Equities, stocks, bonds, real estate, gold, silver and everything else is going to increase in nominal value but not necessarily in real value. 

George Washington acquired a significant amount of land this way, and shortly after acquiring such created SYNDICATIONS (he later used JOINT STOCK COMPANIES when they came into existence) to raise the capital needed for development.  

You can strike Gold or be dead in the water.

They came in around 30% cheaper than ES windows and were all stocked locally.

Wrong dead wrong. 

It was a slow start to the initial spring 2024 shopping season, but properties are still closing quickly, still nearly 1/4+ for all cash and the majority of investors are well capitalized due to the appreciation of their real estate and stock based assets. 

I give a $20 gift card to the local grocery store day of move-in so tenants can stock up on a few staples or pick up something ready-to-eat from the deli.I have given wine, but you need to be careful & not assume everybody would welcome such a gift.

It can generate better returns, or at least more predictable returns than other asset classes like stocks, bonds, crypto, and other alternatives. 

Partially because you did not rent it for an entire year but mostly because of upfront expenses: getting it ready for rent, buying furniture, electronics, and other furnishings, stocking up on initial supplies, and so on.

I was thinking about an strategy of doing Cash Out Refinicing putting that money in the stock market (distributed in ETF and some "safer" stocks) to get around a 6% anual return (estimating that low because is the "standard" average, however my current stock portafolio has a cummulative return of 66% in the last 4 years).