Understanding a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)
There are generally two ways to find out how much your Treasure Coast real estate is worth in the market place to place up for sale. This is either through an Appraisal or a Comparative Market Analysis. Both are different in reaching a value for your real estate price. When you’re ready to find out more information about your home’s market value in the Treasure Coast, request a comparative market analysis to be performed on your home by one of our Stuart Florida real estate listing specialists.
Appraisals
An Appraisal is performed by a licensed appraiser hired by a lender such as a financial institution or bank. This gives the lender an idea of how much the real estate property may sell for in the Treasure Coast market. The appraisal information determines if a loan application can be acceptable for a potential home buyer, and at what terms. The home buyer may need to give more out-of-pocket money, or negotiate a lower price with the seller to meet the lender’s requirements. A real estate professional cannot perform an appraisal, but can only perform and provide a CMA.
CMA’s
A CMA is performed by a realtor to give the seller a sense of where their home property’s value should be within a marketing perspective. This is usually performed when real estate is in the process of being marketed to buyers, which includes being on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
- As part of the listing process for your home, many realtors prepare a CMA to establish a realistic price for it to sell at. A CMA is a written report comparing the subject home to other similar homes in the same neighborhood or other close by communities. The CMA format may vary for each real estate company and/or from agent to agent.
-
A CMA uses 3 types of homes to reach a price for the subject home:
- Currently Listed Homes for Sale
- Recently Sold Homes
- Homes That Didn’t Sell during its time on the MLS.
- Usually certain amenities, additions and/or improvements on other homes are considered to establish a closely matched realistic price for your home.
- The key to remember about a CMA is that, if properly researched, it will give you the hard numbers necessary to reach a realistic pricing decision. You may receive a lower price range from a realtor using a CMA than from other real estate agents who don’t use one. However, the final purchase price is usually closer to the CMA price than the estimated price without a CMA. Another important benefit of using a CMA is when a home is priced properly, it will usually sell faster, and closer to top “market” value.
- In addition, if a CMA is done on your home and then used with an estimate of selling costs, a reasonably accurate estimate of proceeds to you can be determined.ee
