Is now a good time to condsider investment property?

Forbes has a pretty decent round table discussion here about this topic. 

The long and short of it are that prices are low and if you have the investment capital AND a good, long-term outlook there are values out there and profits to be made.   Sounds like sound advice to me.  Here is just one excerpt that sums up the advice of the professionals quoted: 

Spencer Rascoff, Zillow.com: I do think this is a great time to be buying residential real estate, with two caveats. First, you need financing, which is much more difficult than in the past. Second, you need to be smart about it. The good old days when anyone could make millions flipping homes in their spare time are over.