Math, Comps & Quick CMA
📖 1 min read
Section 2 of Phase 2. A defensible price is what makes a buyer offer credible and a listing sellable. This section gives you the math and the workflow.
Scofield Group uses a Quick CMA workflow — tight, defensible, fast. Full CMAs waste time on most situations. By the end of this section you must be able to independently run a Quick CMA on any subject property.
🎬 Running Comps — Three video walkthroughs
Three different property types, three different comp workflows. Watch the one that matches what you're pricing — or watch all three before your first Quick CMA.
💰 Appraisal-Style Adjustments — Rule-of-Thumb Values
When a subject property has features your comps don't, you have to add or subtract dollar adjustments to get a defensible price. Use the same rules-of-thumb that appraisers use, so your CMA tracks how the appraisal will likely come in.
🏊 Pool
Even on a recently-built $100k pool, the typical appraiser will only add about $25,000 to the value. Sellers always overestimate this one — set expectations early.
🏠 Casita / Guest House
Is the casita on the tax record as part of the home's square footage?
- Yes: count the casita square footage in your $/sqft comp comparison — it's already built into the property's sqft.
- No: treat it like a pool — appraiser will typically add $25,000–$50,000 depending on size, finish, and whether it has a kitchen/bath.
🚗 Extra Garage Spaces
If the subject has more garage spaces than the comp, add roughly $25,000 per extra single-car bay as a rule of thumb. A 4-car garage vs a 2-car garage in your comp → +$50k adjustment.
🌵 Lot Size / Land
Land is different from improvements — don't use a flat $/acre. When the subject and comp have a big lot-size difference:
- Pull the tax record on both properties.
- Find the tax-estimated land value on each one.
- The difference between those two land values is what you add to (or subtract from) the comp to align with the subject.
Example: comp's tax land value = $80k, subject's tax land value = $130k → add $50k to the comp before applying it.
⚠️ Important context — appraisals are opinions of value
These numbers are a general rule of thumb — appraised values are ultimately an opinion of value, and they can range widely based on the appraiser's perspective, the comps they pull, and the market at the time. Use these adjustments to educate sellers and buyers on how value is built, and to ground your CMA in numbers that defend a price. Your job is to pull the most data possible and deliver the most accurate estimate you can — not to guarantee a number.
💡 Coaching Tip — When you can’t pull 2-3 direct-neighborhood comps
Default search: Solds 0-180 days, History 0-365 days, inside the same neighborhood.
If you can’t get at least 2-3 comps that way, expand:
- Solds: push the window out to 0-365 days
- History: push the window out to 0-700 days
- Stay in the same neighborhood first. If still no comps after expansion, widen the geo to nearest comparable subdivision and note the deviation on your CMA so the client understands the data limitation.
2-3 comps minimum. If you can’t find them, the price you bring is a guess — and Aaron will catch it.
🎯 Goal
Be able to independently run a Quick CMA — pull the right sold comps, calculate price-per-square-foot (PPSF), apply adjustments, and land on a defensible value. If you cannot do this after working through the resources, ask in office before moving to the next section.