We made it work anyway but it was hard and we were lucky; lucky we were in a rising market and lucky that between the two of us we just happened to have just the skill sets that were required to overcome our newbie error in location selection, and lucky that we both are able and willing to learn from our mistakes... and due to inordinate stubbornness, it took me a good long while, (several years not months) to even realize that we had made a mistake.

They are not meant to adversely impact any business or individual directly or financially.

The problem is, the Fed has become recession adverse, and it manipulates the money markets to try to kick the can down the road. 

Is this a common problem and does anyone have any tips to overcome it?

In CO, we are required to send a Reason For Denial Letter and can combine it with an Adverse Action letter when rejecting an application.  

Now I am trying to help 1st time investors overcome all of their barriers!

If that's the case, the property could be an adverse possession possibility!

Still working on overcoming my nervousness of using leverage for funding deals.

I am also not adverse to other real estate investment opportunities such as providing financing, note investing, partnering, etc. as long as the numbers and scenarios make sense.

Don't have sleepless 9ts over this...you will overcome the ugliness.