CMA - The best way to affordably know the value of your home

Want to know what your home is worth, but don’t trust Estimates or automated valuations?  You’ve come to the right place.  I’m Sean Engmann, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker. I have an MBA and am a certified real estate negotiation expert with nearly 2 decades of executive level business experience.

There are several ways to find out the market value of your home.  You can have it appraised, but that will likely take several weeks and cost you $500 - $1000.  Generally, you should only have the home appraised as part of a home purchase or refinance.  In an extreme up market, appraisals may also lag behind the current market value by a few weeks, as that’s how long it takes homes to close escrow.

Another way to determine value is to request an instant cash offer, but these values are typically, considerably below market value as they’re made by investors hoping to make a profit on the home.  They can be useful, though, for establishing the floor value of the home.

The best and most affordable way to get an accurate understanding of your home’s value is to get a comparative market analysis, or CMA done by a Realtor.  A CMA is a report which shows all of the similar homes in the immediate area of your home that have recently sold, that are currently on the market or, are currently under contract.  It also shows any homes that may have been listed but were withdrawn from the market.  The Realtor then looks at the data and provides an estimated value of the home.

Realtors do CMAs based upon market data and/or discussions with homeowners.  While those CMAs are more useful than automated valuations because they provide context, they are nowhere near as accurate as CMAs where the Realtor actually visits the home and walks through it.  There are so many nuances about a home that you just don’t get without being there in person.  I can’t tell you the number of times I drove to a home with a value in mind, and then that value changed once I walked into the home.

If you’re interested in having a CMA done on your home, just click below and enter your address and contact info.  I will provide a range of automated values.  Then, I’ll give you the option for me to send over a CMA or for you to schedule one with me in-person.

Thanks and I look forward to helping you find the value of your home!

Sean Engmamm

Sean.Engmann@CBRealty.com