After an ad for a Vancouver real estate agent caught the attention and ire of many residents late last week, some folks’ sentiments changed when they heard what the realtor had to say.
The initial reaction stemmed from Reddit, where someone took a picture of one of the billboards and posted it on the Vancouver subreddit.
Most of the reaction directed hateful comments toward the realtor, whose billboard said, “Making Yaletown unaffordable since 2005.”
However, after we published our story and folks had a chance to read why Ian Watt chose those words for a billboard, sentiments lightened, and some resonated with Watt’s thoughts about the real estate market in Vancouver.
Sadly, Watt informed Daily Hive Urbanized that after posting the comments he shared with us for the story to his Instagram page, he received some threats.
“It got crazy,” Watt said, adding that he’s “so shocked.”
“Some people are threatening the people who posted positive comments on my Instagram, so I shut that down,” Watt added.
“Who knew that saying Yaletown was unaffordable would make someone so angry? Having said that, I have hundreds of Yaletown residents saying they loved the billboard. Very polarizing.”
The comments section of our initial Daily Hive Urbanized story about the billboard was the same. Many agreed with Watt’s opinions, which led to some interesting discourse about the Vancouver real estate market in general.
“The reality is the government is to blame for allowing real estate to be traded like a stock for so many years instead of it being reserved as a place to reside,” Watt told us for our original story.
One reader responded, “He is simply a salesperson selling a product but telling it point blank. I don’t agree with his approach to getting new listings, but last time I checked, it is a free country. Many commenters correctly pointed out the root of our housing problem is the government lack of appropriate action. Instead of voting for those that hand out meaningless small amounts of cash/hot air, why don’t the ‘advocates’ protest in front of their elected officials’ offices?”
Another reader said Watt was “not wrong about this. If you own property, the free market is amazing. If you don’t, then too bad for you.”
“Good for him, telling it like it is,” someone else commented.
“At least he’s being honest about gentrification and classism.”
While Vancouver may be unaffordable for many, as the ad for the realtor suggests, we’ve seen some listings around Vancouver that suggest that housing prices, in some cases, are dropping. Folks interested in buying a home can only hope that the trend continues.
If you’re duking it out with the Vancouver real estate market and have a story to tell, email [email protected].