Description
Chapter 11 of the Book “What it takes: Lessons in the pursuit of Excellence” by Stephen Schwarzman
Success starts with learning. In business and life, you need to go outside your comfort zone. Real Estate IQ is a community that encourages learning from each other. Through the Successful Habits Book Club, real estate experts share their views through discussing books written by great authors.
In this article, we will explore the ideas of successful business icon, Stephen Schwarzman, through his book “What It Takes: Lesson in the Pursuit of Excellence” We will discover to embrace risks and conquer the ups and downs of the market. Enjoy learning with us!
The cycles of investing
The market goes in a cycle. Prices may go up and down depending on diverse factors. In the book of Schwarzman, the following are the guidelines to help investors calculate the risks:
Rule no. 1- Market tops are easy to recognize.
Tools are readily available to see market trends. Knowing the current ups and downs will help you strategize your action well. If you want automation tools that can help you in getting comps and analyzing investment properties, feel free to check our REIQ Investment Tools here
Rule No. 2- There is always a surplus of cheap debt capital to finance acquisitions and investments in a hot market.
Buyers will start accepting over-optimistic financial forecasts to take on high levels of debt. Unfortunately, most of these forecasts tend to not materialize once the economy starts declining. Be aware of the news updates, read articles and relevant resources. Do not be too aggressive in taking action, instead, be patient and observe.
Rule No. 3- Loose credit conditions and a strong market can make it easy for individuals without any particular strategy to make money accidentally.
History opens new perspectives by revisiting the past. Just as with an economic recession, the COVID-19 pandemic Is a great opportunity for both new aspirants and experts in investing. There are rising opportunities every after fall. Find the courage to embrace the risk and carefully navigate the ups and downs of the market.
Reading insights
Reading insights
Get the point of view of experienced investors regarding this chapter. Here are the ideas that you can consider:
- Take massive actions and recognize the cycle
As discussed in the book, the market can go up and down.Staying in your comfort zone will not help you grow. Consider the routines of the cycle, learn from it, and take your actions accordingly! Doing the things within your sphere of mastery will not teach you new things. On the other hand, exploring matters you are not comfortable with opens a lot of paths to develop.
- Partner with people
Conquering your nervousness can be achieved best by partnering with people. Be part of a team and understand how the diverse experiences of people shape great deals. Having awesome partners is as easy as a click of a finger by checking our REIQ Community!
- Follow your intuition
There is time for observing and time for deciding. Once you are done calculating and assessing the surrounding events, do not hesitate to follow your intuition. The best case is you will get an amazing deal. The worst case is you will learn from your mistake. In both instances, you will win.
- Educate people
It is hard to depend on your people when your people are depending on you as well. As discussed in the book, independence is necessary. Never hesitate to train people so you can all work towards the same goal. Independence is the output of education. Have a continuous source of training and information by checking other REIQ Resources that you can access anytime.
Credits:
Stephen Schwarzman is the CEO and co-founder of Blackstone. He is a philanthropist who founded the Schwarzman Scholars.
Providing us with the reading insights are experienced investors Brent Mott, Michael Gefteas, Jon Yu, and Joseph Dela Cruz.
