TREC delays Realm rollout as budget shortfall makes fee increase likely

The Texas Real Estate Commission on Thursday delayed the public launch of its new license-management system — called Realm — citing ongoing data conversion and external-system integration problems, and approved a FY‑2026 budget that projects multimillion‑dollar operating shortfalls.

Commission Executive Director Chelsea Buchholz told commissioners the agency is doing additional test conversions and integration checks before going live: “Data conversion and also integration are our current challenges,” she said, and staff are running a small mock conversion “to determine its success to then determine next steps.” Buchholz said she remains “hopeful for a go live later this year” but gave no firm date.

Why it matters: TREC’s licensing fees make up roughly 90% of agency revenue, so continuing declines in new license applications and exam revenue have an outsized effect on the agency’s finances. Commissioners were told that without a fee increase or other changes,…