In this episode the devoted husband, father of two, and property and number lover shares all there is to know about his childhood growing up in Sydney. While there were many highs including those related to sports and friendships, there were also lows when it came to finances— which ultimately set him up for where he is today. Back on the upswing, he also delves into the unusual aspect of his time at university, how he met his wife, and why one of Australia’s cities is much more than its reputation.

Timestamps:
00:38 | All Property, All the Time
03:59 | Sydneysider
08:45 | Tumultuous Times
11:57 | Opportunities Arose
14:15 | What Movies Are Made Of
16:14 | Vision Board
20:31 | Come to Canberra
23:31 | IMF

Resources and Links:

[00:12:20] One thing that happened with all these experiences, I became very clear with what I wanted as well, which is a little bit unusual. And I knew at a very early stage that I wanted to be in business, I wanted to be in economics. Those were my passions. And that's what I was moving towards.

This is Property Investory where we talk to successful property investors to find out more about their stories, mindset and strategies.

 

I’m Tyrone Shum and in this episode we’re speaking with Redom Syed, the founder of Confidence Finance. As an award-winning mortgage broker, property is one of his biggest passions, but getting to where he is wasn’t an easy ride. Committed to providing financial education, Syed lives and breathes his three passions: Numbers, property, and his family.

Tyrone Shum:   

Having experienced what a lack of financial preparation can do for a family, Syed has been preparing for his career since he was a teenager. He founded Confidence Finance in 2015 after spending years as a Treasury economist. 

Redom Syed:   

[00:00:38] [I] left Treasury, began the mortgage broking company, and then began developing in and around when COVID started. So I'm all property person. And I love property, love talking about property, love researching property. It's just what I do all day, every day with our clients, with myself, with anyone I meet. So, property is my passion.

Tyrone Shum:   

He feeds his appetite for property through many different channels, including the Property Chat forum and his own podcast, Australian Property Talk. In addition to his day job and his roles as husband and father, his days are action-packed!

Redom Syed:   

[00:01:42] I wake up in the morning, I have a non negotiable, I must spend a little bit of time with my little girl. I've got two little girls, a toddler and a six month old. 

 

[00:01:54] So my toddler, I get her ready to start her day, that's my first hour of the day. Usually I wake up a little bit before and go for a swim. But first hour of the day, I do that, then I get out the door. 

  

[00:02:05] And I either come into my office, we're in Sydney, in Mascot. And I begin working in the mortgage broking space. So I handle a range of our clients. But I also manage our business, there's about 10 of us. So there's a lot of business and operational things that I need to address. 

  

[00:02:24] And then in around lunchtime, and a little bit after that I typically drive to our development sites. Not every day, but once or twice a week to check in on progress, have builder meetings, meetings with architects, engineers, things like that. 

  

[00:02:36] Issues do pop up in the development game. And across multiple sites, I put out fires that come to light. So yeah, it's property all day until I get home really,

Tyrone Shum:   

With two young children, life can be a bit of a juggle, but one he wouldn’t give up for anything.

Redom Syed:   

[00:03:16] I'm absolutely loving it. It is an incredibly intense time. Fathers will understand this, we do everything we can to support our families. And it's intense, is the word I use. It's from morning to night, go go go and maybe 20 minutes at the end of the night where the kids are asleep and you get a little breather, but then you realise it's 11pm and it's like, 'I'm tired'. So yeah, that's my day, but I absolutely love it. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Tyrone Shum:   

Syed grew up in Sydney and has lived here for as long as he can remember— except for one all-important stint interstate.

Redom Syed:   

[00:03:59] I came when I was one or two years old. And I went to school here, I went to uni here. I've lived here my whole life. And Sydney is my favorite city in pretty much the world. 

  

[00:04:10] I lived in Canberra for a few years when I joined Treasury. So I lived there for three or four years. I met my wife on the first day of uni. And we stayed together for 12 years. 12 [or] 13 years since then, got married halfway in that journey, had kids. So yeah, that's where I came from. I'm a Sydneysider. I might not look like it completely! But I'm a Sydneysider. My heritage is from Bangladesh. And so both my parents are Bengali, and so is my partner.

   

[00:04:52] I've got an older brother and an older sister. I was actually born in Libya. My parents worked there for a little bit. So I wasn't born in Bangladesh, but we can came via Bangladesh, I believe. So they were just working there temporarily. 

  

[00:05:05] And my brother, sister, they're both older than me. So they came to Australia, they didn't really have too much. It's a pretty common migrant story. They just sort of came here, thought it was a great country to live in, and then made a start in life.

Tyrone Shum:   

His parents chose to move the family to Australia for the opportunities available here. After settling in Sydney, those opportunities arose with the everyday Australian childhood he experienced.

Redom Syed:   

[00:05:39] Australia is one of the best countries in the world to live in. It's had that reputation for a long time. So my parents chose Australia. A lot of people in Bangladesh migrate out to other developed countries. So it was Canada, UK or Australia. I think those are the options, and my parents were seeking and they chose Australia.

   

[00:06:05] I went to Arncliffe Public, which is really interesting, because that's where most of my development sites are now. I love the area!

  

[00:06:15] My parents lived in Arncliffe at the time, and then at the end of primary school, I believe I was in year seven, they moved out west. So they sold the house in Arncliffe and then bought a bigger one out near Campbelltown. So then I went to East Hills Boys for high school. And yeah, pretty standard schooling experience in Australia.

Tyrone Shum:   

In typical Aussie fashion, one of his greatest childhood memories is playing sports. He looks back fondly on those days, and though he doesn’t play as much as he used to, his teammates are still by his side.

Redom Syed:   

[00:06:53] My two best friends are still my schoolmates. When we catch up, it's something else. That bond that we share that was built up from when we were in our teens. So yeah, it's probably out on the footy field playing touch footy or playing a game of cricket. These are just special Australian childhood memories that we have. They're irreplaceable, I think.

Tyrone Shum:   

[00:07:17] Do you still play them?

Redom Syed:   

[00:07:18] I turned on my PlayStation. I bought a PlayStation over the weekend, I turned it on for, like, 15 minutes. And I'm like, 'Wow, this is too hard for me. I'm getting too old for this'! I don't get time to do much of that. So yeah, it's just a quick little exercise session in the morning to just clear my head more than anything, not so much competitive sport anymore, unfortunately.

Tyrone Shum:   

While much of his childhood was idyllic, there was one component that was far from it. Unfortunately, it was a large component, but it ended up setting him on the path towards his career and his own family.

Redom Syed:   

[00:08:45] When I was in, I think it was around year 10, both my parents lost their jobs in that year, in and around then. So the timeframe is a little bit fuzzy, but that job loss actually led to the house being lost as well. So they couldn't make their mortgage repayments. 

  

[00:09:02] So we moved from Arncliffe to Campbelltown. I think the idea at the time was to reduce costs, but they ended up buying a bigger house. So it didn't actually reduce costs all that much. Anyway, they didn't pay their mortgage, interest rates rose during that period of time, they both lost their jobs. And effectively, we lost the family home. 

  

[00:09:21] So that happened in about year 10. And I was watching this and experiencing this more as an observer and just seeing my parents a little bit unhappy with the situation that they found themselves in. These things are little habits that happen year on year on year, day on day on day, just poor financial habits. And then eventually if you do that for long enough, you have consequences like the ones that my parents had. That was difficult for a couple of years. 

 

[00:09:51] But it's also extremely motivating for me. I was the youngest child. I had opportunities. I was in school, living in Australia, so I had opportunities to do really well for myself. And I love that about this country. 

  

[00:10:02] So I kind of saw what was happening and decided, 'You know what? I can't control so much. But my parents were sending me to school so I can control what I do here'. And my grades just kind of went from middle of the pack to just kind of acing everything I possibly could.

  

[00:10:23] It seemed very apparent at that age, my teachers would probably say it like, 'Something happened to this kid', like, it was just, it was just the normal kid having fun, like, playing games all the time. Now, he's super focused in the library, and just so disciplined, which is probably a little bit unusual for a 15 year old to be so focused. 

  

[00:10:40] And truth be told, that has remained with me pretty much since then. There's been an element of focus to the work I do, and my goals and my pursuits. And that's probably where it started. It was kind of a life shaping experience.

Tyrone Shum:   

While it was a tough time for the family, it ended up being a pivotal moment for Syed. Turning his focus to his schoolwork, he came across new opportunities he didn’t even know were possible.

Redom Syed:   

[00:11:57] This is where opportunities changed for me. 

  

[00:12:01] I did really well in the HSC, did really well in school. And then I got a scholarship into a business course. I was debating between options, my parents wanted me to study medicine, or these sort of courses that are more in line with community values. [But] it just wasn't for me.

  

[00:12:20] One thing that happened with all these experiences, I became very clear with what I wanted as well, which is a little bit unusual. And I knew at a very early stage that I wanted to be in business, I wanted to be in economics. Those were my passions. And that's what I was moving towards. 

  

[00:12:39] So I got a scholarship to do a co-op course in Sydney, which is like a cooperation between major businesses in Australia, and a university degree. So they joined together, and they give you a job at the end of it, and you do a few internships within them, and they pay you through the university experience. That made uni a fair bit easier for me. Because it was a wonderful business learning opportunity. And it was a great, great course. I met so many wonderful people who were doing so many amazing things. It was a small cohort of 40 within the business degree, which has probably thousands, it was just 40 of us. 

  

[00:13:20] So I had an opportunity to do this, I was probably the first person in my school to ever take on an opportunity like this. So it was great, that doors opened up for me. A lot of people helped. And a lot of people gave me opportunities to do well. 

  

[00:13:35] So I went into that course, met my wife on the first day, which is the best achievement at uni. You pay to get a degree, but like, I got married at the end of it.

Tyrone Shum:   

[00:13:48] You picked up your future wife at the same time.

Redom Syed:   

[00:13:50] [It] doesn't get any better than that. She's an amazing, amazing person. So it was a special sort of university experience for me.

Tyrone Shum:   

[00:14:01] Was she in a similar degree as you or a different degree?

Redom Syed:   

[00:14:04] She was in the same degree. She was one of the 40.

Coming up after the break, we journey into a meet-cute worthy of any good rom-com…

[00:14:36] But they had, like, a training camp for the first week about business school lessons and the first thing that you did was learn how to shake someone's hand.

He praises our nation’s capital and gives it the good press it deserves…

Redom Syed:   

[00:20:49] Which was actually a beautiful, wonderful time as well.

He shares a unique experience he had while he was there that may just have you dropping your fork on the floor.

Redom Syed:   

[00:23:44] I had a really cool experience. My last month actually, I was a fly on the wall, like [a] note taker and organiser for the IMF on their Australian visits. 

And that’s next. I’m Tyrone Shum and you’re listening to Property Investory.

Tyrone Shum:
The first day of any new experience can be stressful, but Syed took it in stride. For some people, they also hope to meet somebody special to share the ups and downs with.

Redom Syed: 

[00:14:15] On this course, the first day— it's like a proper business course, imagine, like, watching The Apprentice, or some version of that, but it's like a uni version of that with uni kids. And they're kind of teaching you to be a little bit like that. 

  

[00:14:27] So on the first day, I go into uni, and I'm like, 'I don't know what's gonna happen here, I'm going to do some course, learn about marketing or something. We'll see what happens'. 

  

[00:14:36] But they had, like, a training camp for the first week about business school lessons and the first thing that you did was learn how to shake someone's hand. And they went through a four step technique on these must have business lessons because you will need this in your day to day life. And the way I met my wife was actually practicing our handshakes. That is exactly how we met.

Tyrone Shum:   

Most university courses don’t teach the skills offered to Syed, and he took full advantage of what he was given.

Redom Syed:   

[00:16:14] It was three years, and then I chose to do— that was the co op program. And instead of taking a job— most of us take a job with one of the employers that are sponsoring the course— instead of taking a job, I decided I wanted to do my honours in economics.

  

[00:16:29] I'm the sort of guy that pins my future plans on the wall a little bit, especially at that age, when it was a bit more linear, like [where you] kind of can see where you're going a little bit more. Now my life is squiggly! But when things are a little bit more linear at the time, I had Treasury and RBA on my wall as like, 'I just have to work at these places one day'. It was kind of like a dream. 

  

[00:16:57] So that's why I did the honours in economics, because at those institutions to become a graduate there, you kind of have to do them, you're competing with elite talent across the country, and sometimes the globe that you need to have bare minimum qualification. So I did my honours in economics.

Tyrone Shum:   

While other companies were offering him fantastic stable opportunities during an uncertain economic period, he chose to follow his dream for the best chance of happiness.

Redom Syed:     

[00:18:01] There was income on the table and a job at [a] big four accounting firm or big banks that those jobs were. They're readily available. And at the time, I think it was 2008, as well, so graduate jobs were quite tricky to obtain during that year. And the employment mark was very different to the way it is, as of right now. 

  

[00:18:19] So that was lucrative in terms of, 'Here's your start, the door is open, come in and show what you can do and you'll do well over time'. And that door was taken by 30 of the 40 cohort people. Some of them, I've reached out to some of my clients. Some of them are on my LinkedIn, a couple are partners already at these really big institutions. So they're doing really, really well for themselves. 

  

[00:18:19] And for me, I needed to be doing economics. It was just kind of obvious to me, like, I had so much respect for policymaking, for what they did for the country, for the importance of the job as well. I just valued that a lot. So policymaking is something that's just dear to me. And I find it enthralling to think about. And that's kind of why I moved there. And I was always quite clear on that. 

  

[00:19:08] And Treasury and the RBA were the most obvious institutions. Treasury was my go to because they're just so core to policymaking and hit so many different areas of Australia. They have their hand on pretty much everything you see, you see a road that you drive on, it's probably funded by the federal government and Treasury will have some sort of role in that. 

  

[00:19:38] Any tax collections that we have, frameworks for how we make those decisions, and why we make those decisions, all of that sort of analytical sort of thing was really, really kind of playing to my strengths and playing to what I really enjoyed.

Tyrone Shum:   

After that he went straight to our nation’s capital to make his mark, and was pleasantly surprised by the city that greeted him. 

Redom Syed:   

[00:20:31] I went to Treasury, actually, in Canberra. That was when I first moved out of home as well, I believe. I moved out of home and moved into Canberra. I was 20 [or] 21 years old and was just a fresh face graduate trying to work out my way in Canberra. 

 

[00:20:49] Which was actually a beautiful, wonderful time as well, because so many Canberrans at that time [were] flooding in from other cities, and coming in and working together. And it was a lot of like minded people. 

  

[00:20:51] Canberra's probably the only place in Australia that I recognise where everyone is quite similar. It's just like, they pull together all these analytical policymaking type people and put them in one city. So it's quite different in Sydney, where you just meet so many people from different walks of life, different types of thinking. Canberra was policymakers. 

  

[00:21:19] So I went to Canberra for a few years, I was at Treasury for three [or] four years. And I stayed in Canberra for an extra year because my wife worked at Prime Minister and Cabinet at the time.

  

[00:21:35] She's always been one upping me. So that's the story of my life. I like it that way, too.

Tyrone Shum:   

While he had moved in a physical sense, he was still very much in tune with what was happening back in Sydney. His family’s financial situation had stabilised, but he recognises the struggle they went through is just starting for some.

Redom Syed:   

[00:22:27] It's a little bit sad, because I think through 2023, there may be a heightened level of this, because of all the interest rate rises that do occur. And people may have just adjusted too high and they need to adjust back down. 

  

[00:22:38] So they had adjusted their living standard back down. Things were probably a little bit painful from a societal perspective, because of what happened. So these are the scarring elements that happen, the mental scarring elements that happen when you go through some difficult moments. So there was a little bit of that. But they were back on track. And they lived in a small house [in a] cheaper sort of area. So they made it work.

Tyrone Shum:   

Syed worked at Treasury in Canberra for three years, and then started his mortgage broking business in his fourth year in the capital city.

Redom Syed:   

[00:23:31] I was a graduate, [I] kind of rose up, like what a standard sort of progression is with a graduate that had been there for three years. So you finish your graduate program, then you jump into a certain area. 

  

[00:23:44] I had a really cool experience. My last month actually, I was a fly on the wall, like [a] note taker and organiser for the IMF on their Australian visits. They come to Australia every two years. It's called their surveillance article. And they produce this report that says, 'This is the Australian economy. This is what we think about it. This is what you guys should do'. You know, blah, blah, blah. 

  

[00:24:07] But to produce that report, they go and meet anyone and everyone in economics in Australian policymaking. So they meet all the big four banks, they meet the RBA, they meet the RBA board, so APRA, ASIC [and so on].

Tyrone Shum:   

The IMF, or the International Monetary Fund, is the international agency that helps to manage financial systems across the globe.

Redom Syed:   

[00:24:45] And in particular, they help create programs, like debt programs for countries who are struggling to repay their debts. 

  

[00:24:53] And in return, they help those countries adjust their policies to bring together a better societal outcome. So that's by and large their aim. And the Australian role in that, Australia is part of that institution, we're a part of the global governing structure. And we as a country have sort of a reputation a little bit like Switzerland, to be just a voice there, a credible voice, with strong institutions that speak to these countries and on the board of the IMF.

  

[00:25:29] That's kind of Australia's role in this institution. And there's quite a few global institutions. But that's the IMF’s role in the global economy.

Tyrone Shum:   

He learnt a lot from the experience, and had a lot of fun at the same time.

Redom Syed:   

[00:26:18] This was towards the end of my time at Treasury, I think I'd already quit, and they knew it, but they wanted me to finish this project off. And the best part about this is I was in the room with all of their meetings. 

  

[00:26:31] So a big one was they had a lunch with— this one's an interesting story— the RBA board. And so Philip Lowe, current governor, was deputy governor at the time. And Governor Stevens was the governor at the time. 

  

[00:26:45] And one thing that I just didn't know and didn't understand is literally the RBA governor as a role. And when you are there with them, it's like a demigod in terms of the way everyone perceives them. It's like the president. Like they treat them like, 'Wow, you are the most important person in the country'. 

  

[00:27:05] So while we were sitting there and having lunch, and I was sitting next to them, just having lunch being like, 'This is cool. Like, I don't know what I'm doing here, but I'm gonna sit here and listen to these people'. But I didn't understand this dynamic so clearly, but the IMF clearly had the respect for the governor at the time. 

  

[00:27:22] And when Governor Stevens would say anything— he didn't say that much, but when he would open his mouth, literally everyone would stop even moving their knife. They'd just pause in, like, statue format. There I am just being like, 'Oh, this food is delicious. Yum, yum, yum!' And I just didn't understand... like, I have a lot of respect for them. But I didn't understand the showcasing of that respect, in that way. 

  

[00:27:46] So it's hard to fully appreciate unless you've met them, but the RBA governor, as a body, as an institution, as a role is one of the most powerful people in this country. And they're treated like that, and the respect is given to them.

Tyrone Shum:   

[00:28:01] [It] sounds like he's got a lot of influence, especially f you have to drop everything, literally your plates and stop making noise and listen to what he says.

Redom Syed:   

[00:28:08] You don't have to, but people were doing it.

Tyrone Shum:   

[00:28:10] But I think that just shows the amount of respect, because you don't want to be having clanking noise while he's talking over all that.

Redom Syed:   

[00:28:16] They didn't do it for anyone else though, it was just for him. So it's pretty interesting. And Phillip Lowe there as well. And his personability level, he's very different. He's just such a friendly person. And so all of that was super interesting.

  

[00:28:34] Wayne Byres was chair of APRA at the time, he's just moved on. [I] had a chance to talk to them. This was in 2014, as well. And if you remember, if your audience remembers at the time, that's when Australian lending was just shooting up, interest only loans were shooting up. Credit growth was running wild. And everyone was game planning. And IMF is just sitting there being like, 'Guys, what are you doing? You have this many interest only loans going up. Are you guys concerned? Do you want to think about this?' So those were the conversations being had. 

  

[00:29:01] So that was a really, really cool time, because it teaches you to think, [it] teaches you how they think when you're there and you have an insight into the way their minds work, what policy options they have, what they might consider next. That's what I took out of it. And that was my experience at Treasury. [It] taught me a super valuable skill: How to think. That was the biggest takeout that I got.

Redom Syed’s story continues in the next episode of Property Investory. He shares what compelled him to leave Treasury… 

 

[00:01:26] The change was motivated. It wasn't motivated by 'I don't like my life here', or 'I don't like this institution'.

 

The investing moment that wasn’t quite the highlight he wanted it to be…

 

[00:06:34] In hindsight, like, as a lesson, would I have done that again? No. That's probably not the best investing. But it was a start.

We dive into the details of his property portfolio.

[00:10:21] Then I started the mortgage broking business, and we bought a home to live in. And we bought, eventually, a couple years later, we bought a couple properties side by side.

 

And that’s next time on Property Investory.