  We raise the following general question regarding a ring graded by a group:
"If $P$ is a ring-theoretic property, how does one define the graded version
$P_{\operatorname{gr}}$ of the property $P$ in a meaningful way?". Some
properties of rings have straightforward and unambiguous generalizations to
their graded versions and these generalizations satisfy all the matching
properties of the nongraded case. If $P$ is either being unit-regular, having
stable range 1 or being directly finite, that is not the case. The first part
of the paper addresses this issue. Searching for appropriate generalizations,
we consider graded versions of cancellation, internal cancellation,
substitution, and module-theoretic direct finiteness.
  In the second part of the paper, we turn to Leavitt path algebras. If $K$ is
a trivially graded field and $E$ is an oriented graph, the Leavitt path algebra
$L_K(E)$ is naturally graded by the ring of integers. If $E$ is a finite graph,
we present a property of $E$ which is equivalent with $L_K(E)$ being graded
unit-regular. This property critically depends on the lengths of paths to
cycles making it stand out from other known graph conditions which characterize
algebraic properties of $L_K(E).$ It also further illustrates that graded
unit-regularity is quite restrictive in comparison to the alternative
generalization of unit-regularity which we consider in the first part of the
paper.
