Chad Wright of WebQuest Inc. is selling premium geo domains to buy foreclosed homes.
People draw a lot of comparisons between domain names and real estate. One long time domainer, Chad Wright, is trading in some of his “virtual” real estate in order to buy real estate he can walk on.
Wright’s company owns thousands of generic domain names. (One of those domain names — Southpole.com — recently landed in arbitration. See Wicked Fashions Thinks it Owns The South Pole (.com).)
Wright says he’s selling domain names now because home prices in his area have dropped significantly and he wants to invest in foreclosed homes.
“Home prices have dropped but rent prices have stayed about the same,” said Wright. “I can buy a home, rent it, and after about 12 years I will have it paid off including making my deposit back.”
Think about it this way. If domain prices dropped so that you could pay off domains through PPC revenue in a shorter time, you would shift more investment money to domains. Wright sees a similar opportunity with real estate.
Wright isn’t giving up on domain names. He says he’s just trying to diversify.
The domains up for auction include 17 .com city names and 2 state .nets (Oregon.net and Massachusetts.net). According to Wright, the smallest city name being sold is about 57,000 and most of them are in California.
You can see a complete list of the virtual real estate Wright is selling on his eBay page. The domains have reserves, with some of them in the 4 digits. A handful of the domains have already attracted bids.
Walter says
Wow…. I have been considering this seriously myself in the last month.
I am seeing foreclosure prices that are almost too ridiculous to pass up on.
Pete Kosednar says
I just reported on my Scottsdale Arizona news site of foreclosure property sales that are upwards of 40% below neighborhood comps. Very sad for these upscale communities.
Lance says
Same with Florida. In addition to investment purposes, this is a great time for first-time homebuyers to get a nice house at a low price, or people wanting to trade up. There are amazing deals on all types of homes: entry level, upscale, beach front condos, etc. While Florida’s real estate is going to hurt for a while longer, deals like this won’t last forever.
Seyi says
He sure has great GeoDomains but I don’t think eBay is the best medium to sell these names.
WQ says
“I don’t think eBay is the best medium to sell these names”
Thats great for the buyers then, leaves them room for profit.
Andrew says
Lance, I read in the Wall Street Journal today something like 7% of Florida’s mortgaged homes are late or in the foreclosure process.
WQ – if these domains get enough exposure there it will be OK. It looks like some of them are hitting their reserves already.
Stephen Douglas says
Andrew, how much does it cost to get an article about why we want to sell our domains listed on Domainnamewire.com?
I’ve got lots of reasons to sell my domains, and some of those reasons might be unusual enough for the “catch” on eyeballs looking for an interesting story!
Andrew says
It costs absolutely nothing. I just has to make an interesting story and be really good domains.
Spike says
What a big waste of everyone’s time. Lots of interest and bidding. But only one domain sold with the rest not making reserve, which must have been really high.
Stephen Douglas says
OK, I predict you will do a story on me and my domains. However, private email first!
Which domains sold from this guy’s list and for how much?
Andrew says
First of all, 4 of the domain names sold totaling $34,000:
Oregon.net $11,300
Massachusetts.net $8,100
WestJordan.com $6,998
DesPlaines.com $7,800
Second, I suspect there will be some sales that happen off eBay now that the auction is over. Some of these domains could easily sell for $50k and some of them could top $100k.
WQ says
Plenty of names will sell from this eBay auction. Just because you didnt see them sell on auction, don’t let that fool ya 😉