If you have been exposed to the Real Estate industry in almost any way, shape or form then you have for sure been exposed to the popular marketing tactic of a FREE CMA!

If you are someone that is jumping into the real estate river for the first time then this may be a new concept for you and may be something you really have no idea about.

So what exactly is a CMA?  Well, a CMA stands for “Comparative Market Analysis”.  In short, it is a technical way of saying “What’s the market like where I live”.  Though this is something that most Realtors will offer up for free and many use as a marketing strategy of sorts, you should not overlook the importance of having one done.  Realtors offer them up for good reason.  They provide a solid report on how the real estate market is performing in your particular neighborhood.  These reports can be very short and to the point or could be a 50 page document. They tell you what homes are for sale, what homes have recently sold and for how much and can tell you what your home should sell for today.

A CMA is used to help initially price your home.  It takes into account the surrounding area and the current market performance and can deduct with pretty good accuracy a solid starting point at which to list your home.  These

For example…in simple terms, let’s say in your neighborhood 3 homes exactly the same as yours in terms of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage and whatever else…They are virtually identical in characteristics.  Now let’s say that these 3 homes have all been sold in the last 6 months between $325,000 and $350,000. With that knowledge you can deduct with pretty good certainty that your home would in fact sell for more than $300,000.

Now let’s say that your home has something that none of the other homes have.  Let’s say that your home has an in-ground pool.  We then would have to attach an overall value to the pool and can then adjust our listing price accordingly.  Same holds true if your home is the only home out of the 3 that does not have a pool.  You would then deduct a defined value from the estimated listing price.

The above of course is about as simple as it can get, but it does give you an idea of how a CMA works. It also gives you an idea of why a CMA is so important.  You get a snapshot in time of how your neighborhood is performing in the real estate market today.  You can use this CMA to gauge when the best time to sell would be for you.  Many realtors offer free CMA updates via email for you to track the changes over time and make an informed decision.

But in all honestly, though a CMA is thrown around for free and used by many as a marketing tactic it is actually one of, if not the most important information tools available and should be one of the first items you look at when you are thinking of selling your home.

Would you like a FREE CMA? CLICK HERE!

Tim Brown
Owner/Broker, Realtor®, ABR,CRS,CDPE®
Auctioneer NCAL#8560
Hines & Associates Realty
TeamHeidi
Direct Line: 704-619-1008
Client Care Line: 704-815-3208
www.CarolinaHomes4Sale.com