I bought my first property in Pensacola, FL because I was renting a house for $1500/month and I realized I could purchase a larger, newer, more updated home in the same neighborhood and have a $1100/month mortgage payment. I felt pretty confident I could rent it out for about $1500 once I moved away from Pensacola. I actually rented it for $1950/month when I moved out! That was three years ago, and I have since raised the rents again.
I invest in real estate to replace my W-2 income and my wife's income with (mostly) passive real estate income by the time I retire from the military in ~8 years.