re: For the posters "of a certain age", how have you found a balance in your life?

It's been proven you can manage up to 40 single family homes on your own as long as they are in decent areas.
I don't buy into the 2% rule at all. If I only bought using this criteria in my area then I would die not ever owning rental property.
My minimum is 1% of purchase price in rent each month, in solid areas, no flood zone, hope for recent capital improvements such as roof or a/c. I'm getting $350/m cash flow on properties with 15 year notes and $600/m on 30 yr notes.
With rates so cheap I'm sticking with 30 yr moving forward.
My criteria probably won't work for other investors but it's the criteria I decided on after owning a few and it works for me.
Dive in and buy the first one and you will learn more after owning one property compared to reading 1,000 books.