Move to a city with good growth potential and reasonable real estate costs. I've heard Chattanooga and San Antonio are good choices now, but I don't know.
Join a real estate investors' network and learn the ropes. Find a mentor.
Start buying rental real estate.
If you can fix them yourself, great. If not, that's one of the benefits of the network.
You should be able to buy a couple of homes at first.
If necessary, after a couple of years and a track record, find a passive investor who would like to make a guaranteed 5% or so. Or go 50/50, whichever works for you.
A friend of mine did that 20 years ago. He is now worth several million dollars.