@Gulliver R.what others have said: the booking platforms are selling you on "faux safety" no more or less safe than direct booking with a deposit you control and refund as needed.

My partner used the cheap faux wood for his first Reno project.

I just bought one that had 1960's vintage carpet pretty much all over, including stairs and bedrooms.

What I mean by this is many places have vintage start dates for leases during the boom times 2005,2006,2007.The tenants have just been paying it.When the lease comes up the new market rate might have dropped 25% from what is being collected now on the current lease.

I capitalized on the architecture of the building and rather than gutting the place, refreshed the original cabinets, installed period-appropriate lighting fixtures, got a new stainless fridge but found a vintage Frigidaire wide-coil stainless steel cooktop and installed a new stainless 18" dishwasher (where there previously was no dishwasher at all).  

If you are replacing mechanicals I assume you are vintage 2005 or older.

In general, the older homes (60's 70's 80's vintage) near water and at lower elevations were flooded during Hurricane Ian.

Understand that in each of these coverage types above, the unit owner and the renter need their own coverage for ANY contents they own and bring into the unit (couches, tables, clothes, jewelry, etc.). 

See how $20,000 of your cash faux was your own money? 

For the past year I've been spending weekends rehabbing a vintage cabin, planning my next step to get the cabin ready as a short term rental, BRRR, and buy another cabin, my life dream.