TREC – Sounds like something run by someone named Jean Luc Picard or one of the Vulcans.  But, of course it isn’t.  Actually, it’s a gateway national MLS consumer tool well, it’s supposed to be an information-rich national property database intended for use by REALTORS®.

The acronym stands for The Real Estate Channel, and there’s an Interim Report out about it that was prepared by the Presidential Advisory Group that is putting the project together.  Before you pass it by as another one of the thousands of real estate information sites, think about some of the possibilities.

The Advisory Group’s report states that there isn’t good, trustworthy real estate information that can be easily accessed.  I don’t think anyone can argue with that.  The group also said that “Without convenient, immediate access to information to analyze/interpret for their clients and customers, REALTORS® will no longer be at the center of real estate transactions.”  I don’t really agree with that conclusion.

I do see all the consumer-oriented informational websites adding confusion to the process of analyzing real estate market information.  Without consistent and accurate information on those sites, it goes back to the REALTOR® to sort things out. 

Even if all consumers believed that they could get all the accurate information they wanted from the Internet, agents are still going to be the best resource for negotiating, winding through the quagmire of paperwork, anticipating and heading off glitches in the process, etc.

But, imagine yourself in the position of having the definitive information – the accurate information.  Imagine the information being in a form that you can get to easily and quickly.  Imagine that the information has already been “analyzed and categorized” so that an advanced degree isn’t required to understand it.

While we’re at it, imagine that this system does promote the setting of standards so that the information is consistent across the country.  Then, imagine that consumers looked to the real estate agents to provide this Rosetta Stone* of the real estate industry.

Pretty interesting picture, isn’t it?  And, I’m sure that this project will generate quite a bit of discussion over time.  One comment I saw online was a derisive comment about the system being national.  The idea was that since real estate is local, why would an agent need a national system?  Well, because there are agents all over the country.  Duh.  I think that’s a sign of that knee-jerk “Oh, this must be a stupid idea” reaction.

Can NAR pull this off?  I don’t know, but I think it will be interesting to see what happens!

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*a clue, breakthrough, or discovery that provides crucial knowledge for the solving of a puzzle or problem