What Top Producers Actually Put in a CMA Report
Sellers are more skeptical than they were two years ago, and they arrive already holding numbers. A CMA now has to justify itself, section by section.
Short answer
A CMA that holds up has nine sections: subject property, price range up front, sold comps with adjustments shown, actives, pendings, expireds, market context for the specific price band, a pricing strategy with a reduction trigger, and net proceeds. The two that most separate a strong report from an average one are visible adjustments and expired listings — and both are the ones most commonly left out.
Why the bar moved
Since the commission rule changes, sellers ask harder questions. They decide explicitly about buyer-side compensation, they've been told to compare agents, and they arrive at the appointment having already seen an AVM estimate and a list of recent neighborhood sales.
That shifts what a CMA is for. It used to establish information the seller didn't have. It now has to add analysis on top of information they already have — and be legible enough that they can see the reasoning rather than take your word for it.
A report that just lists five nearby sales is now a document the seller could have made. Here's what a report they couldn't have made contains.
1. Subject property — established, not assumed
Open with what you're valuing and what you know about it: address, beds/baths, above-grade square footage, lot size, year built, and specifically the condition and update history you observed on the walkthrough.
That last part is where credibility starts. A seller who sees "kitchen renovated 2023, roof replaced 2021, original bathrooms" knows the analysis is about their house. A seller who sees tax-record data knows it isn't.
Flag any place the tax record and the MLS disagree on square footage. Naming it before the seller finds it is worth more than being right about it.
2. The price range — on page two, not page nine
Burying the number until the end is a habit from an era when the agent controlled the pace of the conversation. Sellers now flip forward looking for it.
Give a range with three points and a trade-off attached to each:
| Point | What it means | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Aggressive | Top of what the comps can defend | Longer market time; appraisal risk; reduction likely |
| Most likely | Where comparable homes actually closed | Normal market time for the band |
| Fast-sale | Priced to generate competition early | Leaves some money on the table if the market cooperates |
A range is not indecision. It's the only honest way to express that price and time are the same variable — and the only structure that survives the seller saying "what if we tried a bit higher."
3. Sold comps — with the adjustments visible
Three to six closed sales. Fewer than three and there's no pattern; more than six usually means the screen was too loose and weak comps got in to pad the count.
The thing that separates a professional report from an amateur one is not which comps you picked. It's showing the arithmetic that made them comparable. For each comp:
- Address, close date, close price, source
- Distance from subject, and the key specs side by side
- Each adjustment as a line item — square footage, garage, lot, condition, age — with the dollar amount and the direction
- The adjusted price, and the total adjustment as a percentage of sale price
That last figure is a quality signal you should show even when it isn't flattering. A comp needing 18% in net adjustments is telling you it isn't really comparable. Showing it demonstrates you're reading the data rather than decorating with it. The mechanics are in CMA adjustments explained.
Most agents show comps. Top producers show the difference between a comp and the subject, priced. The seller can follow the second one, and following it is what makes them believe the number.
4. Active listings — the actual competition
Actives don't establish value; nothing has been paid. They establish what a buyer will see next, which is a different and equally useful thing.
Show them from the buyer's perspective: if a buyer has $600,000, what else can they have this weekend? A seller who sees three better-presented homes at their preferred price understands the pricing problem without being argued into it.
Include days on market for each. An active sitting at 90 days is a priced-wrong example you didn't have to make yourself.
5. Pending listings — the freshest signal available
Pendings are the most current read on the market you can get. They're under contract, so a price has been agreed, but they haven't closed and won't appear in sold data for another 30–60 days.
In a moving market this is the section that catches a shift before closed comps do. List price and days-to-contract are the useful fields; note that the final number isn't known yet, and say so rather than implying it is.
6. Expired and withdrawn — the section that wins the price argument
This is the most-skipped section in the industry and the single most persuasive page in the report.
Sold comps show what the market paid. Expireds show what the market refused. Those are different pieces of evidence and the second one is the one that answers "another agent said we could get more."
For each expired: original list price, any reductions and their dates, total days on market, and outcome. Three near-identical homes that failed at a price the seller is considering ends that conversation with evidence instead of opinion.
7. Market context — for this price band, not the city
Citywide statistics are close to useless at a listing appointment. Median DOM for a metro tells a $1.2M seller nothing.
Segment it — neighborhood or submarket, this price band, this property type:
- Absorption rate and months of inventory for the band
- Median days on market for the band, with the citywide figure alongside for contrast
- Sale-to-list ratio — the cleanest single indicator of pricing power
- Direction of travel over the last two to three quarters
Presenting this before the price makes the price land as a consequence of the market rather than as your opinion. That ordering does more work than any single number in the report.
8. Pricing strategy — including the reduction trigger
The section almost nobody includes, and the one that most reliably prevents a bad listing.
Put the plan in writing: recommended list price, first review date, and the specific trigger. "If we have no offers by day 21, we reduce to X." Agreeing that at signing — while the seller is optimistic and reasonable — is worth more than any conversation you'll have about it on day 45, when they aren't. See the real cost of overpricing.
9. Net proceeds — the first number that's about them
Sellers care about net, not gross. Show estimated proceeds at each of the three price points: mortgage payoff, commissions, title and escrow, transfer taxes, estimated concessions.
This is the moment most sellers genuinely engage, because it's the first figure in the document that's about their life rather than about the market. It's also where the post-settlement buyer-compensation decision becomes concrete instead of abstract — they can see what each option does to the number at the bottom.
Most agents vs. top producers, side by side
| Section | Typical CMA | Strong CMA |
|---|---|---|
| Subject property | Tax record data | Observed condition and update history |
| Price | One number, near the end | Three-point range on page two, trade-offs attached |
| Sold comps | List of nearby sales | Adjustments itemized, adjusted prices shown |
| Actives | Sometimes included | Framed as the buyer's alternatives, with DOM |
| Pendings | Rarely included | Included, with the caveat stated |
| Expireds | Almost never | Always — with reduction history |
| Market data | Citywide medians | Segmented to band and property type |
| Strategy | Absent | Dates, review points, agreed reduction trigger |
| Net proceeds | Absent | At all three price points |
| Branding | Logo in the corner | Consistent firm-level template, agent-personalized |
A note on branding, since it's the easiest to dismiss
Branding isn't decoration on a CMA — it's the frame that tells the seller whether this is a document or a deliverable. A consistent, professional template signals a process behind it. A report assembled ad hoc signals that the analysis was assembled ad hoc too, whether or not that's fair.
For a brokerage this compounds: every agent's report is a sample of your firm's work reaching a household that may not otherwise encounter you. That's why we treat it as a firm-level decision rather than an agent-level one in CMA software for brokerages.
The bottom line
Nothing on this list is exotic. Every section is available to any agent with MLS access and a few hours. That's precisely why the differentiator isn't knowing what belongs in a CMA — it's being able to produce all nine sections consistently, for every appointment, including the ones that land on a Thursday for a Saturday meeting.
Agents who do this well have almost always removed the assembly work from the process. The analysis is where their time goes; the document builds itself. That's the actual practice behind the phrase "top producer's CMA."
Frequently asked questions
What sections should a CMA report include?
A cover with the subject property, a summary with the recommended price range, sold comparables with adjustments shown, active and pending listings, expired and withdrawn listings, market context for the property's price band, a pricing strategy section, a net proceeds estimate, and the agent and brokerage branding.
How many comps should a CMA have?
Three to six closed sales is the working range. Fewer than three gives no pattern to read; more than six usually means the screening was too loose and weak comparables have been included to pad the set.
Should a CMA give one price or a range?
A range, with a trade-off attached to each end. A single number invites the seller to negotiate with the agent rather than discuss the market, and it cannot express the relationship between price and time on market.
Why include expired listings in a CMA?
Expired and withdrawn listings establish the ceiling with evidence. Sold comps show what the market paid; expireds show what the market refused. A seller weighing a higher price from another agent responds to failed listings at that price more than to any argument.
How long should a CMA report be?
Long enough to show the reasoning and short enough to be read. Eight to twelve pages is typical for a client-facing report, with the price range and its justification appearing in the first two pages rather than at the end.