Long Time Listener, First Time Muser

[Portto]

Hello All!

I'm still in the early planning phase of my first muse and need some advice. Basically my idea stems from the fact that I recently sold my house using online techniques, with little to no help from my real life realtor. He wasn't getting it done so I decided to go online and see if and how I could sell it there. Low and behold I sold in within 3 months, after he had gotten only a few nibbles during his year+ of trying to sell it.

Now I know there are other "big sites" out there that sell real estate online in my market, such as www.onepercentrealty.com/ (http://www.onepercentrealty.com/). However my method of selling the house involved a much more direct approach, wherein each house is given the same personal selling treatment that it would get from an offline realtor. With my technique all the selling is done online and at a fraction of the cost to the seller.

1) I guess my first question is where do I start? Business plan? Website? Research? I really don't know where to begin...

2) Also, am I right to choose my geographic area as a starting niche, and then potentially growing from there if it is a success? Or should I not limit it to a region and try to go big from the start? In the latter case I suppose people looking for alternatives to selling their house (ie going online) is the niche...?

3) Finally will I run into problems with credibility in that I am not a realtor? Will I eventually have to bring in a partner with professional credibility or get a realtor license my self?

Thanks in advance!
-Chris

[Portto]

No advice? Anyone?

Someone on the forum FAQ mentioned the 30 Day Challenge: www.thirtydaychallenge.com (http://www.thirtydaychallenge.com)

I suppose it is as good a way to start as any...

[dcjoey]

I think your biggest drawback will be convincing the homeowner that they are capable of selling their house. When you pit a homeowner against a licensed agent it typically isn't a fair outcome. Not saying a homeowner can't become educated, but it doesn't happen overnight.

And I'm a Realtor.

I'd recommend at least taking a licensing course, you don't have to actually get your license but at least you'd see what you'd be up against. I knew several people in my class who were either doing it to become educated or just to help themselves with their own home.

[Portto]

Thanks for the advice DCJoey! I will look at some courses in Vancouver to increase my knowledge base on real estate.

I actually do not think I am going to limit it to only homeowners who want to sell their house on their own, but also ones with real estate agents as well. In fact I think real estate agents might make up a large percentage of my sales as they would still get to keep the majority of their commission even if I find the eventual buyer.

In fact, the more I think about it (and after rereading 4HWW) I think homeowners trying to sell their house on their own may end up being much more high maintenance and time consuming than customers with agents. More questions, more hands on, etc.

[Portto]

How do you all go about deciding on a domain name? I've come up with the following ideas for domains for my online realty program (all are available):
eRealtyBooster.com
Realtysalebooster.com
webrealtorpro.com
webrealtyguru.com
onlinerealtyguru.com

Am on the right track with any of these?

I'm looking for a domain with a combination of the medium (online, web, e, net, internet, etc), the product (realty, realestate, homes, property, etc) and something to add credibility and get interest (booster, pro, guru, etc).

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
-Chris

[DaveinHackensack]

I think adding prefixes or suffixes such as "e" "online", "i", etc. is a little Web 1.0. I would focus on finding a domain name that is

1) Relevant

2) Alliterative, if possible

3) Easy to spell

4) Easy to remember

5) Short, if possible.

These are some of my domain names, for example:

PortfolioArmor.com (http://portfolioarmor.com/): A site to help investors protect their investment portfolios against market downturns and other risks.

ShortScreen.com (http://shortscreen.com/): A site to help investors screen for short selling ideas.

ShadowStocks.com (http://shadowstocks.com/): An investing blog, focused on obscure stocks (i.e., stocks in the proverbial shadows).

Also check out Tim's guest post on buying a domain name, which offers some insight into what makes a good domain name.

[networkmemetics]

Would recommend a keyword rich domain...

I took a minute....all the .coms were taken...but .net and .org are just as good for SEO purposes

sellmyhouse.com
sellyourownhouse.com
howtosellyourhome.com

etc.

Make a domain name that people will type into the search engine...its a good product idea.