Domainer Funding or Investors?

[dr00t]

Hi, I was talking with my banker today about domaining. I asked him about using my domain portfolio as collateral for a loan of some sort, and he found it amusing and had a bit of a "light bulb idea" look on his face when I said he should offer funding to domainers.

Anyhow, my question is... Are there currently any known financial backers/funders/investors that cater to domainers?

Please give me insight to borrowing money for use of buying domains.

I look forward to hearing back.

 

[jdk]

I am not sure; however, you should be able to take out a loan on your house

 

[fischermx]

Yes, there's a place that announce exactly that, I don't recall the name, but it is like a pawn house on domain names.

 

[NameMatters]

http://www.domaincapital.com/

 

[Tom K.]

Check out http://www.domaincapital.com/

I came across this site but I'm not familiar with them so as to recommend.

Regards.

P.S. Imagine that, got beat to the punch.

 

[madcamel]

Moniker and Sedo are also providing such a service.

 

[Ian]

Thanks for raising the issue Dr00t. I had also thought about the feasibility of such an idea although it sounded too fuzzy in my mind given what happened in 2000 when the dotcome bubbled exploded. banks might be cautious but we need the domain/internet industry leaders to launch top down talks with investment banks and other banking institutions
just my 2 cents

 

[WeBuyThe.Com]

Rick Latona is most reputable, he offers same service at http://digipawn.com

 

[katherine]

Dr00t I believe digipawn.com may be what you need.
Domaincapital is for the acquisition of domain names, they lend you the $$$ you need for purchasing domains (not 100% though).

 

[Preoccupy]

Anyway, thank you for the good information !

 

[MonteMonte is verified member.]

Yes we provide domain financing for qualified domainers. We have been doing financing for more than 2.5 years now and we also work with the folks at domaincapital. All financing deals such as domaincapital, digipawn, etc use Moniker for escrow, appraisal, and closing procedures.

 

[fischermx]

What an interesting idea about getting financial for buying a domain !
I guess the domain is professionally appriased and you get a loan based on that ... and I guess the domain is stay as pawn ... ? Is this correct ?
Could you elaborate a bit more on this topic ?

 

[Salient]

Generally, the interest rates are jaw-dropping, but if you dont have any capital it may be the route for you. Better be sure you can turn the domain into a money-producer.

The collateral is the domain name, yes.

 

[WhoDatDog]

Until someone figures out a way to totally secure domain names other than by having an email address then it will never advance too far and those lending money will only lend a small fraction of the worth.

With a house.....it's not going anywhere. With domain names, you are at the mercy of the Registrar if someone hacks your account and transfers names out. Of course, those who claim to be lending money now are really just buying the names off of you for a fraction of their wholesale value. If you want to pay them back pawn shop rates then they will sell it back to you.

We are a long ways away from being able to get anywhere close to a place where you can get true value for your names, but there are certainly a number of people who will buy a generic name worth 100k off of you for 10k and sell it back to you next month for 12K. That's where we are right now, and it will stay that way for the indefinite future. You could find those deals just by posting on these boards.

The chain of ownership can move with lightning speed with domain names and no bank is going to get into this at the moment. An individual with a good head on his shoulders could build a decent business though.....the only problem is that those people with great names will have a really tough time transfering complete ownership of the names to someone else.

People drop dead once in a while, and there are potential disasters looming for a lot of domainers in this area. It is pretty tough to protect yourself right now if you want to do some estate planning. At some point the beneficiary has to know something about the domain business in order to inherit the names.

This is all part of the same story....an asset class that is still in the Wild West. When you see that the most valuable domain name in the world took years to be returned to it's rightful owner you soon realize that these names will never get to the level of houses, or even cars,when it comes to securing money against them.

 

[carlton]

... and he found it amusing and had a bit of a "light bulb idea" look on his face when I said he should offer funding to domainers.

LOL, so what happened next? Did he politely changed the topic?

 

[jasdon11]

and he found it amusing and had a bit of a "light bulb idea" look on his face

It was at this point he thought "so thats what a domain name is"

 

[Poker]

Interesting points WhoDatDog

 

[dr00t]

LOL, so what happened next? Did he politely changed the topic?

Haha, yes... he actually wrote something down on a scratch pad...

I assume he went home and invested millions already in domain names...

He's a very wealthy banker, and it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[MonteMonte is verified member.]

The interest rates are not that bad considering the cost of capital and the fact we are dealing with virtual real-estate. It is less than the current appreciation rate average of domains in the last 3 years.

If you are interested in these types of options, just email us and we can evaluate your situation.

 

[Salient]

The interest rates are not that bad considering the cost of capital and the fact we are dealing with virtual real-estate.

I agree with you when considering those factors, but the interest rates are not good if other options are available to an investor.

I do feel it is great the option exists.