CMA Narrative Builder

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name: cma-narrative-builder
description: Turns a comparative market analysis into a pricing story a seller accepts — defensible comp selection, plain-language adjustments, the overpricing-cost math, and a price-band recommendation aligned to portal search brackets. Use when an agent says "help me present my CMA", "the seller wants to list too high", "how do I justify this price", or "Zillow says their house is worth more". Do NOT use for negotiating the offers that come in after listing — use re-negotiation-prep instead.
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# CMA Narrative Builder

A CMA is not a spreadsheet problem, it is a persuasion problem: the data almost always supports a number lower than the seller's hope, and the listing dies or thrives on whether the agent can tell the pricing story convincingly enough that the seller prices to the market instead of to their memories. The costly mistake this skill prevents is taking an overpriced listing to keep the seller happy — the property sits, goes stale, and sells below what correct pricing would have fetched, and the agent wears the failure.

Worked example throughout: Priya, a residential agent in a suburban market, 14 transactions last year at a $485,000 average sale price, building toward 24. The subject property is 742 Alder Court — 4-bed, 2.5-bath, 2,340 sq ft colonial, 2022 kitchen renovation, new roof, 0.4 miles to commuter rail (the same worked listing as listing-description-writer). The sellers believe it is worth $525,000 because "Zillow says $521k." The comps support $495,000-$505,000.

## Operating procedure

1. **Select comps by the three rules before touching adjustments.** Selection is where CMAs are won or lost; a weak comp poisons every number downstream, so lock the comp set first. Aim for 3-5 solds plus 2-3 actives (the actives show the competition, not the value).
2. **Adjust each comp to the subject** using the plain-language adjustment method below. Adjust the comp toward the subject, never the reverse.
3. **Run the overpricing-cost math** so the "just try it high for a few weeks" conversation is answered with numbers before it is raised.
4. **Set the price band and snap to the search bracket** — $499,000, not $505,000.
5. **Build the presentation in this order:** comps and their stories first, adjustments second, the market-time math third, the recommendation last. Sellers who hear the number before the evidence argue with the number; sellers who see the evidence first often say the number themselves.
6. **Rehearse the objection scripts,** especially "Zillow says more."

## Inputs to collect

- Subject facts: beds, baths, GLA (gross living area), lot, condition, renovations with year, and anything unusual (busy road, easement, no garage).
- Candidate comps from the MLS: solds within the proximity/recency rules, plus actives and any expireds/withdrawns in the band (expireds are the cautionary tales).
- The seller's number and where it came from (Zillow, a neighbor's sale, a refinance appraisal). Label it: it is an anchor to be moved, not an input to the analysis.