Adjustments:
Property taxes and/or utility bills (electricity, gas, fuel), condominium common expenses, if any, that have been prepaid by the vendor are pro-rated and paid by the purchaser to the vendor on closing. This can involve an expenditure of several hundred dollars payable when the sale is completed.

Amortization:
The number of years it takes to repay the entire amount of a mortgage. The conventional amortization period for a mortgage is anywhere between 15 and 25 years. The shorter the amortization period, the less interest you have to pay.

Appraisal:
The act or process of estimating value. In real estate this is an estimate of a property's market value used by lenders in determining the amount of the mortgage. This value may or may not match the purchase price of the home. The process of appraising is complex due to many factors that affect the value of real estate.

Appreciation:
The increase of a property's value over time.

Appurtenance:
Something vhich is outside the real property itself, but belongs to the land and is joined thereto. It adds to greater enjoyment of the land. A right-of-way is an appurtenance.

Asking (list) price:
The price placed on the property for sale by the seller.

Assessment:
The value of a property, set by the local municipality, for the purposes of calculating property tax.

Assignment of Interest:
A legal assignment of interest in a mortgage to have full legal effect without having to discharge and re-register the existing one. Assignment of interest is particularly useful in:
- Switch situations, where the costs of transferring lenders would otherwise be very high.
- Second mortgage situations where a postponement may be difficult to obtain.

Assumable Mortgage:
A mortgage held on a property by the seller that can be taken over by the buyer, who then accepts responsibility, for making the mortgage payments.

Assumption Agreement:
A legal document signed by a home buyer which requires the buyer to assume responsibility for the obligations of a mortgage made by a former owner.