It's amazing that the Fed has to inject $85 billion (with a 'B') into the economy to keep the paper markets inflated.

I keep a large emergency fund in savings, and the interest it has earned in the last 2 years (0.75%) doesn't even keep up with inflation.

Should I expect the rent I can collect to rise with inflation, or is it likely to steadily decrease?

Lee and Linda,As a Realtor, and as an Investor, I would caution you about planning on appreciation beyond typical inflation.

Inflated ARVs, understated rehab costs and no understanding of whats a good ROI for an investor seems to be rampant.

You assume that you start with 4% of the portfolio, have a diversified stock/bond portfolio and increase your withdrawls based on inflation and the starting 4% number, you don't redo the 4% each year, but you do get inflation bumps.

For a multifamily deal, the two critical variables are typically rent inflation (growth) and exit cap rate (sales price at the end of the hold period).

My costs are basically fixed while rent will be at inflation.

I see this happen quite a bit with wholesalers who inflate FMV and under-estimate cost of repairs.Many investors have their own formula's to work with already so any additional info they can obtain from local market experts will assist in their decision making process.If you wish to see our turnkey pro forma, send me a private message and would be happy to share.One last point, the good turnkey providers are NOT in the business of misleading their investors for short term gain.

A cap rate is a one time snap shot that will change, sometime immediately after the sale like property taxes increase will cut into NOI and it depends on mgmt, inflation, expenses, lease type (ie gross, nnn, etc ).