The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, commonly known as TRREB is the largest Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in Canada boasting a membership of around 70,000 real estate agents and brokers from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
With more than 29 regions, under its purview, the TRREB IDX data feed is a must have for real estate agents in the GTA wanting to provide a comprehensive listing search experience for their clients. Like other MLSs, TRREB also shares listing data across its network of real estate agents. However, TRREB has a complex list of guidelines for realtors to follow who access this data to grow their business.
What are these data-sharing guidelines? How do TRREB members derive value from the MLS, and how can agents work their way around TRREB’s policies? This comprehensive guide delves into every aspect of TRREB you have ever wanted to know.
Introduction:
History: TRREB was established in 1920, making it one of the oldest Canadian real estate organizations. Originally started as the Toronto Real Estate Board or TREB, it used to serve the broader Toronto region during its earlier days. Later on, to meet the evolving needs of real estate professionals, it expanded its operations to cover a broader area, also known as the GTA or Greater Toronto Area.
Geography and Cities Served by TRREB: The board serves 29 cities and regions, which contribute to a vast geographic region within the Greater Toronto Area or GTA. These are:
- Ajax
- Aurora
- Brampton
- Brock
- Burlington
- Caledon
- Clarington
- East Gwillimbury
- Georgina
- Halton Hills
- King
- Markham
- Milton
- Mississauga
- Newmarket
- Oakville
- Oshawa
- Pickering
- Richmond Hill
- Scugog
- Toronto
- Uxbridge
- Vaughan
- Whitby
- Whitchurch-Stouffville
- Durham
- Halton
- Peel
- York
Number of Brokers and Agents Under TRREB: TRREB has more than 70,000 members, with most being brokers and agents operating within the Greater Toronto Area. TRREB members have access to a common MLS database and other resources and legal support from TRREB. But, to enjoy these benefits, one must first obtain a TRREB membership.
Membership:
The TRREB membership requires aspiring members to meet several eligibility criteria and submit a list of documents.
Eligibility Criteria: You must be a licensed real estate professional and hold a real estate license in Ontario to be applicable for the membership. Usually, agents applying for the membership are affiliated and working with a real estate brokerage already.
Documents: TRREB requires you to submit the following documents while applying for your license. These are:
- Proof of Licensing: Documentation confirming your real estate license status in Ontario.
- Proof of Affiliation: Documentation confirming your affiliation to a registered brokerage within GTA.
- Application Form: Completed membership form that you can download from the TRREB website.
Fees: Last but not least, you should submit an annual membership fee. The membership amount varies depending on multiple factors. However, you can expect a ballpark range of $1800-$2200 annually. The access privileges vary depending on how much you have paid as your subscription fee.
Additionally, access to certain services and data feeds is only possible when agents have an affiliation with a broker. An affiliation with a broker ensures accountability and compliance towards ethical business practices while sharing TRREB’s IDX and VOW data.
Data Feed and Listing:
Data Feed: Perhaps the most inquired things about TRREB are their data feed and how data sharing between the MLS and realtors happens. So, the TRREB system uses the Real Estate Transaction Standard or RETS. To fetch data from the MLS system, you can develop a RETS client to query TRREB for updates.
Overall, TRREB provides data feeds based on 3 data agreements: IDX, VOW and DTA. These data feeds serve as the backbone of the system that supplies the listings for real estate agents to work with.
Licensees can publicly share the data from the IDX data feed on the internet. However, data within the VOW feed requires licensees to capture a registration or login. In other words, VOW data requires client privileges for public sharing. TRREB gives you a total of 3 types of RETS accounts.
- IDX: Sends regular queries to TRREB for new condo, residential and commercial IDX listings.
- VOW: Sends regular queries to TRREB for a new condo, residential and commercial VOW listings.
- DTA: Data for listings belonging to real estate professionals that have granted the licensee permission to receive the listings data.
Listings: TRREB provides listings for residential, commercial and rental properties to its members in the GTA. These listings include property types starting from single-family homes to commercial properties that serve a wide range of buyers and sellers in the GTA region. TRREB updates its MLS several times a day to help agents and brokers have the latest information about properties.
If you are new to TRREB and wondering how to submit new listings, TRREB makes it easy for you to do so. Follow these steps, and you will be up and running with your listings very quickly.
- Login to your TRREB account using your member account
- Access the Listing submission section and follow the steps
- Enter necessary details such as address, features, type, etc.
- Upload the pictures, preferably high-quality pictures and videos
- Review the information and submit
Searching through Listings: Searching within the TRREB MLS is easy. Agents and brokers can search properties using advanced filters such as property type, price, location and various parameters. The system also offers interactive maps that allow you to explore properties by neighborhoods and zip. Additionally, agents can also save their property searches.
Rules and Disputes:
Listings are perhaps the lifeblood for TRREB and all parties connected to the real estate ecosystem. The board has several compliance guidelines that serve as a benchmark for ethical standards and compliance for realtors. Overall TRREB makes you sign a total of 3 business agreements. These are:
TRREB Data License Agreement: Establishes the terms and conditions between TRREB and the Realtor. It grants legal entitlement to the realtor for using real estate property data from TRREB’s database while remaining within the bounds of various legal and contractual aspects of the agreement.
TRREB IDX Feed Agreement: This agreement lays out the governing principles and obligations for the IDX data feed signed between the realtor, TRREB and any third-party service provider. It lays out a total of 14 sections that cover obligations of all the three parties, license, fee, monitoring, audit, IP rights, privacy, indemnity, termination of agreement and remedies.
TRREB VOW Data Agreement: Same as IDX agreement but of the VOW data feed.
Additional Tools to Access TRREB Data and Grow Your Business:
Technology is integral in the real estate landscape, and realtors with a well-thought-out tech stack are often the high-achieving ones because the MLS Data does not solve all the requirements of a realtor. If you are a TRREB member, there are multiple tools that you should get your hands on to judge their potential. These are:
MLS Software and Listing Management Software: MLS data is complex and if you have membership of MLSs other than TRREB, an MLS software such as Matrix may help you empower your business by bringing together listing management, client communications and transaction tracking under one roof.
A CRM Software: A real estate CRM is a must-have tool in your tech stack. It allows you to organize all your leads, client information, their journey through the sales pipeline and much more.
Transaction Management Software with E-Signatures: Real estate business operations demand documents and signatures at every step. Hence, it becomes critical to have transaction management software that allows you to streamline the transaction process, make it faster and reduce paperwork with the help of electronic signatures. Many of these systems integrate with TRREB MLS to give your client a better transaction experience.
Online Advertisement Tools: Online ads remain a leading way to capture leads. Real Estate Agents and brokers often use multiple online ad formats along with TRREB MLS:
- IDX CRM Tools: These tools assist in listing management and enable ad creation.
- Google AdWords: Agents can use it for targeted PPC advertising.
- Zillow and Facebook Ads: Platforms for manual ad creation and property showcasing.
While tools help TRREB members execute their real estate business strategy, the comprehensive and insightful market reports provided by TRREB can serve as a reference point to come up with the necessary strategies.
TRREB Market Reports:
TRREB offers comprehensive market reports to help real estate professionals make informed decisions to better use their TRREB IDX and VOW data. These reports cover a wide range of topics and include:
Quarterly Reports: You get market reports for three quarters each year fundamentally for commercial properties, Rentals and Condos for all the regions in the GTA. These reports are very comprehensive and cover a lot of data points.
Leasing Activities: TRREB also provides market reports for leasing activities. You can find data for total lease transactions, average lease rates, and average sales prices for all types of commercial properties within GTA.
Rental Market: The rental report emphasizes apartments and townhouses. You can also get insights into total rental transactions as well.
Condo Insights: Gives a detailed overview of all the transactions and trends for the condo market in GTA
Historical Data: The historical data for transactions by TRREB allows professionals to track market trends over time and draw conclusions.
Quick Market Stats: These reports also provide an overview of essential market statistics that serve as a reference for realtors.
TRREB Realtor Quest:
TRREB’s annual Realtor Quest event is a highlight in the real estate calendar, offering numerous benefits for attendees.
There may be several reasons to attend the event :
- Education: Keeping up with industry trends, emerging tech, using TRREB IDX data to its fullest and best practices is what every successful realtor keeps doing. This event is one of the best opportunities to grab such knowledge for a considerable fee.
- Networking: Relationships and networking keep the real estate business going, and TRREB’s realtor quest is perhaps one of the best venues in Canada that brings peers, industry leaders and potential clients all to the same place. The event provides dedicated sessions for networking, mixers and social events that help cultivate connections between industry professionals.
- Market Insight: TRREB’s Realtor Quest also serves as a litmus for the current trends and strategies that allow you to navigate your business better.
- Showcase: Realtor Quest also helps showcase the latest technologies and services that can potentially enhance business and revenues for realtors. The event is usually hosted in an exhibitor hall. Participants who want to showcase something can buy booths for a price.
Schedule of the Event: The event can last for multiple days. Agents can participate in various activities such as informative sessions, keynote speeches and networking opportunities to grow their business.
Keynote Speakers: Realtor Quest has featured speakers who are knowledgeable and popular. One is Trevor Noah himself. Trevor made an appearance in the 2023 realtor quest. These speakers share their experiences and strategies, making TRREB Realtor Quest a fruitful learning experience.
TRREB members may get priority when it comes to registration for the event. They can also be eligible for discounts, one of the many perks of the membership.
In summary, the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), with its rich history, broad geographical reach, and a membership base of 70000+ plays an important role in the real estate landscape in the GTA. Working as a TRREB member assures unwavering support and privileges to realtors in return for ethical conduct and adherence to compliance in a competitive and dynamic landscape of real estate.
