Latest / The Follio Property Podcast / The Truth About Buying a Home That They're Hiding | Jack Henderson Reveals

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The Truth About Buying a Home That They're Hiding | Jack Henderson Reveals · The Follio Property Podcast

• 0:00
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• 0:56
  If the outcome that the people want is income, buying your own home is the furthest place from that. Buying your own home will never give you income.
• 1:03
  I am like a massive, massive advocate for rent vesting. I call **** Jack, and this is the problem with the advice that you're giving to the public. Most often it's incorrect. I made the **** PPOI owner-occupier things in the bid. I think that information is misinformed. They then go and sell their property in place for residence on that advice and buy in Darwin. If I go and listen to some **** with crypto advice, and I do it, it's not the bloke who spruik the advice's fault, it's mine. Jack Henderson is one of Australia's most polarising property investors.
• 1:28
  Jack is a serial property investor. He started in 2020 and has built a property portfolio of 26 mil by the age of 26. Today, he reveals the blueprint he used to break the 30-year mortgage trap.
• 1:41
  Don't you think that's dangerous? Like, to be a financial planner, you now need to go to university. It really concerns me. And there's a lot of other companies out there now that are pumping markets that are f***ed. You can't tell me that investing in Darwin is a good place. It's not. Can you imagine if you had an extra $200,000 to invest every year over 30 years? Now, you got my attention when you f***ing razzed on me online. I was in the mirror of sparrings.
• 2:02
  You're listening to the Folio Property Podcast. I'm Rhys Bettle and I'm here each week with my co-host Lachlan Dallahunty. Lachlan, we caught up at the back end of last year and we said we want to go one step further in 2026. More guests, better guests. More guests, better guests. And we wrote out a bit of a list on who we wanted onto the podcast. And this man with us today was top of both our lists. So there you go. Jack Henderson, welcome to the- Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me. He got my attention when you razzed on me online. So there we go. I got it sent to me, I reckon, about.
• 2:32
  No shit a hundred times I was like mate do a react back to him Do a react back to him I was waiting for it I got the follow very quickly And I'm like this would be great Get the boxing gloves on and go for it Look you're a big character You know you walked in today Your outfit's outrageous You got the You're the horse Negative gearing An ancient friend of mine got me this That's the year of the horse Negative gearing hat on I mean was there a moment you kind of Was it like a pivotal moment that you were like Alright I'm going to lean into this
• 3:01
  Yeah, so I've always been different. Like growing up, I was always sort of similar. I mean, I was different to what I am right now, but I was always different from the kids I grew up with. But I was different in a bad way growing up. I was always the mischievous one. I was always the one getting my friends in trouble and their parents didn't really like me. So it was bad. And then as you start to mature and you work out, like if I keep doing this shit...
• 3:26
  It's going to go in one way and it's not going to be the best way. Or I can use this energy and this passion that I have for doing bad shit and getting into trouble and put it into something that I love. And fortunately, I found property. And when I got into the industry, I then sort of blended. I was dressed like you guys. You know, I was like a little bit more conservative in nature. I was wearing suits. I was in the eastern suburbs. I was trying to fit in.
• 3:47
  And it wasn't me. And then as I started to make more money, was less reliant because I was working for another company then. So I was like reliant on sort of fitting in with them. I started to make more money and be less reliant on other people. And then I found more people just like me because I am different. Yeah. And I've listened to a lot of your content in the lead up to this interview.
• 4:04
  You're all through my phrase just through the algorithm anyway. I think one of the things you said was the core message is correct and true. Yeah. But the way it's delivered is, you know, that's going to be an extra level of who I am just to get the audience attention. Yeah. And it also attracts the right type of people and the people who want to use our business and resonate with me. And it detracts the people that are not going to use us.
• 4:27
  And the more polarizing you are, let's use Trump as the example, regardless if you think he's good or bad or right or wrong, there are diehards that love him and there are people that f***ing hate him and want him dead. But because he is so divisive, that's what builds brand. Like, how would you, like, how would you summarize a property spruiker? Because this is the, I guess the big question is like, you know, we could...
• 4:49
  How are we not property spruikers? We could be perceived as property spruikers ourselves. For sure. We're talking property. Yeah, I mean, we spruik property as an investment, right? So we do spruik things. I suppose you either spruik the right or the wrong thing, though. So the reason I'm so passionate about the way that we invest and the way not to invest is because my parents got f***ing burnt by these pricks. When I was young, they bought the off-the-plan apartment. I did a full YouTube video on this the other day, and they bought a house and land package in Trugganina in Victoria. Both shitholes.
• 5:17
  They lost money on both of them. They held one for 13 years and lost money on it, which is unheard of. If they would have bought just the house next door to where they live, they would have tripled or quadrupled their money in that period of time. So I've seen firsthand what happens when you get it wrong. Now, don't get me wrong. If they continued to hold that property, the apartment in the Sunshine Coast, they probably would have made money now. But to not make money for 13 years, that's not a good investment. They made money because COVID, the printing machines were out and then all of a sudden everything grew in college, right?
• 5:45
  So I've seen firsthand what it can do. And it's not just the monetary impact that it has when you make the wrong investment. It's also then the mental impact. In fact, I try to do something. It didn't work. And then they just blanket rule property investing does not work. Right? That's what happens. 100%. So my strategy and the kind of properties that I buy and the stuff that I talk about, and this is why I'm so passionate about Perth as well. Perth has made money recently. No doubt about it. I didn't make a lot of money because I wasn't invested in Perth. But to invest in a location that has been very choppy for the 20 years prior to it, in my eyes, is high risk. Mm-hmm.
• 6:15
  I'm not saying you're not going to make money there, but I'm saying if the aim of the game is to not lose money, you just want to make sure you invest in a market that is consistent and doesn't have reliance on one industry, for example.
• 6:25
  But obviously, like, absolutely specialisation, there's markets within markets. And you can make, you know, through renovation or subdivision, even in a flat market, you can make really good returns. But if you look at typically where people make their wealth is when you see a macro market increase quite significantly in Perth, 80%. Adelaide's, you know, almost 90% since COVID. New South Wales broadly, what, probably sub 40%, 30 to 40% Newcastle and Sydney. Yeah, give or take.
• 6:50
  So if I was looking at that, and obviously you can pick those markets, I'm sure you've got examples above that. Is it a silly tactic to just double down on one market that's potentially probably underperformed in comparison to the rest of the country? Not really, because how long of a timeframe are you investing in?
• 7:05
  Since COVID, 80%, man, I'm investing for 30 years. Do I think a building in Paddington is going to outperform in a house in Bunbury? Over the long term. I'll play in my head 10 out of 10 times, right? So like that's how I invest. I will never sell. I've never sold one of my assets other than one office in Paddington, which I didn't sell, but I exited a business partner and had to sell it. So do you think that strategy works for, obviously for yourself and your type of client, but that certain strategy wouldn't be the best for, I don't know, mum and dad investor or someone who's just starting to scale a portfolio?
• 7:35
  Well, again, it depends on the kind of person they are. Because right now, there's no one that can say to me, I know this market's going to grow by 30% or 40% in the future, because it's just so many variables that we don't know, right? Like COVID was an anomaly because they printed a load of money.
• 7:53
  Don't you think that's our job as, I guess, a leading voice in the industry that we should be able to pick national markets based on the data that we track and interpret? Not really. I mean, real estate as a whole, it has a very good ability or it has an ability to repeat what it's done in the past. So good markets generally become better markets, not worse markets.
• 8:16
  Now, how much they grow by per year, when they're going to grow. Sure, you can track data, population growth, income growth, supply on market, all that shit. That all matters. But again, I'm not getting in and out of markets. So what something does now doesn't really matter all that much.
• 8:34
  Do I think that in 30 years' time, the property I'm buying today is going to be worth a significant amount more than it is right now? That's a bet I'm willing to make. So let's put our money into there. Let's continue to earn our day-to-day income in whatever it is that we do, business or your job. And then as that property has some growth, you invest in the next one and then you invest in the next one. And that's literally the strategy I've used. I've done all right out of it. And there's a lot of people, again, that have done very well out of doing...
• 8:59
  other things, but I've just seen the flip side of it. And there's a lot of other companies out there now that are pumping markets that are . You can't tell me that investing in Darwin is a good place. It's not. Why is anyone buying in Darwin? The only reason Darwin right now is having price growth is simply due to the influx of investors going into that market and the lack of supply that's in that market. As soon as investors stop buying, the owner occupies and not going to spend the money that houses are selling for. Have you ever met someone saying, I'm moving to Darwin?
• 9:27
  Interstate growth is negative, right? So I completely agree with Darwin on that one. That's the one that we can agree on. Mackay, F***, Townsville. Bundaberg, all that shit. It's all investor-driven.
• 9:39
  But if you do time and like... And the vast majority of Perth is investor-driven too. Sure, there are certain pockets where owner-occupied... 2.2 million people in that market. I would beg to differ that it's investor-driven. In Perth? In Perth. Yeah, of course. It's a big place too. 2.2 million people over half of Australia versus in a city that you're sitting in right now. Yeah, no, I'm just saying. I think to say Perth's investor-dominated is unfair. There is a lot of markets in Perth that people are not buying there to live.
• 10:09
  Oh, okay. Your Bunbury examples, your Geraldton, you won't even know where that is, your Kalgoorlies, potentially, but Perth as a city. Perth city, for sure. I think it's a beautiful place and you probably will do very well there long term if you invest in the right suburbs. There's no denying that. But most people who are investing from the east coast of Australia are not investing in those places. They're trying to get into, what's that just south of Perth? I went and ran the ultra-matter. Yeah, it's just Bunbury. Bunbury. Rocky Nand, Mandurah. That's right down the bottom. Mandurah. Yeah.
• 10:35
  I went and ran... No offense, Bunbury people. I ran an... Oh, man, if you get offended, that's on you, not me. I went and ran an ultra down in Bunbury. It was a 205-mile run. And it's f***ing all there. There's literally nothing there. And even Mandurah. It's like you drive out of Perth and you go from out to this beautiful city and then it's like desert.
• 10:57
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• 11:56
  I'm sorry.
• 11:57
  That's a growth area. It's a growth area. It's a growth area. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All costs are spending billions of dollars, the military, et cetera. But you made a very good point, and I definitely agree with the wave of properties brokers and buyers agents self-inflating these markets, particularly the regionals, because they can have a huge impact on these markets by going in there and buying thousands of property. Obviously, the business owners are getting in there first, taking their clients there, and then getting artificial inflation in that market. I agree. But these buyers agents, they come in different forms, shapes, and sizes, and they disguise themselves very differently.
• 12:27
  do you think this is a little bit it probably leans into one of your mates is it what's he run the buyers institute Benny yeah yeah just producing you know thousands of buyers agents that aren't educated don't know the property fundamentals know how to market themselves quite well like you Jack and having not done the course never will but having staff members have done the course just tell me
• 12:47
  The fundamental of that course is how to get exposure and how to get clients. No education is on property fundamentals. Don't you think that's dangerous? To be a financial planner, you now need to go to university, you've got to get qualified. We don't have to do that in our space and it really concerns me. Again, that's not the BAI's fault. The BAI have produced a course to say, here's how you can become a buyer's agent. Nothing wrong with that. If people use it wrong, that's on them.
• 13:09
  But they're out there, like, tomorrow. That's like saying, hey. Lockie here, the producer, tomorrow comes out. He's a buyer's agent, and he's given informed advice, financial, almost financial advice on where to invest in Australia. Don't you think something needs to change in the industry? I mean, yes and no. Like, I'm someone who's pretty self-accountable. If I go and listen to some f***,
• 13:28
  you know, spruik crypto advice, and I take it on board and I do it. It's not the bloke who spruik the advice's fault, it's mine for not doing enough research to work out that that was bad advice. Like we've got these beautiful things called iPhones these days and it doesn't take much research to work out what's right and what's wrong.
• 13:43
  So sure, there can be more regulation, but regulation generally f*** things as well. You know, like, do you think the financial planning industry is better off or worse off with regulation? It's definitely worse off. There were some things that the minority were doing wrong that they shouldn't have been doing. But now because of all the regulation in the financial planning industry, there's way less financial planners...
• 14:02
  And they have to charge high fees. And they can't say things. They have to, like, it's terrible. Like, I think over-regulation is really, really bad. Under-regulation also has its risks, you know. I mean, would I rather over or under-regulation in, you know, avionics or airplanes? Probably over-regulation because I don't want to fall out of the sky. What about asset selection? Like, what are some of the key fundamentals you look at in an asset?
• 14:24
  One of the main things is historical growth of a location. Are we looking for north of 6.5% thereabouts? Yeah, I mean, the Australian average is what? Just under 7% compounding. If you're doing better than the Australian average, that's an asset that...