Appraisal – An appraisal is an unbiased opinion of value of a purchase, listing or refinance. The appraisal report contains exterior and interior property photos, physical data on the property including square footage of the living area, size of the lot, condition description, items that may need repair and the type of construction materials needed. Neighborhood and surrounding community information is also analyzed and included in the report because this information directly affects property values. Appraisals can be used by banks, insurance companies, homeowners and any other interested party that wants to know the market value of the property. Appraisals are also used for construction loans, insurance and tax valuations and estate planning.

Broker Price Opinion (BPO) – The BPO is considered a formal more concise version of the CMA. ONLY a licensed broker can provide this service not a realtor. With all the recent economic challenges many homeowners have begun ordering them, they can also be ordered by a bank or lender to value a property that may be in the process of foreclosure. Similar to a CMA, the BPO provides information which allows the client or real estate agent to set a more accurate listing price. It‘s also used as a time and money saving alternative to the appraisals for some lenders.

Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) – Brokers and real estate agents can both perform a CMA when needing to come up with a listing price. This typically is a minimalistic document that contains information on recently sold homes, pending sales, active listings, cancelled, expired and withdrawn listings. The CMA is a qualitative comparison, where the home features are compared to each other. Although this is not the rule, dollar adjustments are rarely used. Agents look at the different types of listings and homes similar to the subject home then decide what they sold for, how long it took to sell and the difference between the sales price and the listing price. This information is used to determine a competitive list price for the home and typically free when a Broker or real estate agent are formally representing a client.