Not wanting to sell for a loss, we haven both rented out but are well short of being able to cash flow. 

Although the nightlife and culture (museums/food/music) was a great and calming change from the busy metro area, I felt isolated.

Some food for Thought.Hardie board Mountain Sage........

Should I just sell as is and take the loss?

That's the kind of talk you'll hear from every get-rich-quick guru on the planet, kind of like "7-Minute Abs" or Hydroxycut weight-loss pills.Just look at what he promises: you don't need to use your own money, you don't need to inspect the properties, you'll spend very little time on the deal, you aren't personally liable for the loans and debt, you'll work less and earn more...This can all be true if you know what you are doing.

Eventually, people may start to default on their mortgage payments, not from a lack of being responsible, but because their basics of food, transportation, and medical, and insurance payments have all gone up.

Are you able to deduct passive losses against earned income, or do you have enough passive income to wash against the passive losses in order to deduct all of the interest?

Since you'd be looking to hold this property long term, look at what the property's cash flow and appreciation would potentially be 5-10 years down the road to help inform your decision.All that being said, if you feel confident that you can cover the maintenance, capex, vacancy loss, turn expenses, and leasing costs for a few years while you wait for the cash flow to improve, and you have enough risk tolerance to handle a potentially difficult tenant in the first few months which could lead to zero rent coming in during that transition to getting a new tenant in place, then it sounds like a solid deal to get into with $0 down.Lastly, I'll also caveat all of my statements above by mentioning that this all requires you to self-manage the property. 

I got out of the stock market in 2016 (pretty much) because it killed me to see $50,000 losses in one day.

Rage,Sorry, I'll have more questions than answers, but hopefully some food for thought here.What does you lease say about repairs?