HENRY THE STUNTMAN

On board Henry Kaye's "Property Titanic".

The investing maxim, read-the-fine-print, has seldom applied more than to the latest sales campaign by property charlatan-cum-stuntman, Henry Kaye.

Make no mistake, property investors, Henry wants your money. And he has now come up with perhaps the most audacious stunt ever conceived to get you to part with your cash.

Be careful. Henry's ship is travelling fast. And there are icebergs ahead. Hopefully, a big one called ASIC. Or perhaps the ACCC. Someone has to rescue his passengers. And save the others he wants to have climb aboard his 'Property Titanic'.

If the consequences weren't so frightening, this latest stunt of Henry's would be almost comical.

A series of large advertisements is being placed in major newspapers. Anyone who doesn't know much about property (or Henry Kaye) may believe the message in these ads. The headline blazes, "I'll make 5 'ordinary' Australians into 'Property Millionaires' in just 6 months." There's a photo of Henry holding a cheque for a million dollars. "If I fail, I'll sign this cheque for $1 million to charity," he says.

The advertisement, and the campaign it purports to launch is, according to Henry, a challenge to his critics – of which there are many – to "put up or shut up". Henry is hoping to attract thousands of consumers to five of his free seminars which are to be held in five cities. At each seminar, Henry will select one volunteer to become one of his five "property millionaires in 6 months". He will then personally coach them – under strict scrutiny (of course) – and, when they become millionaires, Henry says this will "silence his critics once and for all".

Good try, Henry. But first, let's go to the fine print.

Take the word millionaire, which the Macquarie dictionary defines as "a person worth a million dollars". You and the dictionary have different definitions for millionaire. Your inverted commas around the words 'Property Millionaire' lead us to your definition in the fine print, "Property Millionaire means someone who has secured $1 million of property, either in their own right, in a joint venture, or in a syndicate."

Oh, Henry, please. Bonds, options, JVs, hydraulicing or any so-called "innovative" property strategies do not make anyone a millionaire. There's an old saying in property, "It takes no brains to buy it, the skill is making a profit from it."

Sure, you claim to teach these skills. You say in your advertisement, "Shouldn't it be my right to teach others how I did it?"

Well, that depends on three things. First, what you are teaching, second, whether mums and dads have the capacity to implement what you are teaching and third, how much you are charging them.

These are the three reasons you have so many critics. People from all walks of life – from single mums renting flats to elderly pensioners at shopping malls – have, between them, paid you tens of millions of dollars. They have nothing to show for it. In their opinion, you have fleeced them.

And now, you intend to do it again. This latest stunt is not about getting five volunteers that you can turn into millionaires. It's about getting thousands more mums and dads to pay you more millions. You even say it in your ad – "I'm also seeking 1,000 "ordinary" people to help me make world history. I'll turn them all into "property millionaires" with these very same strategies." You then say that those who "come on board" will be "paying clients".

Yeah, right. And how much will they be paying as they hop aboard 'Henry's Property Titanic'? $15,000 each? Or will they move up the scale and pay $55,000 each? There seems no limit to what Henry charges. The promises he makes, the guarantees he gives. And the people he hurts.

This latest stunt could mean that Henry earns himself a cool $15 million. That's probably conservative. And the money being paid to Henry is real money. It's making him a real multi-millionaire. Not a fine-print Henry-Kaye-definition 'property millionaire'.

Here are some final questions for Henry.

Three years ago you placed advertisements with the headline, 'You can retire a Multi-Millionaire in less than three years'. Now that the three years are up, where are all the mum and dad multi-millionaires? Why don't you advertise what happened to all those folk who responded to your past promises and handed you thousands of dollars from their savings accounts?

And why, now, are you looking for five volunteers to test your methods? You say that more than 100,000 Australians have done your courses. Why not choose some of these people?

Instead of asking for volunteers to test your methods, why don't you put yourself to the real test and agree to refund the millions you have already taken from mums and dads who have not been able to use your get-rich-quick methods?

You'd get a lot more than five volunteers if, instead of using stunts to lure new customers, you placed advertisements offering to refund money to your current customers.

The message to consumers is clear: Stay Away from Henry Kaye.

And there's another message to government regulators who have a duty to protect consumers:

Please sink Henry Kaye's 'Property Titanic'.


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Further Reading:
STAY AWAY FROM HENRY KAYE
AMBUSH AT THE MALL
HENRY THE RIPPER
HENRY KAYE DISTORTS THE TRUTH
PROPERTY EDUCATION RATS
HENRY KAYE - GO AWAY