What is a CMA?

Q - Real estate agents often advertise that they will do a free CMA.  How does that help me if I want to sell my house?

A - A Comparative Market Anaysis (CMA) will assist you in selecting the best price for your home.  Your real estate agent uses information regarding current properties on the market and those which have recently sold and are similar to yours in terms of size, location, age and other relevant criteria.  This process will give you a price range.  Remember that you, as seller, decide what price to list your property.  The agent provides you with the information.

There is a second step that I like to recommend.  It is good to see the context of the properties that the real estate agent selected.  I suggest that your agent give you a print out of approximately 20 properties that are above and below the price range selected for both current properties and sold properties. You can then see where these selected properties fit among all other properties in a wider price range.  This reduces any biases that may be present in the selection process and gives the seller an opportunity to see these properties in a larger context.

Seeing the bigger picture, you can then select the price with greater confidence and can make adjustments as the market changes should this be required.