To understand why rental properties are such a good buy today, let’s start by looking at how they traded historically. In supply-constrained markets such as Los Angeles, apartments have generally sold at cap rates — the inverse of a price-to-earnings multiple — of between 3% and 8% of the purchase price in good neighborhoods during the past several decades
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10477259/2/buy-rental-properties-with-uncle-sams-cash.html