Instead, I've heard of hosts raising the nightly rate high enough it won't book or setting a 30-day minimum stay and had no issues with a double booking.

Quote from @Dee R White: I'm out of debt, don't really plan on using my card much except for emergencies but the recovering spendthrift and the riskier investor sides of me - are curious if I should call the company back and ask for them to raise it back as it might affect my credit score. 

However, there’s one aspect of the website that’s raising a bit of concern for me.I live in Santa Barbara, CA, and from my experience, the median home price here is generally at least $1.5 million, and in most cases, I rarely see anything priced under $1 million.

You definitely raise a bunch of points that make a lot of sense.

You will learn from the first time you purchase a property, market a property, vet tenants, raise rents, handle maintenance requests, etc... 

If the construction is 50% of the existing building value they will make you raise the house to current FEMA requirements.

I am just saying that most people have a better chance making more money by trying to be better at their day jobs and win some raises and promotions, instead of entering a new career in Real Estate. 

I have just received the same callThis a legitimate business model for a STR company, but the website raised a lot of red flags and I would not feel comfortable doing business with them.

If you're going to do that and want cash flow, you'll very likely need to at least make some cosmetic improvements to the units to raise the rents and then manage efficiently.

I think you raise an interesting point.