I am also able to talk to multiple people that would guide me just to have a variety of opinions to go from. =) 

You'll get a wide variety of answers.

Companies that charge less than that are getting their money from you in a variety of other ways. 

There are a wide variety of investors from newbie to seasoned in various verticals.

I believe there are a wide variety of ways that you can invest in real estate as you know. 

Once you determine your market, its a matter of generating a list of properties and marketing to them in a variety of ways.

I had many tenants move out in the middle of leases in the 40 years doing rentals, for a variety of reasons, such as death in the family, job relocation, buying a house etc. and I found it best to work with the tenants.If the bank find out you  rented out a property with a owner occupied mortgage, they can revoke the mortgage and demand payment in full.

Perhaps BP can create some sort of index taking into population growth, variety of employers, poverty rate, etc and allow you to easily search cities / towns based on this index.

I have a spreadsheet somewhere using used car prices for a variety of models and years and cash flows using Turo's carculator which I'm happy to share. 

Best to consult with your CPA but our investors do it in a variety of types.