Question about buying a domain / website

[Cali]

I'm interested in obtaining a URL / domain that someone else currently owns. Does anyone on here know how this works?

My reason for asking is this: I have a very uncommon first name, coupled with one of the most common surnames in the world. For examples sake, lets call it LizSmith.com. Well, LizSmith.com is currently owned by an Irish real estate agent and it is due to expire soon. We happen to share a name and I really, really want to get that web address.

GoDaddy offers a Domain Buy Service- is that the way to go? Is it guaranteed that the'd get the URL for me? How does one do this? Anyone on GR know? Would I get further by contacting her directing and inquiring about the domain?

I'm totally in the dark on this. I just know that I really, really hope to get MyName.com at the end of it.

Thank you in advance for your advice!!

[Sarzy]

You'll only get the name if she doesn't renew it, or she sells it to you. So I'd contact her and see if she'd be willing to sell you it. I think you should try contacting her yourself first before using the domain buyer service as there is no guarantee that she'll agree to sell it.

[DeadDwarf]

Have you checked whois.net to see when it expires, if the person has it registered to a company or herself, when she purchased it, etc?

You can attempt to contact her directly if she hasn't registered her info privately. Does this person currently have a website actually on the domain name?

I know sometimes companies (like in Asia) will register tons of random names, hoping that one day someone will need it (like the person becomes famous) and pay them big bucks. Until then they keep registering the domain name, but never upload any website content to the domain name.

I hope I made sense....