NAR to provide free .realtor registration for one year.
National Association of REALTORS (NAR) sent an email to its members earlier this month pitching “priority registration” for .realtor domain names.
Priority Registration basically means they will email you a day before general availability to remind you about .realtor registration. The email points members to SignUpForDotREALTOR.com.
.realtor will be offered for one year free to the first 500,000 members who register the domains. 500,000 seems like a lofty goal, although at no charge I suspect a lot of REALTORS will sign up to protect their name.
The real estate agent who forwarded NAR’s email to me said he doesn’t see a point in registering the domains, as he already has descriptive domain names for his business. On its website, NAR addresses the question of using a .realtor domain instead of an existing .com:
…members will be able to continue using their current domain names for as long as they wish. Over time, members may choose to redirect traffic to their new .REALTOR domains as consumer search patterns and full adoption advance.
A new era is dawning in the use of the Internet. While the expansion in number of TLDs is not expected to affect the way the Internet operates, it will potentially change the way people find information on the Internet and how businesses plan and structure their online presence.
NAR has strict guidelines in place for how its members use domain names that include the REALTOR mark. It forbids descriptive domains such as “AustinRealtor.com” for use by an individual agent, for example.
The email also warns against .RE domains. .RE is the country code domain for Réunion and is apparently being pitched as a domain for “real estate” professionals.
.Realtor will have to compete with non-trademarked and less restrictive real estate domain names such as .realty and .realestate. (NAR is one of four applicants for .realestate.)
Kate says
If they give away 500K domains the first year, I wonder how many will be renewed, and most importantly used for stand-alone websites.
Samit says
.realtor will be good for it’s members, it’s an easy method to prove that they are genuine licensees.
But I don’t see people moving from .com to .realtor anytime soon.
And the registry’s offer of 1st year free might dent regs in .realty, .realestate, .properties, .property & maybe even .re
Andrew Allemann says
I believe .realtor will be limited to your name. I can see a lot of NAR members using this for their email address, while still using am more descriptive domain for their website (e.g. austinfinehomes.com, JimSmithRealty.com).
Kassey says
This is s a trend worth watching. If realtors move to .realtor and dump .com over time, that will reduce demand for .com. But, this is too early to tell.
Henry says
That’s wishful thinking at best. I am a realtor and don’t plan on using “.realtor” over my “.com” names. That will be a suicidal business move in my opinion given other competing choices “.com having been ingrained in the psuchie of many consumers.
Of course, the people running the registry will try to convince you otherwise. The fact that there are several professional alternatives like “.realty”, “.realestate”, “.properties”, “.property” or “.re” as Samit eluded to above makes it that much harder and unlikely to take hold as they envision. It will face the same fate as “.us” in spite of its national favor and fervor.
ChuckWagen says
Correct answer. I know personally a handful of examples to prove that Realtors are not leaving .com anytime soon, if ever. .Com is not going to “move over” for any extension.
Kate says
Bear in mind that .re is not an option really, because Americans are not eligible for it.
Andrew Allemann says
Good point. Looks like you need to be in the EU to register a .re domain.
james says
As I understand, NAR will also manage .Realestate and .Homes besides .Realtor
Andrew Allemann says
NAR is one of four applicants for .realestate. They did not apply for .homes. Thanks for pointing this out.
james says
Yes, they actually applied for .home not the plural.
Andrew Allemann says
Got it. And .home is basically dead for now.