Supply Chain in Real Estate

Essay by brokeheartUniversity, Bachelor'sA, March 2008

download word file, 6 pages 1.0

Every business sells either products or services and will have a supply (value) chain that it will use to get their product or service to the consumer who needs the product or service. This is ever true for real estate. The products that real estate agents sell are homes and estates, commercial properties, new home and business construction and recreational properties. These agents work as the middle man between the seller of the property and the potential buyer. The strategy of real estate, "predominantly emphasizes activities such as marketing sales and human resource management." (Roulac, 1999) This paper will discuss how the supply chain in real estate differs between the "brick and mortar" world and the world of e-Business.

Description of Supply Chain Supply chain is an important factor for any type of business since it is the progression which begins with the raw materials and ending with the sale of the finished product or service.

In the real estate industry what is offered by companies such as Century 21, Remax and Coldwell Banker is actually a service rather than a product; due to this fact there are no actual raw materials but there are a series of steps involved in the services they provide and often times these steps incorporate other companies which offer different types of service which help produce the ending result of a successfully completed real estate transaction. There are many different types of companies involved in the real estate industry, these companies range from advertising agencies, realtor support companies, title companies, financial institutions, inspection companies, appraisal companies, and even attorneys in some cases.

Supply chain for a real estate transaction, for any company, begins with advertising agencies. These agencies could be newspapers, flyers or various other forms of advertising which companies use to attract clients.