Home Terms Main Page

This site contains comprehensive definitions for a wide range of terms that cover topics such as home, mortgage, insurance, homebuyer, real estate, property, buy home, home insurance, financing, home financing, home buyer, first time homebuyer, homes, homebuying, credit, condo...

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CLHIA

Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association.

Disability

Inability to work due to injury or sickness.

Insurance Policy (Credit Insurance)

A policy under which the insurance company promises to pay a benefit of the person who is insured.

Reinsurance

Process in which the risk of potential loss is shared between two or more insurers.

Term

The time period during which a policy is in force, or the time it takes for a policy to reach maturity.

Variable Annuity

A form of annuity policy under which the amount of each benefit is not guaranteed or specified. The amounts fluctuate according to the earnings of a separate investment account.

Whole Life

Component that provides life coverage during the insured's life.

Conventional Mortgage

A mortgage that does not exceed 80% of the purchase price of the home. Mortgages that exceed this limit must be insured against default, and are referred to as high-ratio mortgages (see below).

High Ratio Mortgage

If you don't have 20% of the lesser of the purchase price or appraised value of the property, your mortgage must be insured against payment default by a Mortgage Insurer, such as CMHC.

Coach home

One of a group of homes in a two-story building, with own garage and entrance.

Attic Ventilators

Screened openings in houses to allow for ventilation of an attic space.

Circuit Breaker

A device which looks like a switch and is usually located inside the electrical panel or circuit breaker box. It is designed to (1) shut of the power to portions or all of the house and (2) to limit the amount of power flowing through a circuit (measured in amperes). 110 volt household circuits require a fuse or circuit breaker with a rating of 15 or a maximum of 20 amps. '220' volt circuits may be designed for higher amperage loads e.g. a hot water heater may be designed for a 30 amp load and would therefore need a 30 amp fuse or breaker. also see GFI

Hip Roof

A pitched roof with sloping sides.

Polyethylene Vapor Barrier

Plastic film used to prevent moisture from passing through unfaced insulation. Both 4- and 6-mil polyethylene are preferred because they are less likely to be damaged during construction.

Right Reading Reverse Fee

Right reading reverse plans show the design flipped 180 degrees with all of the text reading normally. When you choose this option, we ship each set of purchased blueprints in this format.