And so when the counter shows a five figure commish the broker has a hard time explaining why that kind of money is a bad deal for them..

You want to figure out all of the permits you need at the start and apply for them all, get them, and then get to work. 

I only figured out after Baselane sent me a stern email demanding the refunded money from me, else they will pursue legal actions such as collections and even putting a lien on the property.

Quote from @Mike Dymski: You'll figure it out. 

$500,000 after taxes is likely close to $325,000(maybe more or maybe less).Assuming cash-flow from rentals is offset by depreciation, you would need $325,000 of annual cash-flow from the rentals.If you can get $200 / door / monthYou would need 135 doorsYou can work on this type of math to figure out how much rentals you need.Be mindful that rentals require some type of work.

@Loan NguyenRecommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a Class A property in Class D area, what quality of tenant will you get?

Now, you need to figure out how to find deals and pay for them.

After using them for years we asked to jump on a Zoom call with their sales team to try to figure out a way we could continue using them, but they replied that their team was too busy focusing on new sales to jump on a call.  

The fees and conditions also can differ a lot, so you should try figure out first what kind of apple do you want (DP, LTV, rate) and then bring them to an apple-to-apple comparison to see which one gives you what you need for what cost (instead of accepting all the fruits that are on display from each different DSCR provider).  

I also closed on another Class C home in Dec. 2023 -  not rented out yet, trying to figure out whether to rent it out or sell and cut my losses.