Sold comps: the foundation of the CMA
A sold property reflects a price a buyer and seller accepted and a transaction that reached closing. Use at least three relevant sold properties, adjust them for meaningful differences, and reconcile the adjusted indications into an estimated value range.
- Favor the same buyer pool, property type, size, quality, condition, and lifestyle.
- Use recency as context, not as a substitute for similarity.
- Review concessions and non-market circumstances.
- Investigate outliers before accepting or removing them.
Active comps: the competition—not completed evidence
Active properties show the alternatives a buyer sees today. Their current list prices are aspirations until a transaction closes. Days on market, price changes, size differences, and quality all affect how persuasive an active listing is as a benchmark.
A fresh, similarly sized listing may deserve greater positioning influence than a home that is much larger or has remained unsold for months. Display both raw market totals and a relevance-weighted benchmark so the agent can understand what changed.
Pending comps: the current demand signal
A pending listing indicates that an offer was accepted, but its contract price and terms are generally unknown until closing. Use its most recent list price after any reductions, then evaluate comparability, market time, and likely concessions.
Pending properties can reveal a turning market before enough new closings exist. They should guide the conversation without being adjusted into the sold-value calculation.
Expired, withdrawn, and canceled listings
These statuses may explain resistance, condition problems, access issues, or overpricing. They are useful context but should not establish the value conclusion. Investigate the history before assuming price alone caused the outcome.
A clean way to combine the three
| Status | Primary question | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Sold | What did buyers recently pay? | Adjust and use to calculate estimated value. |
| Active | What alternatives compete today? | Use raw facts and relevance to test list-price position. |
| Pending | Where are buyers acting now? | Use current list price as an unadjusted demand benchmark. |
A pricing scenario: three signals, three decisions
Fictional example—not current local sales. Three relevant sold homes indicate $390,000, $398,000 and $405,000 after supported adjustments. Two competing homes are listed at $415,000 and $425,000. A similar home is pending after being listed at $399,000.
- Value evidence: investigate and reconcile the adjusted sold range. Do not average the active asking prices into it.
- Competition: compare condition, features, showing access and price reductions on the two active homes. A higher asking price alone does not prove a premium.
- Buyer activity: the pending listing suggests interest around its last asking price, but its accepted price and concessions remain unverified.
What should the seller ask next?
Which sold property is most comparable? What evidence supports each adjustment? How does our home compare with the choices buyers can tour today? What changes in showings, offers or competing inventory would trigger a pricing review?
These questions produce a documented strategy and review points. They do not guarantee a sale price or a time to sell.
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Need to understand the math first? See the worked CMA adjustment example.
What sellers should understand
An active listing cannot justify a price merely because it is nearby. A pending listing cannot prove its undisclosed contract price. A sold property cannot be accepted blindly when it differs materially from the subject. The agent’s job is to explain what each data point can—and cannot—support.