basket.

@Shane Mcc - this is an interesting question that I've given some thought to but never really had a fruitful debate on.  

I am excited to get started and know that RE investing can be long, but fruitful, venture. 

Because of the massive influx of student housing developments, I'm trying not to put all my eggs in the student rentals basket.

My PM and mortgage lender have been pivotal in helping me build my portfolio so I'll splurge on a gift basket for them.

Personally I’m putting most my eggs in the Tulsa basket.

While that is still the overall plan, after going through this experience I’m going to take a break and enjoy the fruits of my labor for about six months until I refinance again to take out more equity for building #2 and do the same exact thing all over! 

Avoid being turned off by long-term rental options as those can also be fruitful, especially in the times we are in. 

You can cash-out the equity and the cash flow reduce to $750/month, but you use the proceeds to buy a second property that does another $750/month.More cash flow this way and you don't have all your eggs in one basket.