During the 2013 REALTORS Conference & Expoin San Francisco last Friday, the National Association of Realtors launched a member awareness campaign and priority registration for the .Realtor top-level domain, as an alternative to the familiar and commonly used .com or .org domains.
Most buyers begin their real estate search online looking for properties and reliable information sources, and someday soon when a consumer visits a .Realtor domain, NAR wants them to understand that they have located just that, a source of specialized expertise and unparalleled local market knowledge.
"As the leading advocate for home and property ownership, Realtors® are creating a namespace where buyers, sellers and investors will go online to find the most credible, trusted real estate information, resources and professional services," said NAR President Gary Thomas, broker-owner of Evergreen Realty in Villa Park, Calif. "In the future, when consumers visit a .Realtor site they can be assured they are working with a Realtor®, a real estate professional who subscribes to a strict Code of Ethics."
Starting now and until December 31, 2013, Realtors® have the opportunity to be included on a priority registration list to secure their own .Realtor top-level domain names by visiting www.SignUpForDotRealtor.com. Conference attendees can sign up by stopping at the NAR booth number 5644 on the expo floor in the Realtors® Pavilion. Participating members will receive advance notification to register their own .Realtor domain(s) one day before general release. NAR will provide the first 500,000 members who register for a .Realtor domain with a free one-year license.
NAR applied for the branded .Realtor top-level domain in 2011 through its wholly owned subsidiary, the Realtors® Information Network. Only real estate professionals who are members of NAR and the Canadian Real Estate Association will be allowed to use the .Realtor domain in connection with their names. Domains will also be made available to state and local Realtor® associations; association multiple listing services; affiliated institutes, societies and councils; and NAR strategic business partners.
NAR members attending the conference this week can also learn more about top-level domains at the "Building Your Real Estate Business Using the New TLDs" session on Friday, Nov. 8, from 1–2 p.m., in the Moscone Center, Room 132. During the session, Realtors® will learn about the impact that the new top-level domains will have on how consumers use the Internet, find out more about NAR’s strategy to secure other desirable top-level domains, and hear ideas on how Realtors® can leverage top-level domains in their business.
Final approval and launch of the .Realtor domain is anticipated in 2014. For more information, visit www.realtor.org/domain.
