The CMHC chief took issue with the agent's assertions that leverage creates "guaranteed" returns
The chief of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and a veteran Vancouver realtor have recently traded barbs over Twitter.
On Aug. 24, realtor Owen Bigland posted on how appreciating prices “guarantee” significant returns for buyers, and argued that a longer holding period of will “remove any downside.” Bigland closed the first few tweets with, “Leverage is how true wealth is built. You need to get your money working. #vanre”
CMHC CEO Evan Siddall, who is no stranger to volatile exchanges in the online platform, took umbrage at Bigland’s assertions.
https://twitter.com/ewsiddall/status/1298074792357224454
In a series of blistering posts up to Aug. 25, Siddall critiqued Bigland’s analysis and credentials, with the harshest being, “There should be laws against people like [Bigland] giving this kind of irresponsible financial advice.”
Sigh .... Because in your made-up world, house prices only go up. This kind of investment advice is like selling penny stocks because they’re cheap. You DO realize leverage works just as powerfully when prices go down ... or were you not alive in 2008-2009?
— Evan Siddall (@ewsiddall) August 25, 2020
Bigland has since called on Siddall to apologize for taking the earlier tweets grossly out of context. As of press time, Siddall has yet to respond to Bigland’s final points.
No hard feelings @ewsiddall but I think you owe me an apology. Took my tweet out of context spun it then ignored the first tweet on how leverage works both ways and always having a long term hold. What are u suggesting people rent long term and time markets? #vanre https://t.co/PQgI2FtQle
— OwenBigland (@owenbigland) August 25, 2020
“My reputation is everything,” Bigland said in an interview with Postmedia News. “I’m a huge believer in buying a principal residence, don’t over-leverage, put 20% down and just hold the damn thing. I’m not advocating people take on too much leverage.”
