Fire away with the questions. Each month I have 3,000 dollars after mortgage payments and other bills. Fortunately, you're not paying a gut-wrenching interest rate on your debt, as you would be if you were paying off credit card debt. On the other hand, it's not tax-deductible and has no other offsetting virtues. Use half to pay off your debt, and the other half to start an investment program.
Word of mouth is the best route.
Real estate has lagged the stock market for some time. Sometimes, when the returns from paper assets disappoint, people turn to hard assets, like real estate. Generally, I think you should invest in a house because you want a nice place to live, not because you're going to make a mint when you sell it. I am working, and my wife is in grad school. Our only debt is that of her school loans, which we won't be required to start paying off for 6 more months.