Did you vet that they were a specialist in real estate when hiring him/her.If you are both arguing on a specific topic, you both can go through the tax codes, treasury regulations to provide support of why one is right / wrong.Section 469 discusses passive activities.Best of luck.

There is specific documentation from the treasury that describes in detail what a bank must do at a minimum to identity a customer.

We also have a few casinos but I do not fancy us to be Las Vegas by any means.

Regarding the premise of the discussion in protecting oneself in a rising interest rate environment, it may not be as straightforward as:rising interest rates = higher cap rates = weaker property valuesA couple of reasons for this would be that the spreads between the 10 year treasury yield and current cap rates are significantly higher than the historical average (500+ basis points) vs. an average of 300 basis over the last 20 years.  

You can go into TIPS, Treasuries or a CD.

EIDL is a $25 Billion program administered by Dept of Treasury.

Way south, that newly approved casino resort will begin construction at some point soon.

Prices are a bit higher but there is a large demand for jobs between the Sub Base, Electric Boat, National Guard, casinos, etc.

Keep in mind that if you have $10,000 or more in a foreign bank account, you will need to report that to the IRS and the Treasury Department if you are a US citizen.

Bank financing of $200k @4.99% for 20 years  (first 10 years, 10 yr treasury + 2% for other 10 years).