How do you expect to stay above inflation with that?

If you really wanted to be precise you would need to calculate the tax benefits of mortgage interest deductions and also inflation when comparing a all cash offer vs financing offer?

Regarding Multi's....small towns avoid for the most part but in places like Indiana you are going to overpay as people inflate because its a school town so it is just a hard business to get into in general.

With the way inflation is, I don’t like putting money away in a traditional savings account.

Replacement Cost Value insurance is more expensive than Actual Cash Value insurance but your claims processes are easier, you have less fights over the value of things such as a roof, and you are protecting your investment which means you are protecting the inflation and appreciation that real estate enjoys. 

The prices here have gotten so inflated, mostly driven by out-of-state money that even if you did find something under $250k, its going to be in such rough shape you're going to need to put serious money into the rehab (I asked a buddy of mine whose a contractor about this scenario and he said for a 3bd 1 or 2 bath purchased under $250k you're gonna have a very difficult time rehabbing it for less that $75k based on its likely condition if it sold at that price).  

To me, supply and demand is driving all of these crazy prices, along with inflation.

This also sounds like inflation will keep rising which will likely mean the BoC will keep on raising rates. 

Keeping an eye on the potential impacts of taxes, fees, inflation, and deflation in the buying power of the dollar, especially if your involved in buy and hold for more than a few years. 

As USD is being chased, hard asset inflated4. that includes stock (doing business as public capital), bond and mostly US Real Estate as RE is hedge againts inflation.