Interesting there are no actual answers on this posted.
That's because there really aren't any answers to give you. The process is pretty straight forward and requires a bit of due diligence on your part. The first question is, how much cash do you have to invest? Remember that on rental property most lenders want more money down. Find out how much you can borrow, add that to your cash and you'll know what you can afford. From there you have to decide if you're looking for monthly income or appreciation, perhaps both. That's where it gets tricky. Property that appreciates rapidly generally won't rent out for enough to cover the monthly nut. You then have to decide if the appreciation makes the deal worth while. If it's monthly income you're looking for, it's pretty easy to figure out what it will rent for as opposed to your monthly outlay plus taxes and maintenance.
If you do find property that's rapidly appreciating, and produces monthly income, please pm me the location, as I'll be buying the house next door.