Agreement of Purchase and Sale
A legal agreement that offers a certain price for a home. The offer may be firm (no conditions attached), or conditional (certain conditions must be fulfilled before the deal can be closed).

Amortization
The period of time it takes to pay off your mortgage in full. A typical amortization is 25 years in Canada, but recently 30 and 35 year amortizations (and even 40) have been available. The longer the amortization, the lower the monthly payment, but also the greater the amount of interest paid over the life of the mortgage.

Appraisal
A process which determines the market value of property. This will usually be performed by a professional appraiser who will prepare a comprehensive report complete with photographs of the home.

Appraisal Value
An estimate of the market value of the property. Lenders use the lesser of the purchase price or appraised value when lending against a property.