.HOMES re-released

[Name Trader]

I received in a Uni Newsletter that .HOMES has been released without restrictions. Did anyone else see that and try to register any domains. It was tough going. Most were already taken or very premium prices from the registry. I did manage to get OFFSHORE and LAKESIDE for discounted reg fee

Whilst I was searching. I found RETAIL.DOMAINS available, so took that too

 

[Kate]

Correct, and yet they gave them away for free the first year I think.
Apparently, the first year is still free. My point is, even a free product gets a lukewarm reception.

Unfortunately .homes was nipped in the bud due to the restrictions and blew whatever momentum it could have had. Predictably it has had to relaunch under a different model devoid of restrictions, like .pro and other TLDs before but they wasted time to competitors. Registries will never learn.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Well said.....keeping up with my "one a day" commitment to buy a .homes a day for the foreseeable future, I purchased two yesterday and one today; Varsity.homes, Johnson.homes and JohnsonCustom.homes. If anyone cares to know the why behind Johnson.homes and JohnsonCustom.homes send me a PM and I'll explain.....hint, as of the 2000 census there were 1.847M. Johnson's in the US alone. DomainGuy, I couldn't agree more about the need for exposure with these great names and I'm working on that, albeit more slowly than I'd like

To qualify for that extension, you must be a licensed Realtor. (afaik)

Thank you very much for pointing that out forge. I was very aware of this because I have dozens of friends who are "licensed realtors" as well as many friends who are "home builders", mortgage brokers, architects, designers and even home painting contractors for which I own Rembrandt.homes

As an fyi forge....my mantra is; "Make Something Happen", and it's been my mantra since starting my first business in college almost 50 years ago. And since you're posting here on the message board that addresses the .homes extension, I feel a responsibility to help educate you and those who may be interested, why I believe this extension has great potential.

Before I do however, i think it helps to understand a little background on the "registries" who sell ngTLD's to consumers, businesses and investors like you and me. In order to become a registry and own an extension like .homes for example, you must first pay a minimum of $250,000 to be licensed. So, lets assume for a moment I could afford 250K and became the registry for .homes. Furthermore, i've learned it takes from 50,000 to $75,000 a year just to keep the lights on, and this doesn't include typical overhead for salaries, rent, marketing expense etc. Lets say you budget another $150K a year for overhead expense, in order to cover your nut you'll need 225K annually, or the 75K just to open your doors, then another 150K for overhead. Now lets assume that your registrants are paying an annual registration fee of $25 for their domains. How many DUM or "domans under management" do you need to "breakeven"? That's easy, but maybe not to some...it's 225K divided by $25 or 9,000 domains under management. Make sense so far? As for the .homes extension, "if" this were the only way they generate revenue/income, at 3,000 registrations they won't last very long. However, like with Go Daddy, they generate income/revenue from other sources like selling "Premium" domains they hold back, and/or providing things like email services or website development.

Moving on, I understand many of you don't understand business like I do, but 50 years of practical experience tells me that I can contribute to the success of this domain registry, and at the same time contribute to my own success. First let me say, despite the best efforts of some "so called" domain investors (mostly .com investors) who will attempt to discourage you or me from investing in a new TLD like .homes, they have an AGENDA! But to be fair, don't we all. What I do know is that the market for domains that use the ".homes" extension is absolutely HUGE! How do I know this? Please, don't take my word for it, but look into how many people are employed in the "homes" industry, and how many businesses already use the word "home" or "homes" in their names already. Hint, the parent company of the registry that owns the ngTLD .homes also owns Homes .com that's been in business for over 20 years, and lists literally MILLIONS of homes in the US and Canada.

Finally, while my marketing engine/plan is just being tuned up, I know for a fact there are thousands of realtors, builders and contractors who can contribute to their own success, the .homes registries success, my success, and your success if you choose to get on board.

All Aboard!!!

 

[ThatNameGuy]

.homes slowly getting registered daily and increasing, could be a very good sign IMO. The question is who is buying them,your average person trying to flip them for bigger buck,or the real estate and broker people securing there footprint.

As an fyi...over 50% of the top 100 builders in the US have "homes" in their names. Builders and realtors aren't buying them YET, but they will be in the next 12-36 months.

 

[DomainGuy1]

Thank you very much for pointing that out forge. I was very aware of this because I have dozens of friends who are "licensed realtors" as well as many friends who are "home builders", mortgage brokers, architects, designers and even home painting contractors for which I own Rembrandt.homes

As an fyi forge....my mantra is; "Make Something Happen", and it's been my mantra since starting my first business in college almost 50 years ago. And since you're posting here on the message board that addresses the .homes extension, I feel a responsibility to help educate you and those who may be interested, why I believe this extension has great potential.

Before I do however, i think it helps to understand a little background on the "registries" who sell ngTLD's to consumers, businesses and investors like you and me. In order to become a registry and own an extension like .homes for example, you must first pay a minimum of $250,000 to be licensed. So, lets assume for a moment I could afford 250K and became the registry for .homes. Furthermore, i've learned it takes from 50,000 to $75,000 a year just to keep the lights on, and this doesn't include typical overhead for salaries, rent, marketing expense etc. Lets say you budget another $150K a year for overhead expense, in order to cover your nut you'll need 225K annually, or the 75K just to open your doors, then another 150K for overhead. Now lets assume that your registrants are paying an annual registration fee of $25 for their domains. How many DUM or "domans under management" do you need to "breakeven"? That's easy, but maybe not to some...it's 225K divided by $25 or 9,000 domains under management. Make sense so far? As for the .homes extension, "if" this were the only way they generate revenue/income, at 3,000 registrations they won't last very long. However, like with Go Daddy, they generate income/revenue from other sources like selling "Premium" domains they hold back, and/or providing things like email services or website development.

Moving on, I understand many of you don't understand business like I do, but 50 years of practical experience tells me that I can contribute to the success of this domain registry, and at the same time contribute to my own success. First let me say, despite the best efforts of some "so called" domain investors (mostly .com investors) who will attempt to discourage you or me from investing in a new TLD like .homes, they have an AGENDA! But to be fair, don't we all. What I do know is that the market for domains that use the ".homes" extension is absolutely HUGE! How do I know this? Please, don't take my word for it, but look into how many people are employed in the "homes" industry, and how many businesses already use the word "home" or "homes" in their names already. Hint, the parent company of the registry that owns the ngTLD .homes also owns Homes .com that's been in business for over 20 years, and lists literally MILLIONS of homes in the US and Canada.

Finally, while my marketing engine/plan is just being tuned up, I know for a fact there are thousands of realtors, builders and contractors who can contribute to their own success, the .homes registries success, my success, and your success if you choose to get on board.

All Aboard!!!

Great information, and yes I do agree if you plan on making something useful with the .homes , website ETC and build a base then creates big value to a end user to buy IMO. But like I stated from before if people are just buying these .homes and trying to flip them for big money it wont happen. You have to bring value to that (.homes ) show the people, show the end user that it has great uses.

 

[DomainGuy1]

Does anyone know if a .homes can get a trademark or does any have one filed.. Exmaple xxxxx . homes

Trademarked.

 

[Corey]

Policy Update for .HOMES TLD with Claims Trademark End Date - Dominion Registries @ https://dominionregistries.domains/2019/01/14/1766/

Cheers
Corey

 

[bmugford]

Thank you very much for pointing that out forge. I was very aware of this because I have dozens of friends who are "licensed realtors" as well as many friends who are "home builders", mortgage brokers, architects, designers and even home painting contractors for which I own Rembrandt.homes

As an fyi forge....my mantra is; "Make Something Happen", and it's been my mantra since starting my first business in college almost 50 years ago. And since you're posting here on the message board that addresses the .homes extension, I feel a responsibility to help educate you and those who may be interested, why I believe this extension has great potential.

Before I do however, i think it helps to understand a little background on the "registries" who sell ngTLD's to consumers, businesses and investors like you and me. In order to become a registry and own an extension like .homes for example, you must first pay a minimum of $250,000 to be licensed. So, lets assume for a moment I could afford 250K and became the registry for .homes. Furthermore, i've learned it takes from 50,000 to $75,000 a year just to keep the lights on, and this doesn't include typical overhead for salaries, rent, marketing expense etc. Lets say you budget another $150K a year for overhead expense, in order to cover your nut you'll need 225K annually, or the 75K just to open your doors, then another 150K for overhead. Now lets assume that your registrants are paying an annual registration fee of $25 for their domains. How many DUM or "domans under management" do you need to "breakeven"? That's easy, but maybe not to some...it's 225K divided by $25 or 9,000 domains under management. Make sense so far? As for the .homes extension, "if" this were the only way they generate revenue/income, at 3,000 registrations they won't last very long. However, like with Go Daddy, they generate income/revenue from other sources like selling "Premium" domains they hold back, and/or providing things like email services or website development.

Moving on, I understand many of you don't understand business like I do, but 50 years of practical experience tells me that I can contribute to the success of this domain registry, and at the same time contribute to my own success. First let me say, despite the best efforts of some "so called" domain investors (mostly .com investors) who will attempt to discourage you or me from investing in a new TLD like .homes, they have an AGENDA! But to be fair, don't we all. What I do know is that the market for domains that use the ".homes" extension is absolutely HUGE! How do I know this? Please, don't take my word for it, but look into how many people are employed in the "homes" industry, and how many businesses already use the word "home" or "homes" in their names already. Hint, the parent company of the registry that owns the ngTLD .homes also owns Homes .com that's been in business for over 20 years, and lists literally MILLIONS of homes in the US and Canada.

Finally, while my marketing engine/plan is just being tuned up, I know for a fact there are thousands of realtors, builders and contractors who can contribute to their own success, the .homes registries success, my success, and your success if you choose to get on board.

All Aboard!!!

In those 50 years I figure you would have learned sales matter, everything else is fluff and BS.
You can talk about plans all you want, if you have a product hardly anyone wants then it becomes irrelevant.

Also, that registry math doesn't work for popular terms. Sure you might get a garbage extension like .hiphop uncontested, but all these popular terms had many applicants which lead to private / ICANN auctions to resolve. Many of these went for several million dollars, some for even higher.

I am not sure what .Homes sold for but it is likely in the millions, which is even more money they need to recoup before they can even think about breaking even. There are also many expenses not accounted for here; many of these registries are spending massive marketing on pay for placement at various registrars, domain blogs, print ads, etc.

Brad

 

[DomainGuy1]

Policy Update for .HOMES TLD with Claims Trademark End Date - Dominion Registries @ https://dominionregistries.domains/2019/01/14/1766/

Cheers
Corey

Thanks Corey, but let me ask you this,I have a very good ????? .homes name that I plan to build a site for information uses and listings of course. I can not disclose what the.homes is just yet, but the keywords for it is pretty high up there.Should I trademark the name any value to do so. I can trademark it my self to save costs instead of using a lawyer. Only reason is Im asking I just found a few that have tradmarks for the.homes

 

[Corey]

research first

World Intellectual Property Organization @ https://www.wipo.int/portal/en/index.html

Trademark basics | USPTO @ https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-getting-started/trademark-basics

Cheers
Corey

 

[DomainGuy1]

Thanks , I did already done a trademark search and nothing shows up.I think I might file a trademark on mine

 

[bmugford]

As for the .homes extension, "if" this were the only way they generate revenue/income, at 3,000 registrations they won't last very long. However, like with Go Daddy, they generate income/revenue from other sources like selling "Premium" domains they hold back, and/or providing things like email services or website development.

Right. All the obvious great stuff has been reserved.

So domainers are essentially picking what is left over. What they have deemed as not being a premium name. This tends to show from the average quality of registration posted in the thread.

Brad

 

[DomainGuy1]

People Like I said from before , if you looking to get the .homes try and secure it with .com it will have more value for reselling , but even more value if you plan to use that .homes and .com to build a site for your self for Google rankings SEO etc.All this is IMO.

 

[bmugford]

https://ntldstats.com/tld/homes

Domains In Zonefile:
3,111

Parked Domains:
2,860 (91.49%)

Before there is a resale market there needs to be a primary market; people actually using these domains. At this point there is close to zero real world development in this extension. Maybe it would do better if the registry actually released some of the better terms for reasonable prices, or put them in the hands of capable end users.

Brad

 

[DomainGuy1]

https://ntldstats.com/tld/homes

Domains In Zonefile:
3,111

Parked Domains:
2,860 (91.49%)

Before there is a resale market there needs to be a primary market; people actually using these domains. At this point there is close to zero real world development in this extension. Maybe it would do better if the registry actually released some of the better terms for reasonable prices, or put them in the hands of capable end users.

Brad

True value here for the .homes along with the.coms is the end user.

 

[bmugford]

True value here for the .homes along with the.coms is the end user.

The .COM doesn't need the .homes to have value though. It has stand alone value.
There have been endless (Word)Homes.com sold whether it is a Geo, descriptive term, name, brand, etc.

Brad

 

[oldtimer]

I was very aware of this because I have dozens of friends who are "licensed realtors" as well as many friends who are "home builders", mortgage brokers, architects, designers and even home painting contractors for which I own Rembrandt.homes

I have a few .homes, so I would like to see .homes become popular, although many people on this thread are rightfully being cautious as to how many .homes they are registering until they see a few sales or big websites for this extension. It would be nice if you could do a survey amongst the many people that you know who are somehow involved in real estate to find out how they feel about .homes

Here are few question that might be good to ask (add others as you see fit):

Does anyone have already registered any .homes

Did they already know about .homes or did they find out about it through you

How long is it that they have known about .homes

Would any of them consider registering .homes now

Does anyone have their existing domain include the word home or end with the word homes

What extension are they currently using for their domain

Would anyone consider switching their website to .homes if they could get a better domain

How many use geo targeted domains like City+homes or Services+homes and what extensions are they using for those

How much are they willing to pay to register a new domain in .homes

How much are they willing to pay to buy the perfect domain that matches perfectly to their location, specialty, or product and services that they provide (we are talking about their dream domain that they didn't think possible to get before)

 

[DomainGuy1]

The .COM doesn't need the .homes to have value though. It has stand alone value.
There have been endless (Word)Homes.com sold whether it is a Geo, descriptive term, name, brand, etc.

Brad

What I'm trying to say is , if you plan on buying a .homes,buy the .com along with it, this will increase your rankings, seo and so on, and have a better chance of getting traffic to your main site which is the .com , the .homes url will be forwarded to the .com. Which at the end of the day means more business for your site.IMO

 

[bmugford]

What I'm trying to say is , if you plan on buying a .homes,buy the .com along with it, this will increase your rankings, seo and so on, and have a better chance of getting traffic to your main site which is the .com , the .homes url will be forwarded to the .com. Which at the end of the day means more business for your site.IMO

I don't really see that being a viable investment strategy. It just adds to your costs and ongoing expenses.

There are 130M+ .COM registrations. If there is a term + homes.com available to hand register it is likely crap at this point. If the .COM is available at a premium you might as well just buy that as it is far more likely to actually sell.

Brad

 

[DomainGuy1]

For me its worth as I plan to create a website and use it with the .com and .homes. Must of my .homes I paid under 20 bucks for , and will only be focusing on 2 of them,and the rest I will let go or sell them for dirt cheap as these are the ones that I did not secure the .com with.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

People Like I said from before , if you looking to get the .homes try and secure it with .com it will have more value for reselling , but even more value if you plan to use that .homes and .com to build a site for your self for Google rankings SEO etc.All this is IMO.

DomainGuy, you're right about matching the .com with the .homes extension whenever possible. However, less than 20% of my .homes domains have a matching .com. It's sort of a Catch22 in that the better your .homes domain, the less likely the .com is available and vice versa.

Actually, it was one of the old timers here on NamePros who I have a lot of respect for who taught me that trick, and she's a real pro Another one of the old timers continues to add credibility to my business experience and expertise by following me around wherever I go. I was hoping to see/meet him at NamesCon so that I could thank him, but I guess he wasn't there

Finally, as for all the really good .homes domains being taken, that may be partially true, but there are literally tens of thousands of people working in the real estate industry, the building industry, contractors, mortgage brokers, home maintenance, cleaning people etc. who would just luv to own a domain that better identifies themselves and their business. Take for example the name "Brad Pitt" Were you aware there are over 120,000 US citizens with the first name "Brad". Furthermore, did you know that at least 1% or 1,200 guys by the name of Brad work in either the real estate or the home building and related industries? If I were to register the name Brads.homes or even BradsLuxury.homes I could buy each of them today. Furthermore, if you check BradsHomes(.)com or BradsLuxuryHomes(.)com you will find they're already registered, and BradsHomes(.)com is actually for sale for $2,295....go figure I'm sure Brad Pitt could afford it, but most Brad's couldn't. There are tens of thousands of first and last names that are already associated with .com domains from the homes industry, thus showing the possible demand for .homes. Again, don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself. If you were to Google top "100 builders in the US", you'll discover that that 61 representing 61% of the Nations top builders have the word "homes" in their names, and their matching domains.

Finally, I'll share with you another area that has huge potential for additional .homes names. Most all real estate is local, and there are literally thousands of "local" communities/suburbs/planned/retirement communities with populations greater 5,000 that have at least 2,000 homes where a realtor would just love to have their communities name associated with .homes. I actually own a few .homes names associated with some of the fasted growing counties in the US....and don't forget, there's Canada too

Anyway, I hope I was able to add a little color to the conversation here. A lot of this is entertainment for me, and speaking of entertainment, Entertainment.homes is a premium domain that's for sale for $2,700.
A friend of mine from the area is a builder whose name is Ken Jolly so I may just buy Jolly.homes to give to him because JollyHomes.com is spoken for and is a developed website for a realtor in Fort Collins Colorado.

This is enough fun for the day...the sun just came out here in VB so it's time for a beer and some vitamin D

 

[ThatNameGuy]

I have a few .homes, so I would like to see .homes become popular, although many people on this thread are rightfully being cautious as to how many .homes they are registering until they see a few sales or big websites for this extension. It would be nice if you could do a survey amongst the many people that you know who are somehow involved in real estate to find out how they feel about .homes

Here are few question that might be good to ask (add others as you see fit):

Does anyone have already registered any .homes

Did they already know about .homes or did they find out about it through you

How long is it that they have known about .homes

Would any of them consider registering .homes now

Does anyone have their existing domain include the word home or end with the word homes

What extension are they currently using for their domain

Would anyone consider switching their website to .homes if they could get a better domain

How many use geo targeted domains like City+homes or Services+homes and what extensions are they using for those

How much are they willing to pay to register a new domain in .homes

How much are they willing to pay to buy the perfect domain that matches perfectly to their location, specialty, or product and services that they provide (we are talking about their dream domain that they didn't think possible to get before)

Thanks oldtimer...all your questions are good, but I already know most of the potential customers have very little knowledge of this new extension thus putting them through a battery of questions is risky. First thing you need to do is get their attention, and I can't share here how we intend to do that. Once we have their attention/interest then we can start asking questions. I've owned several businesses where sales of anywhere from a hundred dollars to a thousand dollars were made by a combination of telephone and direct mail or email. This is all I have time for now, but this doesn't start cranking tomorrow, but it will within the next six to nine months. Pricing is one major key to success, and we're working on that now. I'm not talking about the typical business model that most domainers are use to....it's not even close. The one thing I can assure you is there will be no "scalping" or "hoarding" occurring under my watch. The other thing I can share is the model will most likely not work for just a few domains. Most of this is volume driven, and volume priced. It's nothing like a realtor selling only million dollar homes, or a domainer who expects to mark up domains a thousand percent or more and wait for someone to find it in the next 3-5-10 years. That doesn't work in this league.

Thanks again oldtimer, and thanks for your interest.

 

[oldtimer]

https://ntldstats.com/tld/homes

Domains In Zonefile:
3,111

Parked Domains:
2,860 (91.49%)

Before there is a resale market there needs to be a primary market; people actually using these domains. At this point there is close to zero real world development in this extension. Maybe it would do better if the registry actually released some of the better terms for reasonable prices, or put them in the hands of capable end users.

Brad

I agree with what you are saying about the low registration numbers for .homes being a little alarming, but as you already know the Geo+homes.com and Services+homes.com have been very popular amongst those who are involved in real estate and some people here are taking a chance that .homes might get noticed by the people who are just now entering the real estate business and who have no chance of getting their desired domain in .com

So the question we need to find the answer to is that are the low registration numbers for .homes due to lack of interest or are they due to lack of awareness, and if it is not due to lack of awareness could the high prices for the top domains be playing a role in holding the new realtors back from giving this extension a try and if so perhaps the registry should come up with some kind of a instalment or lease plan to make it easier for people to get started with their .homes website.

I guess we can add a question to the survey as to if they are more willing to give .homes a try if they could buy it on an installment plan, or if they were available for rent or lease.

IMO

 

[onspec]

One Domainers take...

There are 22 new real estate extensions directly or peripherally associated with homes and real estate, respectively, listed on IcannWiki.org.

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 as many cities as possible 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

 

[DomainGuy1]

One Domainers take...

There are 22 new real estate extensions directly or peripherally associated with homes and real estate, respectively, listed on IcannWiki.org.

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 as many cities as possible 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

Scott thank you for that information it really help, also a BIG Congrats on the .homes those are real winners IMO.

 

[onspec]

The domain market is flooded with redundant extensions. If you missed .homes then you can try .property or .properties or something else - there are two dozens nTLDs dedicated to real estate. So people have plenty of options.
There is also .realtor, but the uptake seems to be very modest: https://ntldstats.com/tld/realtor
The numbers are low and the amount of developed sites must be quite lower too.

As for homes, hardly 3K registered which is amazingly low but reflects a very diluted market
https://ntldstats.com/tld/homes

3k - the new General availability was just over a month ago. Give it some time Grasshopper...

Yes there are a lot of real estate related extensions (22 according to IcannWiki.org). But look at all of those extensions and ask yourself -

What are Mr. and Ms. John Q. Public typing into Google search when they embark on buying a new home (as opposed to renting, leasing, apartments or condos)?

Hamilton place? I doubt it
Hamilton property? Meh..
Hamilton properties? Maaaaaybe

The others are non-starters, so those can also be eliminated.

I suggest that in the majority of the cases its something like Hamilton homes or Hamilton real estate.

If that's the case, then efforts to identify the most popular and/or desirable locations possible would make sense.

Cheers,
Scott