.realtor coming in October

All you tech-savvy real estate agents out there who wish to further distinguish yourselves online will be able to register a .realtor domain name by Halloween, says the National Association of Realtors. 

If this is something that interests you, make sure to jump on the band wagon early since NAR is offering a year’s worth of free hosting to the first 500,000 people who register. And if you have an existing profile at Realtor.com, you’ll be able to transition it into a stand-alone site with your name on it. 

The .realtor domain name, in the works since 2012, is NAR’s latest attempt to close the gap between the number of buyers who find their real estate agent online (about 9 percent) and the number of buyers who search for homes online (about 89 percent). They’ve tried other approaches in the past that didn’t pan out so well. 

NAR initially applied for the .realtor domain name to help its Realtors^® stand out from other real estate professionals and to help consumers distinguish between websites operated by industry professionals from sites maintained by third parties, according to an earlier report from Inman News.