Just another example of private equity throwing money at bad business model's in our space.  

(on things like flooring, cabinets, remodels, siding etc) I want to hear thoughts on going as cheap as possible, making the house look "high end" (possibly attracting higher end renters and charging more) or somewhere in the middle?

All have a generally cheap barrier to entry and have potential for cash flow.

Housing prices are cheap so everyone bought a house and turned it into an STR, and there’s way too many STR‘s.

That's too cheap.

The leads that I get the rest of the month also try to negotiate to a price so cheap I would not consider it.

Even if demand increases any advantage to the side of demand will only ever be short lived, as there is endless cheap land out there for supply to quickly catch up and surpass that demand.

I would remove the throw pillows on the sofa and get an area rug there just as an example.

Those cheap areas look good on paper until realize how high turnover costs truly are.

Most are looking for a reasonably priced place and, yes, some are looking to go very cheap.