WHAT’S YOUR END GAME STRATEGY?
When you play a board game or a card game, you always know the goal in advance. Whether it’s sophisticated like chess, or relatively simple like Battleship, the “win” is clearly defined at the start. The best players plan their moves early, to set themselves up for success.
For example, in Monopoly, one strategy is to go straight for Boardwalk. It’s the most expensive property on the board. Then you build houses, then a hotel, and then you happily charge rent to any unfortunate player who lands on your gold mine!
But what if you used a different strategy? What if you researched the stats? Where are players most likely to land on the Monopoly board? Then what if you bought those properties, put houses up, then bought hotels? For a little lockdown project, you could try both strategies at home. But back to reality …
COVID has a predictable end game: the vaccine(s).
This won’t last forever (unlike some Monopoly games!).
What would you be doing differently right now, if you KNEW when the vaccine would “rollout.” If “lockdown” is the new word for 2020, it already sounds like “rollout” is 2021’s new word. What if you KNEW when that rollout would reach a sufficient target population percentage? What if you could pinpoint the months where travel and the economy start to turn around?
Spoiler Alert: No one has that crystal ball.
So just like Monopoly, there is an element of rolling the dice. There are some unknowns. And like Chess, there are some moves that are essential—but also some moves that are more of an artistic strategy.
Now, for added joy, have you ever played a board game with someone who doesn’t know the rules? Their most common question is usually “why not?” Or have you played with a child, who just makes up the rules as they go—usually in their favor, of course. When the rules are a little fuzzy, the possibilities are limitless, and the game is ever-evolving.
Ironically, when you google “endgame” the urban dictionary has a completely different meaning. Endgame is defined as a relationship that appears to be unstoppable. Fascinating, but I digress …
So what’s a real estate investor to do? We know our starting point today (pass GO and collect $200). We know the end game is a sufficient number of people being vaccinated—globally! We don’t know the exact timeline (best guesses 12-18 months?).
Define your win(s). Plan your strategy in reverse. Then start making those early moves that will set you up for success as we all approach the endgame of this crisis.
It’s a bit like the recent Avengers’ movie: Endgame. It’s not easy, and there will be battles. But I agree with one of the main characters Nick Fury: “I still believe in heroes.” Your financial freedom needs you to be a hero, to fight the battles, and to know that the end game is coming soon.
