One Domainers take...
There are 22 new real estate extensions directly or peripherally associated with homes and real estate, respectively, listed on .
Of the 22, there are only 2 extensions that warrant my time and attention. Those would be .realestate and .Homes. And given that I didn’t partake in .realestate, I’m focusing on .Homes.
If we follow Google search results, and ultimately the $money, some interesting facts emerge.
Please note that Google results and other references I make here are not the do-all and end-all. The numbers will change based on a number of factors – time keyword was searched, day of the week, weekend, location etc.
My first consideration was – do I believe that .Homes can become a profitable extension for each of the key stakeholders – the registry, the registrars and the registrants? After a great deal of research, applying some 20 year’s experience in the domain business and that all important
early bird gets the worm leap of faith, my answer was yes. So I allocated time and resources to see if I can develop a profitable business model.
Some of the considerations included:
The Registry
Even with the bungled start requiring a specific connection to the homes/real estate industry, which could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for “new” early adopters, they do own other extensions (experience) and perhaps more importantly, they own homes.com. Homes.com as an asset and a potential gateway to realtor and broker networks and affiliated home services is a plus.
I am a bit concerned about premium pricing and reserved names. Experience dictates that a fine balance between initial pricing, renewal rates and getting key, high-value domains into the hands of end-users is paramount. FWIW – I have some ideas how to go about that.
Although I don’t know any of the key players at Dominion, I can only hope that they have done their homework and have master plan to market the hell out of the extension. Unfortunately, so far… its been
crickets.
The Registrars
Very simple. The registrars will make money or they’ll drop the extension.
The Registrants, we the people – where the rubber meets the road
There are many ways to skin the cat. I’ve decided to test the .Homes waters. Among others, these are a few key factors I consider when deciding which .Homes domains to buy:
* Target real estate agencies, realtors, brokers and sales representatives as end users
* Focus on neighborhoods and cities where there is lots of competition
* Dominate the market you’re targeting
* Buy domains with the highest possible Google search results WITH quotation marks such as “East York homes”
* Buy domains with as many paid advertisers as possible showing at the top of the search results
* Buy domains that are represented by to increase marketability and reduce potential trademark issues
* Only buy domains at $10
I decided to focus on a region in southern Ontario. To date, I have secured ~ 100 domains and am now in a position to start beating the bushes for potential end users to demonstrate the value of .Homes domains.
Only time will tell if it pans out, or just flat out pans...
A final word to the naysayers and those that think the registry is hoarding all the good names. No question they are testing the waters with elite domains at $600,000 and most major cities at $6,000. Depending on their cost base, they only need to sell a handful of these to keep the lights on. Dominion also has several other revenue streams to carry them through any lean times.
All at introductory pricing, I secured:
· The 3rd, 4th, 5th, 9th and 10th richest (highest avg. income) cities in the US
· PearlCity.homes - Highest annual median wage for real estate agents
· SanPablo.homes – over 160 cities in the world are named San Pablo
· Dover.homes – over 30 cities in the US are named Dover
· BandB.homes with over 1,700,000,000 Google search results (potential directory)
IMHO, it would be prudent for a Dominion hack to join this conversation in a meaningful way, not just lurk
, to share information and ideas with an audience that is making some bets on their extension.
Cheers,
Scott
