higher cap rates seem possible, but appreciation potential seems minimal (which I am okay with ESP during this hyper inflated market).

One side goes up, the other goes down - Stocks vs Bonds for instance......or in Real Estate, inflation cause interest rates to rise, buyers get fearful, home prices go down.Basically, my opinion is that one has to be more amenable to risk taking, and mainly figure out where everyone is going and go the other way...Just my .02.

Getting a 3% increase is hard and CPI has been manipulated to the point that it does not represent real inflation.  

This has the knock-on effect of expensive mortgages on properties (which is the whole idea the Fed is trying to accomplish... make homes expensive to force sellers to lower their prices to control inflation).With interest rates high, it is hard to find a property that is worth buying these days for cash-flow purposes.  

You'll find the areas it sounds like you may be interested have seen some of the greatest inflation.

(Compared to 2021).While interest rates might be higher for buyers, there is more than one way to make money off of owning a rental property outside of just cash profits - so I am focusing on the long term play, especially the hedge on inflation.

We should see inflation tick back up. 

To protect your cash savings against inflation and possible stagflation/recession, what types of properties would you invest in?

Let's increase Tax/Ins 10% in line with inflation.

If you are concerned about inflation due to the 3 trillion stimulus, with more on the way, it is far better to hold real estate than  debt.