A billboard serving as an ad for a Vancouver Yaletown realtor has led to the ire of some residents.
The tagline on the billboard for Ian Watt of Heller Murch Realty was “Making Yaletown unaffordable since 2005.”
We caught up with Watt and asked him why the controversial tagline was chosen and how he feels about the response to it getting online.
A picture of a billboard with the title “Greed has no shame” was shared on the Vancouver subreddit.
In response, some believed that the ad was a joke. Others suggested that some people playing the market would resonate with his billboard’s message.
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What did Watt have to say about it?
He acknowledged that real estate was a “sensitive issue” in Vancouver. He added that this billboard was inspired by someone who attended one of his open houses about four months ago and yelled at him, saying he was “the problem [and] why real estate is unaffordable.”
“I’m good at my job, and that’s why I’ve worked with people from our local Elsie Roy school teachers to the most powerful CEOs in our country,” Watt said.
“But am I that powerful to change the economic landscape of Vancouver? Give your heads a shake; I was being ironical.”
“Yes, that’s my word,” he said of ‘ironical.’
He concluded by saying that the message on the billboard was a laugh “towards the woman who tried to sabotage my client’s right to sell and for trying to blame me for being the most powerful realtor on the planet.”
The Vancouver realtor also had some thoughts on the state of the market.
“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. Now, because of the government’s inaction, it’s become unaffordable for young people who don’t have the bank of mom and dad behind them.” Watt said.
Watt also mentioned that potential solutions and realities like the empty homes tax and foreign buyer bans have seized the escalation of the problem, “but the governments aren’t doing anything to make it affordable.”
He also criticized the minimum wage, which he said was not “on par with places like Australia,” and the lack of rent rebates or support based on income levels.
“If people want to blame me for being the greatest realtor of all time, go ahead. At least I was being honest about the economic landscape in Yaletown for young people. Focus your energy on the real problem, not the guy who was just pointing out the problem. Wake up.”
He also shared the comment he initially gave to Daily Hive in an Instagram post.
What do you make of the realtor’s billboard and his response to the uproar?