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Introducing NREC

The fictitious company used as an example in this book is National Real Estate Clearinghouse (NREC). NREC is a U.S.-based company that participates in the residential real estate industry. It acts as an agent for people who are selling houses. NREC maintains a database of houses for sale and makes this information available to a nationwide network of partner real estate agencies. These real estate agencies represent buyers. Real estate agents use NREC to find houses that match buyers needs. Through prenegotiated contracts with partner real estate agencies, NREC is able to close sales with fewer incurred costs than traditional real estate agencies.

NREC also solicits interest directly from buyers. Potential buyers call into a toll-free number to inquire about houses. NREC records the buyer's information and, rather than handling the leads itself, NREC passes them onto one of the agencies in its distribution network. For an illustration of these interactions, see Figure 1.

Figure 1. Key Business Processes