I would add my welcome as well,
@thedomainguy (BTW nice username, surprised someone had not taken it!). I would echo those, such as
@MapleDots, who urged you to start slowly. Almost everyone here has rushed into registering/acquiring domain names that they later regretted, particularly in the early months. I wrote a long summary of advice, and #1 was start slowly! (
entire post here if interested)
Before acquiring a domain name make sure you have a fairly long list of who might want / value from the domain name and some ideas on how they would come to see it.
Re valuation, if you use the search button you can find various heated debates re automated appraisals but I would briefly offer the following re the value of a domain name.
(a) It is only worth as much as someone who wants it is willing to pay.
(b) It is helpful to use NameBio.com to find similar domain name sales. For example if you had the name NamePros.net you would first look to see if any direct sales in that. If you found it sold in com for $35k, then maybe the net is worth 10 to 20% of that. If no sales directly, look at sales of net extension domains that start with Name and those that end with Pros, and look through this list to find comparator names.
(c) GoValue will help you find comparators not in NameBio and is rather good re comparators in most cases. However, don't place too much confidence in the actual appraisal value. Use Estibot to see how they agree with each other. Estibot will give you an idea if advertisers have CPC.
(d) Either formally on Appraisal section, or perhaps better informally with those whose judgement you trust, get several opinions of worth.
Welcome to our community, and we look forward to your contributions!
Bob