I am sure that you had to overcome doubts since this was a risky project.

In a recession, the top brokers know it's even more important to focus on real closers, with access to capital, than to chase possibilities.Even in a recession, only the desperate new brokers, who don't have deals, are willing to take a chance on an unproven investor who comes from a Loopnet listing.Hopefully, I won't run afoul of the moderators (and if I do, please just delete this one paragraph, rather than the whole post), but I do offer a free resource about how to overcome this problem.  

Maybe there is an extra uphill battle in play left for some spots compared to what DC had to overcome?

One thing is for sure, though, transaction costs and capital gains taxes (if not 1031 exchanging) will be a significant hurdle to overcome ... so if you sell you need to be REALLY right on the timing, direction, and magnitude of a correction to come out ahead and overcome those transaction costs ... so, I think it is smart to slow down on the acquisitions side if you can no longer find deals that make sense, and store up some "dry powder" by saving that investment money, but I sure would be very hesitant to sell for the reasons mentioned above.

I Also would like to Help more investors solve how to overcome the barriers of not having enough time or investing from out of state or country. 

Now, I need to overcome the lender to foreign nationals problem...

That is an obstacle I had to overcome - just because I wouldn't live there, doesn't mean someone else wouldn't and be perfectly happy. 

The next big question is how do you overcome and strengthen your borders, for this not to happen again. 

We have had to overcome discrimination; remember that up until 1974 a woman could not obtain a bank loan without a male signature.

I would expect rent appreciation to overcome the negative cash flow real fast.