Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from William Marks - JMP Securities.
William Marks - JMP Securities
Looking ahead, I know you are trying to help us with this, but maybe we can quantify it more. On first quarter, we obviously have an easier comp. If we assume today's markets, roughly what do you think the RevPAR would be down in the fourth quarter? Can you give us any feeling for that?
Laurence Geller
No. We are trying to avoid giving these forecasts. As you can see, the volatility is so high at the moment. I just don't know. I personally, as you can tell, am fairly optimistic about growth occurring. It's the rate of growth I can't forecast for the end of the year. And the end of the year is mixed with social business as well, so it's a harder one for us.
William Marks - JMP Securities
On asset sales, how important are these asset sales, to you? You don't necessarily have to sell them but maybe you can talk about it a little more.
Laurence Geller
There are asset sales that fit in with our long-term strategic objectives and there are asset sales that can provide us liquidity by being substantially over their debt levels or over their pay down on the line of credit levels.
There is no question that we have said, and continue to say, that we want incremental liquidity for both contingency purposes and just to be prudent, because ultimately we would like deleverage so we can restructure to take advantage of growth sometime in the future. And we know we have to deleverage to do that.
So asset sales are very important and a very efficient way of raising liquidity. They're probably the cheapest way in the market. And as we are seeing improvements in the overall economic environment, with GDP forecasts this week being increased, so are we seeing increased interest in our type of asset sales.
Remember, the scale and size of our assets mean that we are not a commodity seller. We don't have commodities like other assets. I mean, these are big-ticket items. So it is a narrow universe. But the amount of interest that has been raised over the past weeks just continues to grow and it makes us, again, optimistic that we can execute sooner or later against our stated plans and objectives.
William Marks - JMP Securities
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