Take that money and buy RE in other growing markets, stocks, bonds, index funds, high yield savings, or probably a combination of it all. 

Properties take longer to rent, rent stagnates or deflates, credit dries up, banks tighter on loan rules, credit cards decrease credit lines, your credit score drops because instead of 30% utilization you overnight go to 50-80-100% when they drop your credit line, hard money dries up for flips, stock market goes down and you don't want to take losses or can't use margin.   

This loss is designated as non-passive loss in Schedule E and hence deductible from ordinary income (W2, 1099B stock sale, etc).I see no state returns simply because of no income as well as the losses being non-passive and hence deductible from ordinary income.How is your CPA suggesting to track the passive losses without filing for state return?

i guess that depends on the size of the deal.As far as flipping goes,  how is flipping any different from buying a stock and selling it for profit?

My personal opinion of values is that if you're looking to get a predictable return on investment that you would be better off buying a legal duplex.

probably, so your money locked up at 6.75% yield while if we get higher inflation causes mortgage rates to rise/cap rates to rise and stocks to rise even faster than RE. 

Sounds like you'd be shifting assets around from stocks, bonds, savings to real estate.

I look at the overall return of REI and project it will have a better return over the next 25 years than stock market.

And when it comes to alternative investments - I do invest in index funds, as well as some other stocks and a small amount of crypto.

Did they progress through the lending/collection ranks to hone their crafts, or are they glorified stock brokers that have simply bought and sold paper without really knowing the nuts and bolts of the collection/foreclosure process.