CMA Preparation Instructions

I. Assemble the Required Resources

  1. Access to Atova CRM
  2. Access to Paragon
  3. Photoshop
  4. Microsoft Excel
  5. Microsoft Word
  6. Digital camera
  7. One regular pen
  8. One set of CMA Tabs
  9. One 10x13 Mailing envelope
  10. One mailing label with Atova logo
  11. One sheet of letterhead
  12. One business card

II. One Time Paragon Configuration

  1. Log into Paragon
  2. Click Preferences > Reports
  3. Select “Default MLS Defined Spreadsheet”
  4. In the upper left area of the window that opens make sure that "Class" says "Residential"
  5. Use the Add, Remove, Move Up and Move Down links in the center of the window to adjust the presence and order of the items on the right “Selected” area to the following sequence:
  6. Picture
  7. MLS #
  8. Type – Ascending
  9. Status – Ascending
  10. Price – Ascending
  11. Area
  12. Address
  13. # Beds
  14. # Baths
  15. Apx Sqft
  16. # Acres
  17. Year Built
  18. Listing Date
  19. Asking Price
  20. Closing Date
  21. Sold Price
  22. Days on Market
  23. Click Save and Close

III. Cover Page

  1. Take a photo of the property
  2. Using a digital camera take several front exterior photos of the property so that you may later select the best one. Be sure to use a high quality / high resolution setting on your camera otherwise your photo will look pixilated when printed.
  3. Copy the photos from your camera to your computer.
  4. Select the best photo.
  5. Use Photoshop to edit your photo.
  6. Open Photoshop.
  7. Select File > Open from the top menu.
  1. Locate the selected picture on your computer and click Open.
  1. Size and crop the photo to the correct resolution and dimensions.
  2. Adjust to the proper resolution.
  3. Select Image > Image Size from top menu.
  4. Uncheck the Resample image box.
  5. Change Resolution to 300.
  6. Click “OK”.
  7. Adjust to the proper width.
  8. Select Image > Image Size from top menu again.
  9. Check the Resample image box.
  10. Make sure that “Constrain Proportions” is also checked.
  11. Change the width to 5.5 inches (Do not change the height it will adjust automatically).
  12. Click “OK”.
  13. Crop to the proper height.
  14. Select Image > Canvas Size from top menu.
  15. Change the height pulldown menu to Percent.
  16. Make sure that “Relative” is NOT checked.
  17. Change the height to 90%.
  18. In the “Anchor” section select the top center box if you wish to crop the bottom of the photo; select the bottom center box if you wish to crop the top of the photo; select the center box if you wish to crop evenly from the bottom and the top.
  19. Click “OK”.
  20. Add the black border to the photo.
  21. Change background color to black.
  22. Click on the background color square (see image).
  23. In the Color Picker window that opens, place 000000 in the “#” field at the bottom center of the window.
  24. Press OK.
  1. Adjust the canvas size.
  2. Select Image > Canvas Size from top menu.
  3. Increase width by 0.1 – do not round, be sure to calculate correctly.
  4. Increase height by 0.1 – do not round, be sure to calculate correctly.
  5. Press OK.

  1. Adjust the photo quality.
  2. Adjust the color balance
  3. Select Image > Adjustments > Color Balance.
  4. Move the red slider to the right to +10.
  5. Press OK.
  6. Increase the image contrast.
  7. Select Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast
  8. Move the Contrast slider to the right to +10.
  9. Press OK.
  10. Increase the image sharpness.
  11. Select Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen.
  1. Save the file.
  2. Select - File > Save As
  3. Navigate to the File Server and open the folder bearing your name.
  4. Create a new folder entitled CMAs
  5. Create a folder within the CMAs folder entitled ClientLastName, ClientFirstName

Select this icon to create a new folder.

  1. File Name: enter “Streetname”
  2. Format: select “TIFF” option
  3. Click “Save”
  1. Import the photo.
  2. Open the “CMA Cover Template.doc” file. Locate template on Atova Resources (
  3. Click once on the placeholder home photo and press delete on your keyboard.
  4. Select Insert > Picture > From File and navigate to the location of your photo.
  5. Highlight your photo’s file name and click insert.
  6. Modify the text
  7. Enter the correct Address, City, Stats and Zip for the property.
  8. Enter your first name and last name in the “Prepared by” section.
  9. Enter your client’s first name and last name.
  10. Enter your name, phone number and email address.
  11. Print and Save
  12. Print the cover page to the color printer.
  13. Save the file here: File Server > YourNameFolder > CMA’s > Client’sNameFolder

IV. CMA Worksheet

  1. Open Paragon
  2. The Paragon link is available in the Quick Links section of the Agent Dashboard.
  3. Use the login and password information supplied to you by the MLS.
  4. Identify the sold comparables.
  5. In Paragon select Search > Residential
  1. Click “Open” next to “Status”

  1. In the Left column select “Sold”.
  1. Click “Open” next to “Type” and select appropriate type.
  2. Click “Open” next to “Area” and select appropriate area, then click close next to area.
  3. Enter the appropriate number of bedrooms.
  4. Enter the appropriate number of bathrooms.
  5. Enter the appropriate square footage.
  6. Enter the appropriate close date range.
  7. Enter the appropriate age range.
  8. Enter the appropriate levels.
  9. Click on “Count”.
  10. As appropriate, incrementally loosen your criteria until seven to ten comparables are revealed.
  11. Once your criteria is correct click on “Search”

  1. Print two versions of sold comparables.
  2. Comparable Report prints
  3. Click on “Add to CMA” as in the above image.
  4. Make sure “All listings” is selected
  5. Click “Select”
  6. Click on the “Presentation Setup” tab
  7. On the left column choose “Comparable Report (Horizontal)”
  8. Click “Generate Presentation”
  9. Click “Print”
  10. Choose the Color Printer
  11. Click “Print”
  12. After printing is complete select the blue “Close” button.
  13. Do not save file
  14. MLS Client Detail prints
  15. In the right column entitled, “Available Reports”, click Details > MLS Client Detail.
  16. Hover over the Print tab and then select “Print +”
  17. Click on Send to Printer
  18. Choose the Black and White Printer
  19. Click on Print
  20. Export sold comparables to the CMA Worksheet
  21. In the right column entitled, “Available Reports”, click Specialty Views > Excel

  1. Click on the gray square between the number 1 and the letter A on the spreadsheet. This will select all cells.
  2. Anywhere in the blue highlighter area press the right mouse button and select copy.
  3. Open Market Summary Template.xls
  4. When prompted click on “Enable Macros”

  1. Select the “Data Worksheet” tab at the bottom of the page.
  2. Highlight the cell labeled “A1”.
  3. Right click and select paste special html.
  1. Return to step 2 and repeat this process for Pending Listings and then again for Active Listings.
  2. For Pendings simply change your status from Sold to Pending. Leave all Paragon criteria the same.
  3. For Actives search by geography and price range. Clear all other data. Look through the results to determine the 10 to 15 most aggressive competitors and select those properties.
  4. When pasting Pending Listings and Active Listings into the Data Worksheet, simply skip one row and paste again. For example, if your Sold Listings end on row nine, place your cursor in cell A11 when pasting your Pending listings.
  1. When you have completed pasting data for all three types then Run the Macros.
  2. Save your excel file before moving forward so that if you have a problem running the macros you can revert back and try again.
  3. From the top menu choose: Tools > Macro > Macros.
  4. Highlight “CMA” and select “Run”.
  1. Move the data from the Data Worksheet to the Residential Worksheet.
  1. Select the Data worksheet and highlight the “New” and “Active” rows from the “Address” Column to the “DOM” column. DO NOT include the “Status” Column. (This is done by clicking and holding the left mouse button while you drag the cursor over the area you want to highlight.) Note: “New” listings are “Active” listings that have been on the market for three days or less. If you do not have any “New” listings simply select the “Active” listings.
  2. In the blue highlighted area right click and select “Copy”
  3. Select the Residential worksheet and Right click on the first blank box under the Address heading in the Current Listings section. Select PASTE SPECIAL, and click on the“Values” radial button
  1. Select “Ok”
  1. Select the Data worksheet and highlight the “Sold” rows from the “Address” Column to the “DOM” column. DO NOT include the “Status” Column.
  2. In the blue highlighted area right click and select “Copy”
  3. Select the Residential worksheet and Right click on the first blank box under the Address heading in the Recent Sales section. Select PASTE SPECIAL, and click on the“Values” radial button
  4. Select “Ok”
  5. Select the Data worksheet and highlight the “Pending” rows from the “Address” Column to the “DOM” column. DO NOT include the “Status” Column.
  6. In the blue highlighted area right click and select “Copy”
  7. Select the Residential worksheet and Right click on the first blank box under the Address heading in the Pending Sales section. Select PASTE SPECIAL, and click on the“Values” radial button
  8. Select “Ok”
  9. Finalizing the Market Summary
  10. Enter the subject property’s specifications into the Subject Home area.
  11. Delete any extra rows (By clicking the gray number on the left side of a row and dragging down you can highlight the rows that need to be deleted. Once you highlight the rows you want to delete right click in the highlighted section and select delete.)
  1. In the Current Listings, Recent Sales, and Pending Sales section under the $/SqFt column highlight all of the empty cells. Type the formula “= Sold Price / Apx SqFt” in each of the blank spaces where “Sold price” = a cell reference such as “J8” and “Apx SqFt” = cell reference such as “D8”
  2. (After entering the formula hold the “Ctrl” key and press “Enter” key) Fill all of the blank spaces in the Current listings and Pending sales sections with a “N/A”
  1. From the menu at the top choose File > Page Setup.
  1. Click the radial button next to “Fit to:”
  2. Click “OK”
  3. Make sure that all columns are formatted the same. IE same number of decimal places.
  4. Make sure that no boxes are blank and that none show a 0 value. (Especially watch the #acres column.)
  1. Select File > Save As
  2. Save In: File Server
  3. Under directories: “Your name” > (Folder labeled with customer name)
  4. File name: “Market Summary (Client Last Name)”
  5. Click “SAVE”
  6. Print the Market Summary
  7. Select “File” > “Print”
  8. Choose the Black and White printer
  9. Select “Ok”
V. Marketing And Service Commitment
  1. Print the Marketing and Service Commitment
  2. Open Atova Central (
  3. Go to the Resources section
  4. Right click on “Marketing and Service Commitment”, then click on “Save Target As”
  5. Save the file to the CMA folder in your folder on the file server.
  6. Right click on file, open the file in Acrobat (not Acrobat Reader, but the full version of Acrobat)
  7. Click on the text tool in the upper menu bar.
  8. Update Agent Name, the phone number and the email address in the top section with your information.
  9. Update the Agent Name and phone number in the bottom section with your information.
  10. Print the file to the color printer.
  11. Save the file to the CMA folder in your folder on the file server for use with future CMAs.

VI. Binding

  1. Organize the CMA documents
  2. Clear plastic cover
  3. Cover page
  4. Market Summary tab
  5. Market Summary worksheet
  6. Comparable Report (Horizontal)
  7. Current Listings tab
  8. Active and New listings
  9. Recent Sales tab
  10. Sold listings
  11. Pending Sales tab
  12. Pending listings
  13. Marketing Outline tab
  14. Marketing and Service Commitment document
  15. Green hardcover backing
  1. Bind the CMA
  2. Obtain personal instruction if this is your first time using the binder.
  3. Punch holes in the CMA documents
  4. Bind the CMA using the comb binder

VII. Letter and Tax Record

  1. Locate and print the appropriate letter from Atova CRM or Atova Resources (
  2. Sign your name on the letter
  3. Be certain to write the personal note (In the letter’s MS Word file go to File-> Properties)
  1. Print the property’s tax record
  2. Open Paragon
  3. Go to Tax -> and select the appropriate county
  4. Search for the property’s tax record and print
  5. Highlight or circle the square footage, bedrooms, baths and year built on the tax record
  6. Mailing the package
  7. Place the Stapled sheets on top of the CMA Package and slide everything into the 10 x 13 mailing envelope.
  8. Address the mailing label and place it on the outside of the 10 x 13 mailing envelope.
  1. Assemble letter components
  2. Staple the tax record behind the letter
  3. Staple your business card to the upper right of the letter (staple to letter only)

VIII. Delivery

  1. Place the CMA and letter in the Manilla Envelope
  2. If mailing, affix the mailing label, address and send
  3. If delivering then:
  4. Do not affix a mailing label
  5. Bring a pen with you. If the lead is not at home write “Sorry I missed you. Please call me when you have a moment.” on the exterior of the envelope and leave on doorstep.

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