The product manager at MLS Hawaii Inc. then pulls up several commercial properties listed for sale on Kauai.
Hutchings receives the instant information from "Personal REsearch," a dialup database developed for Realtors by MLS Hawaii. Introduced in January, the Windows-based database is the first, fully integrated multiple listing service and public records system in the country, according to the company.
A multiple listing service is a list of properties for sale that is available to Realtors. In the past, the listing was collected in voluminous, bound catalogs, whereas today, most are computerized.
MLS Hawaii, which operates the multiple listing service for the Big Island and Kauai boards of Realtors, said its Personal REsearch database goes a step beyond most computerized listing services, offering one stop for real estate information.
While searching home listings, a Realtor also can access more in-depth public records such as the property's tax appraisals, location maps, photos and even the sales history.
Mike Sklarz, research director at the Prudential Locations Inc., said he often uses the database when he's researching home sales trends. He also uses it when he's testifying as an expert witness in a real estate lawsuit.
Sklarz said he recently used the database to put together a market research report on prospective buyers of a condominium project.
"I've been impressed with the types of products they've been able to come up with," said Scott Bradley, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors and managing director of Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties. "They seem to be a very progressive company."
And they're looking to expand. MLS Hawaii is one of six information providers that submitted a bid to operate the Honolulu Board's multiple listing service, the company said.
The contract, which has been in the hands of mainland information provider BORIS Systems Inc. for the past three years, is worth about $300,000 a year in revenues, according to MLS Hawaii, the only local bidder. The Honolulu Board will award the contract in the next several months.
The company also hopes to pursue the Maui Board of Realtors' multiple listing service when it comes up for bid later this year, said Lin McIntosh, MLS Hawaii's interim president.
For MLS Hawaii, information is big business. Founded in 1985 as Neighbor Island Multiple Listing Service by the Big Island and Kauai boards of Realtors, the nine-employee company last year grossed about $1 million, a $63,000 increase from 1995.
McIntosh said that much of last year's revenues were due to higher fees that the Realtor organization charged their members to use the multiple listing services.
She noted that the number of Realtors in Hawaii has declined steadily during the past several years, putting a lid on business.
The Honolulu Board, for instance, has seen its membership decline to 3,900, or nearly half the amount during the early 1990s, due to the soft housing market. Membership on the neighbor island boards has also declined steadily.
To cope with that trend, the company is expanding its services to a wider audience, McIntosh said.
The company produces a public records database known as "Rainmaker" for about 500 subscribers outside the real estate industry.
The database, which doesn't include the multiple listing service, is largely used by local attorneys, insurance agents and accountants who use it to check real estate records, review business registrations and develop sales leads.
"The potential of what we do is limited only by the number of public records and our imagination," McIntosh said.