account every aspect of your home in detail. In the first place, though, you need to understand that this is not an appraisal. The value assigned in this process is subjective, based on the beliefs of the Realtor® as to how much the home can be sold for. The assessment will never have any financial or legal validity, though it is frequently used by agents to win listings by presenting a higher potential value for a home. In fact, many agents are prepared to give this assessment to you for free. The principal objective of CMA is not to give you a prediction or expectation so much as to give you a fair idea of where to base the listing price for your property so it falls reasonably in line with market trends to encourage a successful sale. Depending on your choices, a CMA can be conducted based on a given number of sales, or might take into account properties sold within a specified proximity to your house. The CMA focuses on aspects like the physical size of the property, the total number of rooms, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and other components. There are, however, no fixed rules on how to conduct a CMA. Other features that may be considered include amenities like a swimming pool or a fireplace, the location of the property, proximity to landmarks and major roadways, recent improvements made, and so forth. In a CMA, several useful insights can be gained from recently sold homes, active listings, pending listings, and expired listings. It is not an easy task for a homeowner to secure access to the MLS data needed to calculate a realistic CMA. Without a real estate agent’s help, the average seller is unlikely to have access to solid data on recently sold houses or active listings. Still, there are some resources available, and the Internet and Federal Housing FinanceAgency (FHFA) can facilitate learningmore about home sales that happened in your locale. Some of the most reliable sources to learn about home pricing trends include the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the FNC Residential Price Index, and a variety of real estate websites. WHEN TO RAISE OR LOWER Though you may arrive at a listing price based on market studies and a CMA, you might still come across some occasions or confusing situations when you wonder whether you need to raise or lower the listing price.
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