Real estate and home .ca domain names

I just read this April cover story on Rob Grant at dnjournal, and it got me thinking more about real estate related .ca domains.

http://www.dnjournal.com/cover/2008/april.htm

Rob Grant did it with .com domains, but if you believe .ca has as much importance in Canada as .com now, then real estate .ca's should be a high priority on your list (for Canadian towns).

If you think about it, many of us wonder what the best .ca domains are to register. There are lots of way to come up with ideas, like words/terms you see in media, and using keyword tools to see which words are searched the most, Google search popularity, etc. Short domains are also good, I'm a believer in L-L.ca and N-N.ca for future investment. If LLL.ca and NNN.ca were available still to hand-reg, I'd say those were good too. They are probably still a good future bet if you can buy them at a good price on the aftermarket today.

But a no-brainer type of reg in .ca has to be real estate - related domains. These are types of domains like TorontoHomes.ca or OttawaRealty.ca. Now, those two examples have long been taken, but I think it's worth starting with your local region, and looking at towns of significant size or importance. Maybe even small towns that seem to have good future growth potential, or are becoming a destination for tourists.

Then add these three terms after the town name and check if they're available:

- RealEstate
- Homes
- Realty

In the area I live, many realtors use the city name plus the above words in .com and .ca to advertise their business. As time passes, I think realtors will see more value in these types of domains both in .com and .ca. One goal may be to resell these at some point, but that's not the only option (or the best).

The extra-good thing about these domains is that if you buy them for your local region, it would be easy for you to develop a one-page (or more) site about real estate in that town. You already live near there, so you can do an article on the area, home prices, local features, attractions, etc. You could even add other features to the site, like local hotels and restaurants. If your site gets popular enough, you may even be able to sell local advertising on it.

If you believe .ca has a good future, then .ca real estate domains should be on your wanted list. In the past year I've been able to reg some good ones. The real estate market will always be around, people are always buying and selling homes.

Frankly, I'm surprised realtors haven't snapped these up already. That's my advice for today!