Other landlords have told me of outrageous claims made against them for theft or conversion. 

What HAS changed is property values, thus if you buy a $700k house you will pay @ $7k per year, while your neighbor who purchased his (identical) home in 2008 might only be paying $3k. 

All things being equal (HAH HAH) I'd rather deal with a higher-end neighborhood where I'm less concerned about the influence of bad neighbors or theft....

Odds are that your situations, W2s, bank accounts, etc. aren’t identical.

Also it is always a total gut rehab down to the studs (even studs get replaced so its almost impossible to be surprised by any extra repairs (only surprises would be tied to outside factors like theft and fire etc...).

@Rich NgWe experienced an almost identical scenario a couple of years ago  - I bumped into the Vendor shortly after the building closed and learned our offer was not presented.  

Am I crazy or are they almost identical?

I could see another company stepping in to a variation of the Vacation Rental market, but not something that offers the identical product... hence why we see the deterioration of HomeAway, Flipkey, etc. 

I think $1000 is very realistic, as I know that an identical unit just rented for that three doors down.

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