Some folks DO try make it a scam - it's not in and of itself. 

If you think of it, all of our society is full of scam and hypocrisy.

Just because a technique for acquiring or earning money is popularized by gurus and practiced unethically by the gurus students does not mean that the technique itself is a scam, unethical, immoral, or that the participants aren’t honest.   

They don't care when you try to explain all the future projects, they actually hate hearing that since it sounds like a scam, when an investor says, "Give me a good price and I will have a lot of work for you" it sends chills up their spines. 

They are really running a Ponzi Scam, and I don't know how long before they get caught.   

Agree on the advice their are sharks out there that are very good praying on people with various scams each month a new one pops up so avoid the housing market right now .In the mean time invest in a index fund that follows a benchmark like a S&P 500 each month/week put more money in when you are at a age that father wisdom has visited make small moves into the housing market .

If anyone tells you that you can get 15% cash-on-cash it's either a scam or ultra high risk. 

A replacement cost should factor in depreciation.Airbnb knows exactly what they are doing when the scam hosts by not paying 100% for repair costs. 

Is that a scam?

The lengths people go to scam