Spruiker gets taken down

Discussion in 'Property Experts' started by Paul@PAS, 11th Aug, 2017.

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  1. Paul@PAS

    Paul@PAS Tax, Accounting + SMSF + All things Property Tax Business Plus Member

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    We Buy Houses Pty Ltd / Rick Otten - Guilty. 10th August 2017. Sentance and penalties yet to be determined.

    Rick Otton found guilty of deceptive conduct provides a good summary of the issues and decision against the company and its sole Director.

    The Federal Court YET AGAIN confirmed that spruikers who sell strategies and seminars aimed at luring vulnerable and inexperienced people into what seemed like simple schemes to get rich...Doesnt work.

    Misleading and deceptive conduct in misrepresenting success in past performance. Federal Court basically confirmed what all clever people know...You cant buy a property for $1. They found he hadnt either and he milked vulnerable fools into thinking that he and fake student had.

    Lesson - Seminars, education sessions at high costs and boot camps dont teach. They sell and make money. Caveat Emptor. Rick Otton isnt the last one to be taken down.
     
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  2. Blacky

    Blacky Well-Known Member

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    Wow - $20++mil in revenue from courses.

    No wonder spruikers abound.

    Easier to make $20mil doing a couple of shows than in any other form of property.

    Blacky
     
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  3. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

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    Rick is another one who had a following on Somersoft.

    I went to one of his intro lectures, but didn't follow through because I didn't like the ethics of his techniques.
     
  4. Biz

    Biz Well-Known Member

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    R.otten
     
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  5. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

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    Btw some of his graduates did do well from his techniques, which involved selling on properties to tenants using vendor finance. Unlike many of the others, he is still out there giving seminars.

    It was vendor finance which I provided selling my business which cost me big time.
     
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  6. consumerrights

    consumerrights Member

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    In my experience, "success" for a student was often based on exploitation of desperate sellers/buyers for example Media release: ‘Vendor terms’ home ownership deal a fantasy with no basis in reality - Consumer Action A lot of Otton's presentation to students was all around using pressure selling tactics on desperate people.
     
  7. geoffw

    geoffw Moderator Staff Member

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    I agree. As I stated earlier, I chose not to follow through because I didn't like the ethics. But it was sold as something completely ethical- something that would help a struggler without a deposit to be able to buy their own homes. I just saw how many $$$ it would have cost them to do so.

    I wouldn't be able to go into business as a pawnbroker either.
     
  8. Ace in the Hole

    Ace in the Hole Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, but they would have done so much better keeping the properties and realizing huge amounts of CG instead of making a tiny upsell profit and small margin in interest charged.

    He over complicated it to make it look like a clever tactic, but it was just a lot of extra work for a poor result, as well as unethical in many cases.
     
  9. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

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    They need to bring a few more spruikers down, the wealth creation industry is full of riff raff, big promises, big fat fees, its a one way street. Then again when greed gets in the way, people will believe anything
     
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  10. Peter_Tersteeg

    Peter_Tersteeg Mortgage Broker Business Member

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    I agree but I don't think most spruikers start that way and they're fed by other peoples greed.

    I met Rick about 16 years ago when he was mostly doing vendor finance and doing the occasional small talk about it. He was successful in the VF field and a lot of people wanted to emulate him, driving the demand for seminars. I didn't think he was a bad guy, but it probably grew from there.

    I can think of numerous other people who have been successful at what they do. Others are hungry for their 'formula' and it turns into a seminar circuit or a business that's behaving badly. Spruikers are by no means innocent, but their clients aren't innocent either.
     
    Last edited: 15th Aug, 2017
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  11. Anthony416

    Anthony416 Well-Known Member

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    Everyone looks for short-cuts to wealth, some will take the moral low road to get there while others will not.
     
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