Have you ever observed RealTracs make a change to something small, and you were left scratching your head? Did you ask “why,” or “how does this affect me?” If so, you were probably not alone, and it is certainly worth further explanation.

As you can imagine, there is an enormous amount of data, which brokers authorize RealTracs to send on their behalf, to hundreds of website providers, back-office tool providers, showing services, statistical companies, advertisers, and more. Not only do all these vendors receive data from RealTracs, but they also get listing information from other MLSs, literally from coast-to-coast.

That’s a lot of data.

Not only that, but it has to be understood by everyone to make it worth sending. This is where the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) Data Dictionary comes in. The RESO data dictionary is the “Rosetta Stone” for listing information. It ensures that technologists, MLSs, and vendors all speak the same language on how to describe your listing data. Why does this matter? Because it saves you time and money!

Historically, real estate technology vendors had to onboard different sets of data from multiple MLSs with different rules and different meanings and…well, you can see how time-consuming and expensive that would be when repeated for 700+ MLSs across the

country. With platinum data dictionary compliant MLSs – like RealTracs – the vendor knows that a listing in Tennessee will be described the same as it would be anywhere else. RealTracs’ Chief Technology Officer, Doug Powers, the force behind RealTracs’ RESO certification, said it best. “Every market is different, but we all have bedrooms and bathrooms. Where we can agree to a standard, we can simplify the organization, delivery, and presentation of data for the products and brokers that transcend markets.”

You will soon see the latest example of this type of data field update with how sewer is described in add/edit. There will be selections for a public or private sewer, septic tank, and Septic Tank Effluent Pumping (STEP) system.  As RealTracs moves toward 100% RESO compliant data fields, you will see more data field updates over time, and helpful information will be posted in the RealTracs Help Pages under Add/Edit: Data Dictionary. The page explaining available sewer fields can be viewed here.

If you have questions about these changes or anything else, do not hesitate to contact our technical support staff via an online chat, email, or by phone.