Create a CMA in connectMLS

There are a few places within connectMLS where you can start creating a CMA:

1. You can start a CMA from within the Client Manager- click the name of the desired client, then click the CMAs button in the upper right and click New CMA:
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. You can also go to the Reports menu and click Add New CMA Report:
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. After performing a search, select the desired listings you want to use as comparable properties and click the CMA icon in the upper right:
   
   

The rest of this article will detail the process of creating a CMA using the third option (after performing a search for comparable properties). 

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Start off by running a search for the same property type as your subject property. In this case, our seller is in a single family home, so we go to Search> Single Family & Condo.

Pro tip: If you would like to search for comps within a short distance of your subject property, use the Proximity field towards the top of the search screen. Click here for more information on using the Proximity field in your search. This can be more granular than simply searching by city or neighborhood.

Once you have entered all of your search criteria, click View Results to see the matching listings.

Use the checkboxes on the left side of the screen to select the listings you would like to use as comps, then click the CMA button in the upper right:

You will then get a popup window that gives you the option of adding the listings as comparable properties to an existing CMA or creating a brand new CMA:

For the purposes of this article, we will choose to create a new CMA.

You will see the Start New CMA window:

1. Give the CMA a description.
2. Attach it to an existing connectMLS Client, or click the button to add a new Client.
3. Put a check in the box if the subject property is the Client's current address.
4. Click Continue.

You will then encounter the following screen:

Creating your CMA is a matter of progressing through the six tabs across the top of the screen. You can complete them in any order you desire, though many find it most logical to go in order from left to right.

*** It is recommended that you make a habit of saving your work each time you finish working on one tab and are ready to move on to the next tab. ***

For this article, we will go through the tabs in order from left to right.

Comparables

Comparables is where you search for the listings you will use as comps in order to help you and the seller set a price point for their property. This is also where you would go if you've already chosen some comps for this CMA and would like to search for more properties to add as additional comps.

You have several options when searching for comps:

1. Click the Find Comparables button to open a search screen, which allows you to enter characteristics that match your subject property. You can easily search for any combination of active and off market listings to add as comps. After you perform your search and select the desired listings, click the   icon in the upper right corner.             
   
   Locate the desired CMA and click the icon:
                      
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. You can also add comps to a CMA from a Map Search.
   While viewing listings on a map, click on any of their pins (1) to open a summary popup window. Use the checkbox (2) in the upper left of the summary to select the listing as a comp. It will be selected in the list view section (3) on the right side of the screen:
   
   
   
   
   
   Click the icon in the upper right of the screen to add the selected listing(s) to an existing CMA (or start a new CMA from scratch).
   
   
   
3. If you have specific listings that you would like to use as comps, you can enter them in the Listing ID field. When entering multiple list numbers, separate them with a comma (it doesn't matter if you use a space after the comma or not). If you just enter list numbers separated by a space (but no comma) you will get an error.
   
   
   
4. You can also manually enter a comparable property to your CMA by clicking Add comparable from outside source:
   
   
   
   This can be a for sale by owner (FSBO) property, a foreclosure/bank owner property, a listing from another MLS or some other property that was not listed on SmartMLS but would still be a good comp for the subject property:

Note: you can use any combination of these sources to add comparables to your CMA. You are not limited to using just one.

Comps will be grouped together based on their status (Active/UC-CTS, Sold/Closed, Under Contract, etc.):

Each of the status categories has its own statistics section (outlined in red above) that shows the Minimum, Maximum and Average list price and Days on Market (DOM) for the listings. If you are including closed properties as comps, that section's statistics will also include the high, low and average closed price values, as well as the percentage of closed price to their final list price.

There are up and down arrows (highlighted in pink below) next to each section, as well as each listing within the sections highlighted in orange) that allow you to reorder the sections and listings:

These arrows are helpful if you desire to have the sections and their respective listings in a specific order within your CMA report. For instance, if you want the Active comps to come first, then Under Contract and finally Closed, you can set the order of those sections.

Subject Property

This is where you add the seller's property (known as the Subject Property) to the CMA report:

If the property has ever been listed on SmartMLS in the past, you can enter the MLS number in the Listing ID field at the top right and click Auto-Fill. This will pull in information from the listing and populate the fields in the Property Details section in the bottom half of the screen. It will also pull in the primary photo of the property.

You can change/override any of the fields (and photo) that populate from the listing if desired.

If you don't know the list number, you can also try entering the property's address or the SmartMLS parcel ID instead.

There are no lookup screens for either the list number or the parcel ID fields. If you would like to use either as the source of your subject property information, you must first obtain them on your own. This would be a good time to use the New Workspace feature.

You can also manually enter the subject property's information using the fields in the Property Details section in the bottom half of the screen.

Note: you are not required to include a Subject Property in your CMA. If you would prefer to create a CMA that just has comparable properties, you can skip the Subject Property tab completely.

Area Statistics

This section enables you to provide your client with additional statistical information regarding the subject property's surrounding area. The Area Market Survey (AMS) allows you to run a search (generally using similar criteria to that of your comparables search) and breaks down the resulting matching listings into sub-sections based on status. Within each category, listings are grouped by price (in $50,000 or $100,000 increments):

You can use the Customize View button (in the upper right corner) to add even more graphics to the report:

Choose any combination of charts and tables to spruce up your CMA:

After you make your selections, click the OK button in the upper right to preview the charts and/or tables that you just added to the Area Market Survey. You can click Customize view again if you'd like to change the graphics. Once you are satisfied, click the Add to CMA button to add the customized Area Market Survey to your CMA.

That brings you back to the Area Statistics tab and allows you to move on to the next tab.

Comps. Adjustments

The Comps. Adjustments tab allows you to make dollar amount adjustments on individual features of the comparable properties to make them align more closely with the subject property. For instance, if one of the comps has one more full bathroom than the subject, you can do a negative dollar adjustment on the comp (subtracting the value of a full bath from the list price of the comp) so its price reflects what it would be if it had the same number of full baths as the subject.

When looking at the side by side comparison (subject property on the left and 2 comps on the right), you should notice that there are several property features that have an empty field next to them on both the subject property and the comps:

These fields are used to make price adjustments for some of the more common property features. In the image above, the orange fields correspond to the bedrooms, full baths, half baths and sqft for the subject property and the yellow fields are for those same features for the three comparable properties on this page of the report.  

Using total bedrooms as an example, let's say that the value of a bedroom for a property in the subject property's area is $10,000. While our subject property has 4 bedrooms, the three comps on this page have 3, 5 and 3 bedrooms, respectively.

In order to get all the comps on the same level as the subject, we enter 10000 (no punctuation) next to the Beds Total field on the subject property and then hit the Tab key on the keyboard. Connect will automatically make adjustments to the comps so they reflect what their price would be if they all had the same number of bedrooms as our subject property:

If a comp has more bedrooms than the subject property, Connect will subtract $10,000 for each additional bedroom. If a comp has fewer bedrooms, Connect will add $10,000 for each missing bedroom.

When you're entering your adjustments, do not enter any punctuation (dollar signs, commas, periods, etc.). Negative adjustments show up in red text; positive adjustments will be in blue text.

Note: you are responsible for researching and providing the dollar value of any adjustments you include on your CMA. SmartMLS does not have a resource that will tell you what a full bathroom, bedroom, fireplace, etc. is worth. These figures are subjective and can vary widely based on the area/town, quality of worksmanship, etc.

Once you have entered an adjustment on one of the subject property fields, it will automatically apply for that same feature on all pages of comparable properties. 

Repeat this process as needed for other features where there is enough of a difference between the subject and comps that might have a significant impact on pricing.

At any point, you can click Calculate Totals to apply those adjustments (positive or negative) to the list price of your Active (including UC-CTS and UC) comps and to the closed price of your Closed comps:

If you would like to make adjustments for another feature/amenity that is not on the default list, click the Add More Adjustments button at the bottom of the page:

That adds a new line directly beneath the Notes field that allows you to enter the feature you are adjusting for:

Enter the name of the feature/amenity you are comparing in the (enter description) field on the left, then use the adjustment field(s) for the comparable properties to account for the differences.

Adjustment calculations won't appear until you've hit the Save button.

Net Proceeds

The Net Proceeds tab contains a worksheet that allows you to generate an estimate of the total amount of money the seller will receive (or pay) when their home is sold. The net proceeds worksheet includes a list of fees that are commonly associated with the sale of most residential properties:

There is a separate column for each of the four most popular financing options that a buyer might use. You can use the check box at the top of any column that you wish not to include in your worksheet.

If there are other expenses that are not covered by the default fields, use the Misc. Expenses fields towards the bottom of the worksheet: 

The connectMLS system provides Average Price and Average Adjusted Price options for the closed comparable properties you used in your report. If you would prefer to use your own sales price figure, put a dot in front of Other and enter the dollar amount in the field to the right:

Clicking the Calculate Totals button will add up the fees from the fields on the worksheet and put that sum in the Estimated Total Charges field. It will then subtract the Total Charges figure from the price that you chose to use (Average, Average Adjusted or Other) to come up with the Approximate Balance Due amount:

This provides the seller with a rough estimate of the amount of money they will receive if their property sells for the price you selected.

Customize Report

The last tab, Customize Report, is where you put the finishing touches on your CMA presentation:

1. Edit Global CMA Data contains information about the seller and yourself and appears in several different parts of the CMA. This section allows you to manage this contact information in one convenient location.
   
   
2. Use Include/Exclude to select the pages you want to appear in your CMA.
   
   
3. Preview lets you see what the page/section looks like. It can be helpful to preview the section before you choose whether or not to include it.
   
   
4. Edit allows you to adjust some of the settings of each CMA section.
   
   
5. Use the arrows in the Order column to set the order of the CMA's sections.

There are a few additional settings at the bottom of the screen:

• Add a new section lets you add an additional page to your CMA. Clicking the link opens a text editor (like a scaled-down version of Microsoft Word) that lets you create a document to include in your presentation. If there is any additional information you want to include in your CMA that is not covered by any of the default sections, this gives you the opportunity.
  
  
• The color scheme setting allows you to adjust the border that appears around your CMA pages.
  
  
• If you would like to set the selected pages and order as your default for all future CMAs, click Save these settings as my defaults.
  
  
• If you have already changed your default CMA settings and would like to set them back to the connectMLS defaults, click Restore my defaults.

Don't forget to save your work when you're finished!

• Clicking Save will save any new work and leave your CMA on the screen.
• Save and Quit saves your work, closes the CMA and brings you back to your list of CMAs.
• Save as New creates an additional copy of the current CMA.
• Generate Report displays the CMA based on the order of selected pages currently on the screen, allowing you to preview the entire report. Once it generates, you can print the report or email it to the client.
  Note: clicking Generate Report does not save any of your work. We recommend clicking Save before you generate the report.
• Cancel closes the CMA without saving and brings you back to your list of CMAs.