No doubt he thought that he would tap into some vein of anti-government indignation.Didn't work.

He has since ghosted me.Is it a scam? 

Accused of stealing money from many out of state investors for a scam he was running in the Chicago market.Be careful who you invest with___Bob Prisco / Bob StevensLongtime spammer here on the site.

Their business had lots of things going against it, anti-STR legislation was popping up everywhere, rents were rising fast, AirBnB revenue was down.

Unfortunately, these sort of scams are not uncommon when buying turnkey, which is always marketed as somehow being a safer way to start investing.....

Its just the Nigerean prince scam

Yes most of them are more like yours, not outright scams but semi-scams.

Be careful about scams. 

Anti-SLAPP statutes exist in many U.S. jurisdictions, including Illinois, and allow for the immediate dismissal of such suits along with the recovery of attorneys’ fees and costs by the defendant.

Sub2 is more complicated and much higher risk than seller financing, but still doesn't require $15k in "training" when the info on it is available for free and like the OP said, most of the trainings are scams.