Real estate glossary

The words you meet when buying, selling or renting a property in Québec, explained in plain language. These definitions are general information, not legal or financial advice — ask your broker, notary or lender about your own situation.

Last updated: October 8, 2026

Buying

Buyer's broker: A real estate broker who represents the buyer under a brokerage contract to purchase: they search for properties, advise on price and conditions, and negotiate for the buyer. In Québec, the broker who represents the seller cannot also represent the buyer in the same transaction; a buyer without a broker of their own receives only fair treatment from the seller's broker.
Counter-proposal: The seller's answer to a promise to purchase that changes some of its terms — price, dates, inclusions or conditions. A counter-proposal replaces the original offer, which can no longer be accepted; the buyer may accept it, refuse it or reply with a counter-proposal of their own.
Deed of sale: The notarial act that transfers ownership of a property from the seller to the buyer. In Québec it is signed before a notary, who then registers it in the land register.
Occupancy date: The date the buyer takes possession of the property. It is set in the promise to purchase and is often the day the deed of sale is signed, but it can be later if the seller needs time to move.
Open house: A set period when a property is open to anyone who wants to visit, without an appointment, usually hosted by the listing broker.
Pre-purchase inspection: A visual examination of a property by a building inspector, done after the promise to purchase is accepted and before its inspection condition expires. It looks for apparent defects and signs of hidden problems; the buyer can then accept the property, negotiate, or withdraw as the promise allows.
Promise to purchase: The written offer a buyer makes to buy a property at a stated price and on stated conditions. In Québec, when a broker is involved, it is made on the OACIQ's mandatory form; once the seller accepts it within the deadline, it binds both parties, subject to its conditions (financing, inspection, sale of the buyer's home and so on).
Showing: A scheduled visit of a property for a prospective buyer or tenant, usually arranged through the listing broker.
Virtual tour: An online walkthrough of a property — a 3D model, a 360° tour or a video — that lets people visit it remotely before booking a showing.
Welcome tax (transfer duties): The common name for the duties on the transfer of an immovable, which a buyer pays to the municipality after buying a property in Québec. They are calculated in brackets on the highest of the price paid, the price stated in the deed and the property's municipal assessment adjusted by the comparative factor; some municipalities, such as Montréal, apply higher brackets.

Selling

Asking price: The price at which a seller lists a property. The final sale price is negotiated and can be lower or higher.
Brokerage contract: The contract between a client and a real estate broker (or the agency the broker works for) that sets out what the broker will do, for how long, and how they are paid. For a residential property in Québec it is made on the OACIQ's mandatory forms — one to sell, another to purchase.
Centris: The inter-agency listing system and public listing website used by Québec's real estate brokers. It plays the role in Québec that MLS® systems play elsewhere in Canada.
Comparative market analysis: A broker's estimate of a property's market value based on recent sales of comparable properties nearby. It guides the asking price; it is not a certified appraisal.
Declarations by the seller: A mandatory OACIQ form in which a seller represented by a broker discloses what they know about the property — past water infiltration, repairs, defects, servitudes and similar facts. It is given to prospective buyers before they make a promise to purchase.
Exclusive brokerage contract: A brokerage contract to sell in which the seller gives one agency the exclusive right to sell the property for a set period. The agency is generally owed its remuneration if the property sells during that period, whoever finds the buyer, and the contract can extend that right to a sale concluded after it expires with a buyer introduced while it ran.
Inclusions and exclusions: The items sold with the property (inclusions — for example appliances, window coverings or a shed) and the ones the seller keeps (exclusions). They are listed in the brokerage contract and repeated in the promise to purchase.
Listing: A property a broker offers for sale or for rent, with its price, description, photos and facts. On Matchai, a published listing has its own page on the broker's Matchai Site.
Listing broker: The broker who holds the brokerage contract to sell and represents the seller: they set the price strategy and the marketing, publish the listing, organize showings and negotiate offers.
MLS®: Multiple Listing Service® — a database of listings shared among member brokers so that any of them can show and sell a property listed by another. MLS® and Multiple Listing Service® are marks owned by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).
Sold conditionally: The status of a property whose promise to purchase has been accepted but still depends on conditions — financing, inspection or the sale of the buyer's home, for example — that must be met or waived by set deadlines. The sale is firm only once they are.

Condos and co-ownership

Common portions: The parts of a condo building that belong to all co-owners — structure, roof, land, hallways, building systems. Some, such as a balcony or a parking space, can be common portions for restricted use: reserved to one unit while remaining common property.
Condo fees: The monthly contributions co-owners pay to the syndicate for common expenses — maintenance, the building's insurance, management — and for the contingency fund. Each unit pays according to its share.
Contingency fund: The reserve a syndicate of co-owners must build up to pay for major repairs and the replacement of common portions, funded by part of every co-owner's condo fees. A well-funded reserve lowers the risk of special assessments.
Declaration of co-ownership: The founding document of a divided co-ownership: the act constituting it, the building's by-laws and a description of the fractions. It sets each unit's share, the rules for using private and common portions, and how decisions are made.
Divided co-ownership: The usual form of condo ownership in Québec. Each owner holds a private portion (their unit), with its own lot number in the cadastre, plus a share of the common portions; the building is governed by a declaration of co-ownership and managed by a syndicate of co-owners.
Special assessment: A one-time contribution the syndicate asks co-owners to pay when the budget or the contingency fund cannot cover an expense, such as an unexpected major repair.
Syndicate of co-owners: The legal person made up of all the co-owners of a divided co-ownership. Through its board of directors it manages the common portions, adopts the budget, collects condo fees and maintains the contingency fund.
Undivided co-ownership: A form of ownership in which several people own the whole building together, each with a share, without a separate lot for each unit. An undivided co-ownership agreement usually sets who occupies which unit. Financing is harder to obtain than for a divided condo and often needs a larger down payment.

Financing

Amortization period: The total time it would take to repay a mortgage in full at the agreed payments, commonly 25 years. A longer amortization lowers each payment but raises the total interest paid.
Down payment: The part of the purchase price the buyer pays from their own funds rather than with the mortgage. In Canada the minimum is 5% on the first $500,000 of the price and more above that; with less than 20% down, the mortgage must be insured.
Mortgage loan insurance (CMHC): Insurance that protects the lender if the borrower defaults, required in Canada when the down payment is less than 20% of the price. It is offered by CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) and by private insurers; the premium is usually added to the mortgage.
Mortgage pre-approval: A lender's conditional commitment to lend up to a stated amount, usually with the interest rate held for a set period, based on the buyer's income, debts and credit. It shows sellers the buyer can finance the purchase, but it is not a final approval.
Mortgage stress test: The federal rule that requires borrowers to qualify at an interest rate higher than the one in their contract, to show they could still afford the payments if rates rose.
Mortgage term: The period during which the mortgage's interest rate and conditions are fixed, commonly one to five years. At the end of the term the mortgage is renewed, renegotiated or repaid.

Legal

Certificate of location: A document prepared by a land surveyor that describes a property's current situation against its titles, the cadastre and the applicable regulations — encroachments, servitudes, zoning, setbacks. Lenders and notaries usually require one that reflects the property as it is today.
Legal warranty of quality (latent defects): Under the Civil Code of Québec, the seller warrants that the property is free of latent defects: serious defects, not apparent to a prudent buyer, that existed at the time of the sale. A buyer who discovers one must notify the seller in writing within a reasonable time.
Municipal assessment: The value a municipality assigns to a property on its assessment roll to calculate property taxes. In Québec the roll is renewed every three years; the assessment is not the same thing as the property's current market value.
Notary: In Québec, a legal professional and public officer who prepares and receives the deed of sale and the hypothec (mortgage) deed, checks the titles and the seller's right to sell, holds the funds in trust, and registers the transaction in the land register.
OACIQ: The Organisme d'autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec, the body that supervises real estate and mortgage brokerage in Québec to protect the public. It issues brokers' licences, publishes the mandatory forms, handles complaints and inspects brokers' practices.
Sale without legal warranty: A sale in which the seller excludes the legal warranty of quality, so the buyer buys at their own risk and cannot claim for latent defects — except a defect the seller knew of and concealed. Common for estate sales and repossessions.
Zoning: Municipal by-laws that divide a territory into zones and set, for each one, the permitted uses, building types, density and setbacks. Check the zoning before planning to add a unit, run a business from home or rebuild; land in Québec's protected agricultural zone follows its own rules.

The property

Cadastre: Québec's official register of land lots. Every property has a lot number in the cadastre, which defines its boundaries and area and is used in deeds and certificates of location.
Living area (net and gross): The habitable floor area of a home. Net area is measured inside the walls; gross area is measured to the outside of exterior walls (or the centre of shared walls) and is larger. A listing should say which one it gives — in a condo, the measurements in the declaration of co-ownership and the actual net area can differ.
Lot area: The area of the land a property sits on, as described in the cadastre and the certificate of location — usually given in square feet or square metres.
Plex (duplex, triplex): A residential building with two or more dwellings, stacked or side by side — a duplex has two, a triplex three, a quadruplex four. Common in Montréal, plexes are often bought by an owner who lives in one unit and rents out the others.

Matchai

AI read: A verified visit of a listing page by an AI assistant fetching it for a person who asked about it. Matchai checks that the request really comes from the assistant before counting it, and shows AI reads per listing.
AI recommendation: A verified moment when an AI assistant showed one of a professional's listings to a person — for example in a conversation, through the Matchai app for AI assistants. Matchai counts recommendations per listing in the listing's statistics.
Energy: The credit that powers AI work on Matchai. Drafting a listing, researching a neighbourhood or running a workflow consumes Energy; every account starts with a free welcome amount and a small daily dose, and professionals can buy more.
Matchai Card: A professional's virtual business card, at an address like matchai.co/c/jane and usually opened by scanning a QR code. It shows their contact details and a few listings, and lets anyone save the contact to their phone.
Matchai Page: One public page per professional, at an address like jane.matchai.pro — photo, social links, listings, files and custom links — made to be shared in a social media bio.
Matchai Site: A real estate professional's website on Matchai, at an address like jane.matchai.co or on their own domain. Every listing they publish gets its own page there, readable by people and by AI assistants.