CMA Report Example: What a Strong One Looks Like, Page by Page
Knowing what belongs in a CMA is easy. Knowing what each page is doing — and in what order — is what separates a document from a deliverable.
Short answer
A strong client-facing CMA runs eight to twelve pages in a fixed order: subject property, price range, sold comps with adjustments, actives, pendings, expireds, market context, strategy, net proceeds. The order is not cosmetic — market context has to arrive before the number, or the number reads as your opinion instead of the market's.
This is the layout companion to what top producers actually put in a CMA report, which covers which sections belong. This one walks the pages in sequence and names what each is for.
The nine pages at a glance
| Page | Section | Job it does | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cover / subject property | Proves this is about their house | Tax-record data only, no photo |
| 2 | Price range summary | Answers the question they opened it for | Buried on page 9 |
| 3 | Market context | Makes the price a consequence, not an opinion | Citywide stats instead of the price band |
| 4–5 | Sold comps + adjustments | Shows the arithmetic | Comps listed, adjustments hidden |
| 6 | Active listings | Shows the buyer's alternatives | Presented as evidence of value |
| 7 | Pendings + expireds | Freshest signal, and the ceiling | Expireds omitted entirely |
| 8 | Pricing strategy | Converts a number into a plan | Absent |
| 9 | Net proceeds | Makes it about the seller | Absent |
Page 1 — Cover and subject property
Job: establish in three seconds that this was built for their address.
Photograph of the actual house, full address, beds/baths, above-grade square footage, lot size, year built. Agent name and photo, brokerage identity as the frame.
The photo matters more than it sounds. A seller opening a report and seeing their own front elevation has a different reaction to one opening a cover with a stock house on it — and every subsequent page is read through that first impression.
Page 2 — The price range
Job: answer the question the seller opened the document to answer.
Three points — aggressive, most likely, fast-sale — each with the trade-off attached. Not a single number.
Putting this on page 2 feels counterintuitive if you're used to building toward a reveal. But sellers flip forward regardless. Leading with it means they read pages 3 through 9 as justification for a number they've already seen, which is exactly the frame you want. Burying it means they read the analysis while distracted, hunting.
Page 3 — Market context
Job: establish the environment so the price lands as a consequence.
Segmented to their price band and property type — never citywide. Absorption rate, months of inventory, median days on market, sale-to-list ratio, direction over the last two or three quarters.
This page is why the order matters. A price presented before the market context is an agent's opinion. The same price presented after it is a conclusion the seller helped reach.
Pages 4–5 — Sold comps with adjustments
Job: show the arithmetic, not just the answer.
Three to six closed sales, each with: address, close date, close price, source, distance, specs side by side with the subject — and then the part most reports skip:
- Each adjustment as its own line, with dollar amount and direction
- The adjusted price
- Total net adjustment as a percentage of sale price
Show that last figure even when it's unflattering. A comp needing 18% in net adjustments is telling you it isn't really comparable, and showing it demonstrates you're reading the data rather than decorating with it. Mechanics in CMA adjustments explained.
Page 6 — Active listings
Job: show what a buyer sees next, not what the house is worth.
Actives establish no value — nothing has been paid. They establish competition. Frame the page from the buyer's side: with this budget, what else can they see this weekend? Include days on market on each; a 90-day active is a priced-wrong worked example you didn't have to construct.
Page 7 — Pendings and expireds
Job: the freshest signal, and the ceiling.
Pendings are under contract but not closed — the most current price read available, 30 to 60 days ahead of the sold data. Note that the final number isn't known yet rather than implying it is.
Expireds are the most-skipped and most persuasive content in the entire report. Sold comps show what the market paid; expireds show what it refused. For each: original list price, reductions with dates, total days on market, outcome.
When a seller says another agent quoted higher, this page ends the conversation with evidence rather than opinion. It's worth a page on its own for that reason alone.
Page 8 — Pricing strategy
Job: turn a number into a plan with dates.
Recommended list price, go-live date, first review date, and the reduction trigger stated explicitly: "if no offers by day 21, we go to X."
Agreeing this while the seller is optimistic is worth more than any conversation you'll have about it on day 45, when they aren't. See the real cost of overpricing a listing.
Page 9 — Net proceeds
Job: make the document about them.
Estimated proceeds at each of the three price points: payoff, commissions, title and escrow, transfer taxes, estimated concessions.
This is where most sellers genuinely engage, because it's the first figure that's about their life rather than the market. It's also where the buyer-side compensation decision stops being abstract — they can see what each option does to the bottom line.
What a weak report looks like, for contrast
- Two pages. Five comps and a price. No reasoning shown, so nothing to be persuaded by.
- Twenty pages. Padded with brokerage marketing, market reports for the wrong geography, and a bio. Sellers skim it, which means they skim the pages that mattered too.
- Right sections, wrong order. Price on page 9 after eight pages of buildup — the most common structural error, and it costs you the frame.
- No adjustments shown. Comps present, arithmetic invisible. Indistinguishable from a portal search the seller could have run.
CMA vs. listing presentation
Related but distinct, and conflating them produces a bloated document that does neither job:
| CMA report | Listing presentation | |
|---|---|---|
| Answers | What's it worth, and why | Why me, and what happens next |
| Contains | Comps, adjustments, market data, price | The CMA, plus marketing plan, track record, terms |
| Left behind | Yes — it's the artifact on the kitchen table | Sometimes |
| Length | 8–12 pages | Varies; the CMA sits inside it |
The CMA is the evidence section of the presentation. Build it to stand alone, because after you leave, it will. Full structure in the 2026 listing presentation checklist.
The bottom line
Nine pages, in that order, with the price on page 2 and the market context before it. Nothing here requires anything beyond MLS access and a few hours.
The few hours are the actual constraint — which is why agents who produce this consistently have almost always removed the assembly work, so their time goes into the analysis and the appointment rather than the layout. You can see the structure above rendered as a real report from a live address on the free sample.
Frequently asked questions
How many pages should a CMA report be?
Eight to twelve pages for a client-facing report. Shorter than eight usually means the comps are presented without the reasoning behind them; longer than twelve and sellers stop reading, which means the pages that matter get skipped along with the padding.
What goes on the first page of a CMA?
The subject property — address, a photograph, key specifications, and the agent and brokerage identity. It establishes that the analysis is about this specific house rather than a template with an address inserted.
Where should the price appear in a CMA report?
Page two, as a three-point range. Sellers flip forward looking for the number, so burying it until the end only means they read the rest of the report out of order and with less attention.
Can I use a CMA report as a listing presentation?
They overlap but are not the same document. A CMA answers what the property is worth and why. A listing presentation adds the marketing plan, the agent's track record, and the terms of engagement. The CMA is usually the evidence section inside the presentation.