What is a CMA in Herriman, Utah?

A CMA, or comparative market analysis, is an agent’s written opinion of what a Herriman home will sell for, based on recent sales of similar homes nearby. It is the document most sellers use to choose a list price.

That definition is simple. What is not simple is that two CMAs on the same Herriman house can land in very different places, and both can look professional. The difference is almost always in which homes were picked as comparables, and in Herriman that choice is harder than it looks.

The question underneath a CMA is which sales genuinely compare. How old comps can be for an appraisal covers why the newest sale is often the wrong one.

What actually goes into a CMA

A proper CMA has three groups of homes in it, and a seller should see all three.

Closed sales. Homes similar to yours that sold recently. These are the evidence. A closed sale is what a real buyer actually paid, with a real lender behind them in most cases.

Pending sales. Homes under contract but not yet closed. These show where the market is heading right now, though the final price is not known until closing.

Active and expired listings. Your competition today, and the homes that failed to sell. Expired listings are the most underrated part of a CMA. They show you the price at which buyers said no.

Each comp is then adjusted for what makes it different from your house: square footage, bedroom count, garage, condition, finishes, basement, lot. The adjusted numbers produce a range, not a single figure.

Why a CMA matters more in Utah than in most states

Utah does not require sale prices to be reported publicly. As the Deseret News put it, only the agents, the lenders, the buyer and the seller know the final price (Deseret News, August 2019).

That has a practical consequence for a Herriman seller. The county recorder does not publish what your neighbor paid. The national listing sites are working with incomplete sale data. The most complete record of closed prices sits in the MLS, which licensed agents can access. So a CMA is not a nice extra here. It is the only place most sellers will see actual closed prices for the homes around them.

How comps get chosen in Herriman specifically

Herriman is a city of newer homes built in phases, and that changes the rules for picking comparables. A comp that looks right on paper can be the wrong house entirely.

New construction is the competition. In much of Herriman a resale is competing with a builder down the street who can offer a rate buydown, closing cost help and a warranty. A CMA that only looks at resales and ignores the builder’s standing inventory is pricing your house against a market the buyer is not actually shopping. Whether it is cheaper to build or buy in Herriman covers the buyer’s side of that comparison, and it is the comparison being made about your house.

Phase and plat matter. Master-planned neighborhoods here were often built in phases, sometimes by different builders with different floor plans and finish packages. A home from an early phase and one from a later phase can sit in the same community and be different products. The best comps usually come from the same plat or phase, then the same builder, then the same community, and only then from farther away.

Lot placement moves value. Two identical floor plans can sell differently because one backs onto open space and one backs onto a busy road. Corner lots, cul-de-sac lots, view lots and lots facing a collector street are not interchangeable. What lot placement is and why it matters explains how buyers read this, and a good CMA adjusts for it rather than averaging it away.

Finished versus unfinished basements. Many Herriman homes were sold with unfinished basements, and many owners finished them later. A comp with a finished basement is not a clean match for a home without one, and the reverse is also true. Whether a finish was permitted matters too. Buying a house with an unfinished basement in Herriman covers how buyers weigh it.

Secondary water. Herriman City says secondary water “is only available to some areas,” and publishes an availability map (Herriman City, Water FAQs, checked October 2026). A home on secondary water and one on culinary-only irrigation are different ongoing costs for a buyer with a yard. A CMA that pulls comps across that line without noticing has missed something a careful buyer will notice. Do Herriman homes have secondary water goes through how to check an address.

CMA vs appraisal vs online estimate

These three are often confused because they all produce a number. They are not measuring the same thing, and they are not prepared by the same people.

	CMA	Appraisal	Online estimate
Who prepares it	A real estate agent	A state-licensed or certified appraiser	An algorithm
Who it is for	A seller choosing a price, or a buyer shaping an offer	Usually the buyer’s lender	Anyone browsing
When it happens	Before listing or before an offer	After a contract is signed	Any time
Sees inside the house	Usually, if the agent walks it	Yes	No
Uses MLS closed prices	Yes	Yes	Only what it can get
What it is good for	Choosing a pricing strategy	Deciding how much a lender will lend	A rough starting point

Appraisers in Utah are licensed through the Utah Division of Real Estate, which regulates appraisal professionals separately from agents (Utah Division of Real Estate, checked October 2026). The appraisal comes after you have a buyer, and it can still upset a deal; what happens if the appraisal comes in low in Utah covers that part.

Online estimates are the weakest of the three for a specific Herriman house. Zillow publishes its own accuracy figures on its Zestimate page, and by its own account the estimate is noticeably less accurate for homes that are not currently listed. An algorithm does not know that your basement is finished, that your lot backs onto the trail, or that a builder two streets over is offering incentives this month.

Why a free CMA can come in high

Here is the unflattering part.

A free CMA from an agent who wants your listing is also a sales tool. The agent who brings the highest number to a listing appointment often wins the listing. That creates a quiet incentive to choose generous comps, skip the expired listings, and leave out the builder competition.

The seller pays for that later. A Herriman house listed above where buyers are looking gets its first two weeks of attention from people who scroll past it. Then the price comes down, the days on market add up, and the eventual sale often lands below where an honest price would have put it in the first place.

How to spot an inflated CMA:

• No expired listings. If none of the homes that failed to sell appear, ask why.
• Comps from the wrong product. Different phase, different builder, different lot type, finished basements compared to unfinished, with no adjustment shown.
• No new construction. In most of Herriman, leaving builders out is leaving out the competition.
• One number, no range. A single figure with no reasoning is a pitch, not an analysis.
• The agent cannot explain each comp. Ask why each home was included and why a nearby sale was left out. A good answer is specific.

What I tell clients is to ask every agent they interview the same question: which of these comps would you throw out, and why? The questions worth asking a realtor before hiring one has more like it.

How I turn a CMA into a price

I am Kelsey Earl, a Realtor with Keller Williams South Valley, and I do not hand sellers a single number. A CMA gives a range, and where you enter that range is a decision with trade-offs, so I show three prices with the comps behind each.

An event price. Set to draw the most buyers in the first days on market. It trades some ceiling for speed and competition.

A market-alignment price. Where the adjusted closed sales and the current competition actually point. This is the price the evidence supports most directly.

A stretch price. The top of what the comps can defend, for a house with a real advantage such as a standout lot or recent finish work. It usually takes longer and carries more risk of a reduction.

None of the three is right for every seller. A seller who has already bought elsewhere and is carrying two payments has a different answer from one with no deadline. The point of showing all three is that you choose the strategy knowing what each one costs in time.

What to do with a CMA you already have

Read the comps, not just the conclusion. Check that the homes are from the same part of Herriman, the same kind of lot, a similar basement and a similar build era. Look for the expired listings and the builder inventory. If either is missing, ask for them.

Then compare it with one other agent’s CMA, not five. Two honest CMAs on the same house should overlap. If one sits well above the other, the higher one owes you an explanation.

If you want a CMA on your Herriman home built from the closed sales around it, with the comps explained, request a home value report.