If you leave it all in a savings account, it loses value because of inflation.

As America goes to a more 'feudal' transition in next decade where land ownership is owned by a few and million of renters post-inflation period, this creates phenomenon that many of the institutions wanna be a landlord. 

The DTI Ratio severely inflates because the income gained from the property on LTR will NEVER overcome the debt payments.

For a buy-hold type deal, a condo could be a great investment, just factor in HOA costs and annual increases (inflation give or take) into your model.

Just my 29 cents, adjusted for inflation.

James,Respectfully, are you really comparing RE investing during sky high inflation to casino gambling?

At the end of last year, the Fed predicted that inflation would go away largely on its own and they would not have to do much economic tightening.

A 1-2% net loss from potential inflation is far better (to me) than whatever "good" deal is out there. 

Inflation aside, whatever the material or activity, expect to pay more than your budget or spreadsheet says.

Most counties have also experienced dramatic rental rate inflation as well, so depending on the value that you add for your tenants raising the rents is very possible.