Property Investory
Aaron Bassin - Australian Fintech Bridging Finance: Why The Banks Can’t Help You
January 2, 2022
We sit down with CEO of new Aussie FinTech TechLend Aaron Bassin. He shares the real reason he started his business and why the lending market isn’t as competitive as you might think. We hear about his unique journey within the world of property finance as a first generation Australian and how he raised $500 million worth of business capital at only 27.
We return to our conversation with TechLend CEO Aaron Bassin. We discuss some of the best and worst investment strategies he’s witnessed during his career in the financial sector and how you can discern for yourself. Bassin tells us some of the personal habits that have set him up for financial success and how investing time in people reaps greater rewards than money.

Timestamps:
1.14 | The CEO Life
3.15 | Two Cultures - One Kid
8.52 | Start Now and Save
12.52 | Different Times, Different Challenges
16.57 | How Did I Get Here?
19.40 | A Bright and Exciting Future
23.31 | Nothing Comes Free
24.28 | It’s Scary Because It’s New

|

1.08 | Getting The Ball Rolling
3.35 | Bigger Isn’t Always Better
8.39 | There’s Got To Be Another Way
10.38 | ‘No One’s Advocating’
14.31 | Distant Predictions
15.25 | Property - An Often Bittersweet Taste
18.08 | Take Opportunities
21.17 | We Don’t Have To Look Far For Wisdom
24.33 | Big Things to Come

Resources and Links:

Transcript:
Aaron Bassin 
[5:27] My dad was working as a taxi driver, paying for my mom to go to accounting school at university and through that experience they were able to go and build something and eventually save up enough of a deposit to buy their first property. 

**INTRO MUSIC**

Tyrone Shum 
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 CEO of TechLend Aaron Bassin, who’s innovative FinTech company is set to disrupt financing across Australia. We’ll follow his journey as a chess-playing first-generation Australian, how he helped raise half a billion dollars in 4 years for MoneyMe, to helping everyday Aussies buy their dream home.

 **END INTRO MUSIC**
 
**START BACKGROUND MUSIC**

The CEO Life

Tyrone Shum 
As one of the newest CEO’s in the world of property, Bassin’s passion, expertise and vision make him such an exciting prospect. 

Aaron Bassin 
[0:42] I'm the CEO of Techlend. I started this business just under a year ago, we're a FinTech, focusing on property finance, and more specifically bridging finance. It's just a very timely and topical issue at the moment with high price appreciation and we'll go through that later through this podcast. I'm just a huge property enthusiast, technology enthusiast and I've been able to combine those passions and skills to now lead the charge as CEO for Techlend.

Tyrone Shum 
Speaking to different CEO’s, it is always fascinating to see how unique the experience is depending on the individual. This is especially the case for Bassin’s special stage of life. 

Aaron Bassin 
[1:36] As a recent dad, I have a four week old child, I'm waking up quite early in the morning and I like to get started on the working day. So I head into the office - I'm normally the first one in and I'm looking at ways we can really enhance our platform and technology to provide customers with the best user experience. My days are normally filled with lots of meetings with a team, product development and strategy, speaking to customers - being our direct borrowers, and also partners like brokers and real estate agents. The day of a CEO is different every day. It's quite broad and varied but at the end of the day, we're trying to create the best product possible for our customers and I'm always trying to find ways of doing that.

Tyrone Shum 
As a father of two, Bassin understands the profound impact of childhood on someone’s life. His own culturally blended upbringing has all but made him the man and CEO he is. 

Two Cultures - One Kid 



Aaron Bassin 

[3:28] I grew up in the suburbs in Sydney, in Bondi and I'm a first generation Australian. So, my parents had emigrated from Ukraine, just after the collapse of the Soviet Union and it was an interesting and varied upbringing. My parents learned English in their day jobs when they were young and so my first language was Russian. So, for me to grow up and assimilate in Australian culture took quite a long time, but I'm really proud of my heritage and my roots.  I think that's also helped form who I am, that son of an immigrant. It instils a really strong work ethic and determination, seeing what my parents were able to build and succeed in their own careers has formed a really amazing framework for what I seek to go and build and for myself and my family.

[5:01] So my parents actually immigrated separately and they met here in part of the ex Soviet Union community. Shortly after they got married and had me and that's also where my passion for property stems from - it's the great Australian dream to own a property, that's what we all strive for. When my parents were starting to build a family, we lived in Housing Commission, we had a one bedroom apartment, my grandparents lived in the same bedroom as myself and my parents and it was a real struggle at the beginning. My dad was working as a taxi driver, paying for my mom to go to accounting school at university and through that experience they were able to go and build something and eventually save up enough of a deposit to buy their first property. 

Tyrone Shum 
Seeing his parent’s own property journey transform their lives, set in motion Bassin’s own passions and goals. 

Aaron Bassin 
[6:04]  As property prices have appreciated greatly over the past 25-30 years, they were able to continue to build up on what they had achieved and sell that property, buy another property, and continue to build up their asset base. Just being a spectator, watching what they achieved was always so inspirational. I learned early on the value of what property is - property lasts forever, and there had been volatility in the market, but it's a much safer asset class than equities or cryptocurrency, which obviously serve their own purpose and do provide value. I've just always had such a passion for property and that stems from the way that I was brought up. 

Tyrone Shum 
Seeing the hard work of his immigrant family meant Bassin was exposed to financial realities from an early age, but it certainly wasn’t all hard memories. 

Aaron Bassin 
[7:13] My parents would go to work, and my grandparents would look after me. Actually, my great, great grandmother was alive at the time - she passed away when she was 99 years old - she actually was one of my mother figures. So, she helped raise me when my parents were going to work and it was really an amazing experience. I think it was obviously challenging for my parents, but for me, as a child, I grew up in a really loving and warm home, surrounded by a family that cared for me and loved me every day. That positivity in that environment is really special and I think has helped make me into the person and human I am today, being able to be kind and respectful to others, and understand that there are challenging times, and we work together, we're always better off through those challenging times. 

[8:30] Well, as an immigrant from the Soviet Union, the sport that I was encouraged to play was chess. I always remember having those discussions with my parents that I want to play soccer, because that's what all the Aussie boys are doing, and I want to go play an instrument, but they were like "No, you have to do chess." It was because it was just a cultural adjustment for my family. By the time it got to my younger brother, we had obviously assimilated a lot more, and there's a five year age gap between us and he was the one who played soccer and did all those cool sports.

[9:38] I mean there was like a chess club and so definitely I wasn't the only one. I mean, definitely that strategic thinking and analytical thinking from early ages is, I think, really important. So it's great that you've got your son playing chess. I'll do the same with my children, but I will also let them play some other sports as well if they want.

Start Now and Save

Tyrone Shum 
Bassin has tried to emulate the work ethic of his inspiring parents, throwing himself at his financial goals from an extremely early age. He says the success he has experienced at such a young age is a testament to this attitude.  

Aaron Bassin 
[10:21] I went to high school and graduated high school, then went to university, but probably something worth talking about was that work ethic that my parents demonstrated from an early age. I got my first job when I was 12 years old and I worked throughout high school and used my holidays to go and work even more to go save up money. By the time I was 20, I had saved enough money to actually buy my first property and so I just really was so passionate about what my parents had built and I was just obsessed - I'd have to go buy a property. My parents had helped me as well, so I didn't have all of the deposit, but I had most of it and they helped me with that as well financially. 

[11:16] It was the best decision that I wanted to do, my parents couldn't understand "why does a 20 year old want to get a mortgage, and, have all these commitments, he could be going out and having fun," but, no, that's what I really wanted to do. I look back at that and I'm so grateful - my family, my wife, my kids were living in that property that I bought 10 years ago, as a 20 year old, it's our home. So, it was the best decision I probably made and I knew that from an early age when I wanted to go and get those side jobs and worked in a warehouse packing boxes and worked in retail and did all sorts of things to be able to go and save up for that deposit.

Tyrone Shum 
Not only was Bassin’s work ethic developed in childhood, funnily enough, so was his understanding of property. 

Aaron Bassin 
[12:58] At that point, my parents already owned several properties - they're in their home, where they bought an old house and rebuilt it and they owned a few investment properties. Over time,it was the old hold and flip model that they could do, they couldn't afford to just go and accumulate a lot of assets, but they were able to monetize on the upside of their purchases, and continue to build up that portfolio. At the time, my parents already had several properties that they were able to own. My mum who was an accountant for my whole schooling years was actually looking to transition to go into property development, because at that stage, she had built up a lot of experience and understanding of property. The discussions at family dinner was around property, we would talk about and we would open up - in Sydney, we've got magazine called The Wentworth Courier, which is an eastern suburbs publication around properties - and we look at what properties are for sale and have discussions around where lending rates would go and they would tell me about how lending used to be at 16% interest back then, but properties when they bought their first one was only a few $100,000. So, it was always discussed around the table and instilled in who I am. 

Different Times, Different Challenges 

Tyrone Shum 
Bassin says that even though his parent’s began their investment journey in a different era and a different economy, real everyday challenges will always exist. 

Aaron Bassin 
[14:59] Yeah, it was all about survival. They were earning whatever it was that they earned at the time driving a taxi or waitressing, but most of what they earned had to go towards rent, or towards looking after their children. They got to the point where they think they realise that they wanted to own their own asset - they would appreciate it and pay off their mortgage as opposed to paying rent. So, that's why they've worked really hard to go buy that first property, and as the market started to appreciate, they're like, "Oh, hold on, you know, we bought this for x, and now it's worth Y? Well, I think we should work really hard towards building that into something that's more meaningful". I think it was a lot easier back then - to have the foresight to do it is one thing, and they definitely had that ambition. A lot of people who also immigrated at that time are not in the same position that they are now, and even people who didn't immigrate, who had the opportunity of being born in this country, weren't able to achieve what they did.  

[16:11]The property market back then was very different, the price of a house was just totally different. The median price of a property in Australia now is $800,000, which is a lot of money, and a lot of first home buyers can't get into the market today, because of how expensive it is, even though rates are low. To be able to save up that deposit and get in is extremely difficult.

[17:12] Some people saw that and probably, a lot of the property tycoons in Australia were fortunate to capitalise on that, but also, income levels were not as high, opportunities were not as available for the average white collar Australian. Even buying two $40,000 properties was a stretch, it wasn't that straightforward. It's a lot harder now. So it's just timing I guess and being able to recognise opportunity. 

How Did I Get Here? 

Tyrone Shum 
Bassin’s career path has been both varied and challenging. 

Aaron Bassin 
[17:58] I  studied commerce, majoring in finance and accounting. I found that to be really helpful in terms of my career development. I was able to go and get the jobs that I wanted to get to establish my career and I was able to also establish really long lasting relationships with university colleagues who I still am in touch with to this day.

[18:51] While I was in university, I actually got a cadetship at Morgan Stanley and so in my last year of university I was working there and studying simultaneously. Ultimately, it wasn't a work environment or career path that I wanted to pursue with Morgan Stanley so then I got a graduate job at Deloitte in their business advisory service line, leveraging my finance and accounting experience, which was a great experience. Following that I went to go and work at KPMG in their debt advisory practice, helping businesses raise capital, with a specialisation in FinTech, so I was able to work on a number of exciting portfolio clients at the time. This was when FinTech was just starting to be born in Australia, six, seven years ago and I did that for a number of years and was fortunate to be given the opportunity to go across to one of my clients at KPMG, which is a company called MoneyMe Financial Group. 

[20:52] Money Me provides online, personal finance, a very significant player in the space, and I was one of the early employees at the time and was in charge of establishing their funding programmes and helping raise that capital and putting it in place so that the business could grow. During my time there, I helped run the IPO - those are the businesses listed on the ASX in 2019. I helped raise over I think, probably half a billion dollars for the business and was part of a lot of the product innovation and delivery that they had established. It was a great company, great culture, it was an amazing experience. 

A Bright and Exciting Future 

Tyrone Shum 
All of Bassin’s prior opportunities and accomplishments have led him to his newest and most exciting venture - TechLend, a company he believes will change the way consumers and banks alike think about property financing. 

Aaron Bassin 
[21:01] Following that I left at the end of last year, and now started TechLend, which is also very exciting, using technology to provide customers with instantaneous outcomes in real-time for bridging finance, it's just a massive gap in the market, where banks are not being able to provide a competitive solution or even a solution at all. So, most of our customers, they think they can go to their bank that they've been with for a number of years - sometimes 20- 30 years and never missed the mortgage repayment - and their traditional bank says sorry, we can't provide you bridging finance, they're not set up to do so and it's not a priority of theirs. For them to go and originate a loan that's only for a few months, there's too much human touch point on their systems. So, they rather prioritise on a longer dated mortgage and ask the customer to find a solution. 

[22:07] That other solution historically has been to sell your property, go rent, go live with in-laws and then go buy. By that point, the market moves,  and it's inconvenient and it's expensive to go rent and pick up your house and pay for removal - it's just not the experience that modern consumers want. So TechLend provides that instant gratification, that confidence - you could be on your way to an auction or open home and you love the places - your new dream home.  We facilitate that same day approval to help them buy that new purchase before they've sold.

Tyrone Shum 
As he forms his own unique leadership style at TechLend, Bassin’s lived experiences have shown him the power of youthfulness and the power in providing opportunity. 

Aaron Bassin 
[23:03] One of the most amazing things about MoneyMe was our CEO surrounded himself with young, ambitious, hard working individuals, and fortunately he saw something in me and gave me that opportunity. I was hungry and determined, and  I think at the time I was 27. So, not many 27 year olds are sitting across the table with fund managers and investment bankers, discussing terms of structuring an IPO and listing process. My role there was head of group capital and strategy, so as an executive team reporting directly to the CEO I had an amazing platform to learn and develop and showcase my abilities. I'm really confident that I did a great job. It was a successful listing, the stock price is now up over 100% since listing, and I'm not saying that it was because of me the share prices are up, but to be part of that environment and contribute towards that was just incredible. I think that the average age of a Money Me employee is under 30. Clay the CEO has found incredibly hardworking, passionate, smart, fun people and created that work environment that encourages creative creativity, collaboration, and hard work. So yeah, I was still young, I still am young.

Nothing Comes Free 

Tyrone Shum 
Despite his age and impressive resume, not everything has fallen in Bassin’s lap. 

Aaron Bassin 
[25:20] Again, hard work and building relationships as well, with the different investors out there. It wasn't half a billion at once, it was through my time, through my four or five years with Money Me. Our first investor came in and provided 100 million, we'd later towards the end of my employment at Money Me helped put together a bank facility of $300 million from one of the big four banks. So, it was a combination of a number of facilities and transactions throughout that time, but it was a great experience. 

It’s Scary Because It’s New !

Tyrone Shum 
As CEO of any company, it’s important to believe in the product. In the case of TechLend, Bassin is not only confident but excited, because it’s different! 

Aaron Bassin 
[26:33] We use the equity in the current home to access and put towards a new purchase, in addition to the equity in the new purchase. So across both properties, we can lend up to 75% LVR, which is 75% of the combined value of both properties, we can provide as a loan secured against both properties. So, because the prices have appreciated significantly, a lot of existing homeowners have a considerable amount of equity in their home. Prices have gone up, people have been holding on to their assets for 5-10 years as they've been paying down their mortgage, and so we help Mum and Dad transition to the new purchase. So, they could have found their dream home, but they're not ready to sell their existing one. It's on the market, or they haven't realised the liquidity of the sale, and so we'll help them with that new purchase. They'll move in, they'll sell their house as they need and when they sell, they pay down their loan and we kind of cover that entire spectrum of the process. So their stress free and hassle free and convenient.

[28:00] So we charge a transaction fee of 1.99% and that's upfront on the loan amount. Then there are no other fees for three months, it's an interest free facility for three months, after the three month period, we charge interest at 5.99% and it's only charged daily for the amount of time that our borrower needs to bridge, typically a bridging period takes less than three months. So, most of our customers will just pay that one off transaction fee, which by the way, they don't need to pay, it just comes out of the loan when they sell the house. So, there's no repayments required for our customers, we try to make it as frictionless and seamless as possible, because at the end of the day, customers are asset rich, they're not cash rich. 
[28:49] So, most Australians - income growth hasn't been as strong as asset growth in this country, so people's expenses and commitments and income has stayed largely the same. In fact, expenses have probably increased and during COVID goods have increased in price. So, people's cost bases of our increasing income levels are not increasing as much, so it's very hard for them to manage two mortgages at the same time, or to make multiple repayments and commitments. So, we try to make that process as easy as possible. We provide a no repayment facility for that bridge and once they sell their house, they pay off their loan.

Tyrone Shum
Even though it’s new, Bassin says TechLend is certainly not a one-trick pony and will only grow in future. 

Aaron Bassin 
[29:56] When I say we use the equity, we use the equity to be able to provide them with a loan facility. The way that we then provide that capital is we were funded by a group called Partners for Growth based out in Silicon Valley, and they provided us a $50 million investment when we launched to market and that was in June, so about four months ago. Since then, we've had over 200 million in applications come through our platform and we're providing Mums and Dads and everyday Australians with the best bridging product in the market. 

[30:51] Well, because the term is quite short - it's less than three months each line on average - so it's not outstanding forever. So, the facility can cycle and rollover. We're growing and we're seeking further investment to continue to keep up. By the way, this is with zero marketing, so we haven't even started really selling and pushing out our product. Brokers and customers are referring our product through word of mouth and experience and also through our network.

Tyrone Shum 
Despite being so young, Bassin’s first property purchase was a long time coming. 

Aaron Bassin 
[13:26] From an early age, I was always kind of reading the paper, seeing where properties were being listed and I downloaded the REA app or domain app and had  parameters around small apartments that I could try for. I just kept looking, kept looking, kept saving, trying to find the right property. We ended up finding the place that I bought now and was fortunate to be able to actually buy it. It was a deceased estate at the time and I think from memory, there wasn't a lot of interest around the property, it needed a bit of work. I thought that was a perfect opportunity for me to try to get into the market. My parents agreed to help me with the gap and funds that I needed to purchase it and having a mortgage I obviously couldn't afford to go and move in. I didn't even have a full time job at the time, I was still at university. So, I put some tenants in there who were paying rent and that would allow me to make repayments on the mortgage. The price of the property side started to appreciate, when we got married, I refinanced that property and took out some equity through the bank to do a renovation. I loved that project that was so awesome, like literally painting walls and pulling out carpets and installing lights - It was a DIY kind of renovation. It was just such an amazing bonding experience for the entire family to go and contribute towards that. Then after the renovation we moved in and shortly had my first daughter. So, it's just been an incredible kind of journey and it's been awesome.

[16:11] I bought another investment property a couple years ago in Bondi, but at that point, that's the extent of my property portfolio at the moment.

Bigger Isn’t Always Better

Tyrone Shum
Similar to the strategy of his first purchase, Bassin’s strategy with TechLend has risen from a huge gap in the market… and it all starts, or stops, with the banks. 

Aaron Bassin 

[0:34] What you'll find is, there are some banks, which actually won't even provide that loan anyway, so it's just not a well thought-out process. From their perspective, it takes far too long if a big four bank can take up to two months to give you an approval on a bridging loan, or any loan to be honest. So, it's just not a good customer experience, and so by providing customers with real time outcomes, same day approval,  it's just an amazing product for anyone considering to bridge. 

Tyrone Shum
Bassin, like many visionaries, thinks technology is the future of property finance. Making our lives easier so we don’t have to think too hard when it comes to financing a property. 

Aaron Bassin 
[1:52] The technology underpins why we can do what we do and why we're better than the traditional lenders. So, we use a lot of data to help underpin our decisions. The data is based more around the property values, the property dynamics, we look at a unique approach and a new lens to how we approach our lending, which is why we can make much faster and much more agile decisions. Further, we've bought this business in 2021  and so we're using brand new modern technologies that didn't exist even six years ago.  The banks are using things that were built 50 years ago, and they're trying to spend millions of dollars a month to try and improve what they have. To be honest, they need to throw that stuff in the bin and start from scratch, because you can't continue just to add more complexity on complexity. We've started with a clean palette, we're using the most innovative and simple technologies to create a complex and amazing infrastructure, and ultimately provide customers with faster decisioning, with faster experiences - and with more smarts and analytics. That's what's really important about how we analyse our lending, is to be able to make really analytical and smart decisions. That's why our technology is first class.

Tyrone Shum 
Not only does TechLend make the bridging process smoother, Bassin says unlike traditional lenders it can’t make mistakes. 

Aaron Bassin 
[4:33] It's technology being used to make those risk assessments. So, we've got a digital application process, there's no paperwork involved. We don't accept anything in paper and we have customers up to the age of 80-something applying and they love it because they can do it on their fingertips. They Google TechLend and within a few minutes they're getting outcomes. So, it starts with a really simple and user-friendly application process where we ask questions in plain English, because some of these mortgage forms are so complicated and it's confusing to be able to actually complete.  Sometimes you get it wrong and the broker has to come back to you or the bank has to come back to you. So, we've designed that application process to have a really simple and clear layout and language. Once it comes into our system, we have frameworks and decisioning engines and rules around how we assess that customer's application.

[5:33] We've done that in a codified environment so that there is no bias. It doesn't matter what someone ate for breakfast, if they didn't have breakfast, and they're grumpy, and they don't want to approve a loan - that can't happen. There's no human bias. The system says, "Yes, this is a pass," or, "this is a fail." We've also tried to turn things into it. Yes, we are an all size fits all, inclusive lender, whereas a lot of banks out there and other lenders are one size only - only if you fit within this small box of parameters, will they approve you. Whereas, we try to have an open inclusive lending criteria, so that a bridging loan is a bridging loan for anyone. As long as the information that you're putting through the application is verified through our platform and makes sense and you can service that loan - it is a regulated consumer credit loan and it's responsible - then we'll approve you. So, we're happy to take the time to understand our customers and give them the outcomes that they deserve. 

There’s Got To Be Another Way…

Tyrone Shum 
Through seeing the frustration and difficulty of current bridging finance schemes, Bassin has set his team a goal - to give ordinary Australians an easier option. 

Aaron Bassin 
[7:10] We developed that all in house. So, none of that is licensed off the shelf or taken from anywhere else. It's all bespoke, built in house, and specifically tailored for bridging finance. That's why we can do what we do, because we are a single focus of bridging finance and what I seek to go and build with Techland is to be the most trusted and preferred bridging finance company in Australia. If you think bridging finance, I want Australians to think TechLend and you know it because right now if I asked you Tyrone do you know any bridging finance company? The answer is probably no, because it doesn't exist. The bank says that they have a product that they will consider, but they don't, they don't do it. If they do it, they don't do it well.

[8:31] On that point about mortgage brokers - their commissions at the banks pay them - they actually get clawed back for a bridging loan. So, if the loan gets repaid, or restructured or reduced in the first 12 months, the broker doesn't get paid for the work, so they'll take away their commission. So, a lot of brokers actually are turning away bridging loans. They don't want to write them because they're not going to get paid, because it's a free service for the customer, which is a great service, but they're not incentivized to help customers who need bridging loans. They'll say, "go try to deal directly with a bank," so what TechLend does is we pay our brokers a fair, upfront commission -it's not clawed back - we know what they're providing for us, and they're helping their customer and we're shifting that conversation.

‘No One’s Advocating’

Tyrone Shum 
Bassin’s desire to disrupt the property finance space comes from personal experience. 

Aaron Bassin
[9:40] We just saw that it was not a competitive part of the lending market. There's not a lot of focus. There's some great fintechs out there disrupting the big four banks and traditional mortgages - you've got Athena and 86 400 doing a great job, you've got Tic Toc, but they're all fighting against the same customer. No one's advocating for bridging clients, and no one's providing that service that really benefits the consumer. I think about my grandparents and my parents, if they need a bridging loan, who are they going to go to? Who's got their back?  I want TechLend to be that trusted brand that can help really provide some social good. Of course, we make financial gain in the process as a business, but we're actually benefiting society. 

[12:15] Time, time - you don't want to be stressed and rushed into making a wrong decision.  This allows them to make the right decision, but also costs - they never had to pay stamp duty twice. As a downsizing retiree that's what you're going to live off, it's that money. So paying 5% of stamp duty, that can actually go a long way given that property prices are so expensive. 

[10:39] There's a perfect example of part of our customer base, which is the downsizer - so it's your grandparents. So, mum and dad, they're approaching retirement, they already retired, no one will lend to them, no one will give them a bridging loan. So, they actually have to sell their house and go live with you, or go and rent and it's a huge inconvenience. Whereas, they're a perfect customer for us. We help them with that bridging loan, we help them buy that downsized apartment and give them the time that they need to not be stressed and sell their existing house. There's 1.6 million downsizes in Australia over the next five years. They don't have a solution. I genuinely believe that TechLend is providing a benefit to society with our product.

Distant Predictions 

Tyrone Shum 
While a firm believer in long-term property capital growth, Bassin is hesitant about the near future. While this isn’t great for owners, new buyers could enter the market easier…

Aaron Bassin 
[20:08] I think when the borders open, I do expect prices to come down. I think there'll be people leaving Australia to go live overseas and travel. So, there'll be an increase in supply and I think that will ultimately drive prices down. Complemented with the possibility of RBA increasing rates and all the banks already increasing rates, so even before the RBA will I think it would be naive to think that prices will just keep increasing forever.

Property - An Often Bittersweet Taste 

Tyrone Shum 
Bassin certainly knows the often unmentioned reality of owning properties. His best advice stems from his own experiences.

Aaron Bassin 
[16:49]I don't know if it's a lesson but just a reflection that I hate auctions - they're so stressful.  There are so many places that we tried to buy, especially for my investment property, we try to buy and I would always get outbid. It's just so stressful, and knowing whether you pay the right price or not... it always feels expensive at the time, and we don't know the direction of where the market will move. During 2019, when COVID did come around there was a big shock to the market and prices had dropped, people were quite worried. So even though on average, for the past 25 years, prices have increased at like 6.4% per annum every year, on average. So, it's like a 3,000% return if you held properties for the past 25 years, but there have been down periods during that time. So, the advice I'd give around property investment, just with any investment, is to really do your research and to understand that markets do fluctuate. Property investment, it should be a long term investment, it's not a short term strategy to be able to try and make some quick bucks. You've got to think about capital gains tax, you've got stamp duty costs, you've got to manage the property - there's a lot of headaches - when you've got tenants and you have to actually maintain that property, things break and you have to replace them so there's costs involved. So, it's not straightforward.

[18:26] Now with uncertainty where interest rates are going to increase as well, being able to be confident that you've got the job stability and security to be able to meet your servicing repayments, because the last thing you want to do is fall behind on mortgage repayments. It's a very serious concept too and the repercussions are very significant. So, my advice is do your research, be really sure that this is the right property that is right for you at this time. You don't want to be rushing into such a major financial decision, especially now when the market is hot. There's a lot of FOMO investing, borrowers say, "I want to buy this place, because if I don't, it's going to be more expensive or I'm going to miss out." Well, that's okay. Make sure that you're buying the right property, because the cost of buying the wrong property is more dear than missing out at the auction at that time.

Take Opportunities

Tyrone Shum 
Reflecting on his journey so far, Bassin doesn’t take anything for granted. 

Aaron Bassin 
[21:13] I think it's been a combination of aha moments. There's a lot of luck involved in timing - I applied to a lot of graduate jobs and got rejected a lot - it happened to be that some of those companies were the ones that accepted me. If I hadn't taken that position, my life would be very, very different today. So, I think it's just being grateful around knowing when an opportunity presents itself, and being brave enough to take it. When I took the job at Money Me, the company had at the time had five full time employees. It was a very small startup but it was the best decision I've made in my career so far. So, it's really knowing when an opportunity presents itself and not being afraid to take it and take a risk. What you currently know you can always fall back on that, you can always go back, but if you don't have a crack and give yourself an opportunity to evolve and better yourself, then I think that would be a shame to miss out on those opportunities.

Tyrone Shum 
Bassin hasn’t always been a fully formed CEO investor, in fact, he’d say he is still learning and developing. He says the best way to improve is by being teachable and curious, but it requires the support of others. 

Aaron Bassin 
[22:52] I love reading the AFR. That's definitely something I recommend all your listeners to to get on and keep up with news. I read Bloomberg and also the Sydney Morning Herald, just to keep up with what's happening. Being in the property space, I subscribe to Core Logic, they provide a lot of interesting trends around what's happening. From a mental perspective, my greatest mentor in life has been my mother. I call her almost every day, and discuss with her and talk about my challenges and opportunities and get her advice. So, it's really important to have that close person - it doesn't have to be relative, but to have someone in your life who you can turn to and help you through decisions that need to be made and help guide and support you. Also through my career I've had many managers and mentors. When I was at Deloitte and KPMG, I had colleagues, managers who helped me when I needed to and took the time to teach me. So, one of the big things that I encourage at TechLend is pausing and being able to support other employees and help guide them and better themselves and create an environment where everyone can continue to learn and develop.

We Don’t Have To Look Far For Wisdom 

Tyrone Shum 
Despite having numerous professional mentors that have helped forge his various skills, Bassin’s mother is his greatest teacher. 

Aaron Bassin
[24:38] She's a very strong, passionate and amazing woman. Her everyday sacrifices, just phenomenal. Some of the things that she's done, I just think it's something that you'd read in a story, in a book or watching one of those movies. She's also really tough and she pushed me to be who I am. Yeah, she's awesome. 

Tyrone Shum 
While Bassin has learnt lessons about investing and the property market, he is slowly realising that some of his best teachable moments aren’t about money at all. 

Aaron Bassin  
[25:36] I always knew, from an early age, I wanted to be a dad. It was always really career driven, I kind of set those goals really quite early. I think I've delivered on most of what I had set out to achieve, where I am today. So, I would say well done, mate, keep up the good work and don't lose sight on setting those goals and trying to better yourself, and make sure you find time for yourself as well. I think sometimes, even now, I kind of work really hard and aren't able to always invest time in myself. I think that's really important as I get older and building our family is to be able to switch off from work and focus on family and myself.

[26:56] I'll be in the shower and I'll just be thinking about work, or eating breakfast and it's sometimes just hard to turn it off. It's important to try and disconnect and spend quality time with family. We spend most of our day at work, and so the time that we're not there it's important to be present with our families and our loved ones.

Tyrone Shum 
Bassin is aware that good circumstances play a part in any investor’s success, but he also knows they can’t entirely dictate the outcome. 

Aaron Bassin 
[29:32] I have to say it's probably 50-50. Nothing happens without luck in this world - timing, people you know, where you are, your upbringing, all of that is luck. Having been born to my parents, that is lucky. At the same time I did, and have worked my butt off. I've put in a lot of effort into getting myself where I am. I've really tried to push myself and be ambitious and make sure that I can meet those goals. So, it's both, and I think that anyone in my position would probably think the same. So, luck and hard work - they go hand in hand. 

Big Things To Come 

Tyrone Shum 
So what does the future hold for Bassin? 

Aaron Bassin 
[27:31] On a personal note, continuing to build my family and maybe own some more properties. In terms of TechLend I have ambitions to expand this product globally. So, New Zealand, Canada, the US, the UK, it's a global problem. We have very similar property dynamics in many of those geographies that I listed. So, I want to continue just to expand the product, provide customers with the best and most trusted bridging finance product in the world. If I can succeed at providing customers a good outcome, then the rest will follow. We have ambitions to IPO this business as well and continue to raise capital to support it - to build amazing teams and employees who are proud of wearing that TechLend T-Shirt and be part of that journey is what I have planned for the next five years. So it's quite a lot. I won’t deny that, but setting those goals and knowing what that could look like now, visualising that, it really helps.

**OUTRO** 

Tyrone Shum 
Thank you to Aaron Bassin, our guest on this episode of Property Investory.