Do you expect continued rent growth and appreciation due to immigration patterns + city expansion?

Yes, I segment tenant demographics by Acute and Chronic, because in my eyes that's exactly what they are, and life patterns show and follow such. 

You would benefit from doing some of your own research on migration patterns, job growth, where big companies are moving, taxes, regulations, etc.

The triggers of a recession are irrelevant because the financial cycles are the product of mass human psychology; a self realizing prophecy based the belief of patterns and that what happened in the past repeats itself.

Doing an annual increase cares for your increase in costs and sets a pattern of expectation for the tenant.  

After how many years of this pattern would you bet on it?

Examine similar sales, rental prices, and neighborhood patterns as a whole.It seems sense that you would want to make an offer to gauge interest before trying to work things out in the middle.

If they have a pattern of that, they can lose their license.

No  one will get rich this way, you have to put in the work and do the time on your own, you are the only one who can control your behavior and work patterns, and the only one who can make your life better with your choices.  

You're probably seeing a pattern lol - Taxes are most people's biggest single expense, so when you're developing your long term investing strategy make sure to focus energy on money moves that defer, eliminate, or don't trigger taxes!