Of course, you can give yourself a few options or adapt to what you find and pivot later.I just researched and organized states by landlord friendly or not and tax friendly or not.Furthermore, do your due diligence but don't get FOMO or analysis paralysis - turning education into action is key!

If you pirate someone else's model you'll spend just as much time figuring out their thought process and adapting it to your needs as you would have making your own.

Saying all this I am sure you can still find deals by adapting such as thinking outside the box and changing strategy.

For a lot of them it is either adapt or die.  

If you have some rentals paid off I'd think you'll have enough flexibility to find the cashflow balance you're looking for.TLDR: set up cheap debt to be comfortable/flexible/adaptable to the market conditions

A specialized business operation that not everyone will adapt the property to.Lending.

I'm new to business so for me it comes down to learning the new stuff and adapting and also some of the old ways of doing things for knowledge purposes. 

I've personally seen a massive difference in the happiness levels of people who spend less than they make according to a budget in line with their values and goals, in contrast with people who don't track their expenses and never think about things like lifestyle creep and hedonic adaption.

What are you doing to adapt of ways you are viewing the market? 

Additionally, unexpected surprises and setbacks, such as the paint incident, taught me the importance of flexibility and adaptability when faced with unexpected circumstances.