When you want to sell your house through a real estate agency, you will need to call to schedule an at-home visit with a real estate agent. When the agent comes to your home, he or she will take a look at it and write down features about it. The agent will then create a comparative market analysis (CMA), and here are three things to know about CMAs.

Why agents prepare CMAs

Most real estate agents create CMAs when listing homes, and they do this for one key reason – to determine how much your house is worth. You may not need one of these if you recently had your house appraised, but most people do not hire appraisers when selling a house.

The real estate market changes all the time, and a CMA is very useful for revealing how much your house is probably worth. When agents talk about the value of your home, they are referring to the amount someone in the current market would likely pay for your house.

By creating a CMA, your agent will have a good idea as to how much you should ask for your home. You do not have to choose the amount your agent suggests, but you should realize that agents are good at what they do. The amount your agent recommends is probably very realistic.

How agents prepare CMAs

To create a CMA, your agent will look at homes in your area that are similar to yours and that sold recently. The agent might stick with looking for homes that sold within the last three months, or he or she might use homes that sold in the last six months.

The agent will look at the selling price of these similar homes and will compare the homes to yours. For example, if one home is similar but has one less bedroom than your home, the agent might add a little bit to the selling price of the similar home when determining how much yours is worth. The extra bedroom you have is worth some money to a buyer.

The accuracy of CMAs

CMAs are usually fairly accurate when they are created, especially if the agent is able to find very similar homes. Keep in mind, though, that the real estate market fluctuates a lot. After creating the CMA, the value of your home could go up or down in the next few months depending on what happens in the market.

If you have questions about selling your home or its value, talk to an agent from local real estate services. He or she could create a CMA for your house, and this can help you know what it is currently worth.