All About The Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)

If you’ve sold a home with a real estate agent, there is a good chance that you’ve seen, or at least heard about, a comparative market analysis (CMA). The CMA is tool that real estate agents use to help determine the value of a home, and what they should list it on the market for.

What Goes Into A CMA?

In it’s most basic form, a CMA will have the the most recent sales that are comparable (comps) to the subject property. Most appraisers will use 6 months back as “recent”, but real estate agents will use up to 12 if needed.

Some agents will include active and pending homes as well, so that they can analyze what they will be up against when they list. It’s important to weight the actual SOLD comps the most, as those are the ones that have ACTUALLY CLOSED. Active and pending properties may not successfully close (especially if it’s way over priced), so you don’t want to price solely off of those.

How To Price Your Home Using A CMA

Once you have all of the relevant data points, you can make a more educated decision about where to list your home. First, take a look at the most relevant SOLD comps, starting with the closest in proximity to your own home. Did your neighbors house, that is exactly the same size as yours, sell last week? Well thats probably going to be your best comp. From there, it’s best to use the homes that are the closest in size, age, and upgrades.

It’s best if you have been inside, or at least have knowledge of the inside of the comps that you’re comparing your home too. It’s easy to say that your 3/2/1,800 sq home is the same as same as your neighbor’s, but did they have upgrades/bigger yard/a view?

I talked about CMA’s on episode 20 of my #AskARealtor web series. You can check out the entire episode here: