what is the biggest difference between a cma and an appraisal 
a comparative market analysis can be done by agents brokers buyers or sellers an appraisal can only be done by a licensed and state certified appraiser the bottom linein general the best comps are the ones that are the most similar to the home more recently sold with the fewest adjustments required depending on the market the final price might need to be tweaked slightly for example if the market is hot or inventory is low the price might be slightly higher conversely if there are many similar homes on the market the price might have to come down to be competitive 