It's unclear if there was any agreement/discussion between you and the attorney up front as to what specific services/product you expected and was to be provided and at what cost, so I'll just take a stab at this based on the limited info that's written.What was the $250 charge for? 

You have to pay money but they tend to walk you through the process and you learn from their expertise, process, and connections.You could also possibly joint venture with them if your funds are low.For Indiana there is good investor demand to buy as cap rates are higher for newly built product versus other states and property taxes are generally not overly high.What stuff usually costs will depend on contractor demand for the area.

RE agents that are productive finding a new broker is not hard.

Do products out there work?

So if you need references in your state try posting in the state forum that you need the loan product in.  

I've spoken to my tenants several times about the use of smoking and Vape products and marijuana products.

I haven’t even mentioned the appreciation that we get as a by-product of keeping supply low.

This is something you will need to speak with the lender you are getting the product from.

You can buy with hard money then refi into that hard money lender's long term product - many offer rental property loans (might be easier to qualify for, but going to have a higher interest rate than a bank). 

@Jonathan Marrow The file has to resubmit again with new product-most of the lender has this requirement but you can ask your lender if they  can flip to other product.