How to Do a Comparative Market Analysis for a Building in Florida

If you are engaged in buying or selling real estate property in Florida, a comparative market analysis or CMA will provide you with valuable insight. A CMA is a report of recent sales records for properties that fit a specific criteria. For a buyer trying to determine what to offer for a property of interest, a CMA will let you know whether a property that interests you is priced accordingly. For a seller, a CMA will help to determine a list price by letting you know more or less what dollar amount you could expect to receive .

Things You'll Need

• Pen and paper
• Calculator

Instructions

Creating a CMA

1. Obtain a comprehensive list of the subject property features. For buyers, a seller will typically have a property profile readily available as part of the marketing materials; if not, public tax records will contain a good deal of the information needed.

2. Create a list of features to be compared. This list should include square footage, year built, overall condition, number of stories, lot size, and any other features that may attribute to the value, including number of bathrooms, mechanical features, allowed uses or restrictions.

3. Obtain list of properties that have recently sold in same area or neighborhood. The easiest way to accomplish this is by contacting a real estate agent. The list should include the sales price for six to eight properties that have sold in the past six months that fit the same general criteria as the subject property. The more similar the sales records are to the subject property, the more accurate the CMA will be.

4. Using the list of recently sold properties, calculate the average sales price per square foot. Add the sales prices together and divide by the number of comparable homes in the list. Then add the square footage measurements together and divide by the same number. Divide the average sales price by the average square footage measurements.

5. Multiply the average price per square foot by the number of square feet of the subject property. The result should be relatively close to what you could expect as a fair market sales price.

References

• CMA Facts: Real Estate CMAs