Prudential Locations to launch Web site

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Prudential Locations will launch a private site on the Internet to give its clients the same kind of information that Honolulu real estate agents pay $550 a year for.

Prudential Locations officials believe the new Web site — BrokersMLS.com, to be launched Monday — will be the first of its kind in Hawai'i to include important sales prices for properties, as well as property listings by asking price, street, neighborhood or building name.

The Web site is free for Prudential clients but requires them to get a log on and use a password

There are 175 Prudential agents throughout the state.

Other Web sites — such as the Honolulu Board of Realtors' hicentral.com, realtor.com or homeadvisor.com — offer listings for free. But they don't provide comparable sales information for nearby properties, said John Connelley, immediate past chairman of Honolulu Board of Realtors.

Sales prices for comparable properties are included in the Multiple Listing Service that agents use. "It's important because if you are a buyer or seller, you want a true representation of the market," Connelley said. "You're going to be much more interested in the sale price rather than what's being asked."

Prudential's site carries the potential to change the relationship between real estate agents and clients by offering buyers and sellers more information than before. But "it's hard to tell exactly how at this point," Connelley said.

The Web site contains about 7,500 listings throughout Hawai'i. Property information will be updated four times a day.

"We basically are trying to make smarter customers. ... Then together we can make smarter decisions," said Bill Chee, Prudential Locations founder and chief executive.

The Web site has cost at least $500,000 to set up and is estimated to cost another $1 million per year to maintain.

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.