Standards – Can You Afford Them
Posted November 16th, 2009 in Real Estate, Real Estate Stuff | 
What Do You Mean
When the topic of discussion is about Vancouver homes, heard are words such as Adequate, Suitable and Affordable. Considering the current real estate rush in Vancouver, the latter occupies the largest portion of discussion.
Often found, these words appear in newspapers, web posts, television and radio. The assumption is that everybody knows what they mean.
Browsing through the Canada Mortgage and Housing site resulted in a definition for each.
Adequate
- According the current residents – adequate housing does not require any major repairs.
If you are buying, make sure you get an inspection. You may find that some people consider a leaky basement a feature. In their eyes it is an indoor swimming pool.
Suitable
This one is a little tricky as it incorporates something called the National Occupancy Standard (NOS). Accordingly it claims that based on the NOS requirements there should be:
- one bedroom for each co-habiting adult couple
- one bedroom for each unattached household member 18 and over
- one bedroom for same-sex children under 18
- opposite sex children under 18 should have separate bedrooms
- opposite sex children 5 or under can share a bedroom
Affordable
When buying will you meet this standard – housing that costs less than 30 percent of before-tax household income.
Don’t forget – the 30% includes:
- mortgage payments (principal and interest)
- condo fees
- heating
- electricity
- water
- other municipal services
4th
According to CMHC, between 2001 and 2006, Vancouver placed 4th on the ‘shelter-cost-to-income’ affordable housing survey – derived from the Census of Metropolitan Areas.
Based on this year’s Vancouver Market activity it is doubtful that Vancouver still ranks 4th.
*Disclaimer: From CMHC’s Recent Trends in Housing #7
