I think they are either running a scam or an airbnb out of my home. 

I would not buy something that needs mild renovation out-of-state as a brand new investor as you will not be able to manage it and will pay 4x the cost and it will take much longer and you are likely to get scammed if you have not built a proper funnel.

I have been looking into several "guru" mentoring programs but I am skeptical they all sound too good to be true, and some downright scams.

But it turned out that the " Buyer" was trying to scam me and the owner.

If you saw from the search (in case others didn't do the same), he's a scam artist.

That is about right for pricing, IMO this whole lead thing is a total scam, just and income generator for the city 

I have a no B.S policy when I work with contractors, because of the amount of scams / theft there is in the industry.

Any other blinds spots I'm missing, or ways tenant can get away scamming out of paying rent?

All too common these days; here's a similar thread with some more discussion:http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/99/topics/72684-craigslist-scam---protect-your-listings

And you do not somehow 'know" our guidelines that the property and valuation is somehow eligible - thats not a all how lending works.It is also ridiculous that you are claiming somehow that we are "buying facebook reviews" then citing scam bitcoin reviews as fake (why would we buy these spam comment reviews).Stop embarrassing yourself - and again, if you keep doing this publicly we will be forced to take action