From National Association of Realtors
Home buyers, sellers and investors may soon find it easier to locate trusted and valued real estate information, resources and services online.
The National Association of Realtors, through its wholly owned subsidiary, the Realtors Information Network, has applied for the branded .Realtor top-level domain as an alternative to the familiar and commonly used .com or .org.
Applications have also been submitted for .realestate and .home.
NAR has applied for the top-level domains through the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the entity that coordinates domains and IP addresses for the Internet.
NAR has been following this initiative since ICANN first considered introducing a new round of generic top-level domains in 2005 and has worked closely with Second Generation, an investment firm and registry operator for the top-level domain .jobs, throughout the application, review and development process.
The final approval for the top-level domains is anticipated sometime in 2013. Once approved, NAR plans to distribute additional information on how and when domains in the new extensions will be made available.
According to NAR research, nearly nine out of 10 recent buyers used the Internet in their home search process.