Opendoor is about to take a huge step forward in its attempt to create a true one-stop shop for the entire real estate experience.
The company, which launched as a direct homebuyer, recently expanded into mortgages and title, and is also connecting home sellers directly with homebuilders to facilitate an all-in-one home selling and buying process, which it calls a “trade in.”
But that’s for a newly built home. What about homeowners who want to sell their home to Opendoor and then turn around and buy an existing home? Opendoor’s got them covered now, too.
Opendoor announced Tuesday morning that it has acquired Open Listings, a real estate site that offers homebuyers a 50% refund on the fees their real estate agent would have received.
With the acquisition, Opendoor will now be able to buy a home directly from a seller, then help that seller find a new home (whether it’s a newly built home or an existing one), offer them a mortgage, and close on the sales through its own title operations.
The company now touches all parts of the real estate process.
Open Listings offers buyers a 50% refund on the buying agent commission for using its service.
Basically, buyers who use Open Listings find, tour, and buy homes through the platform. Real estate agents only come into the process when it’s time to make an offer on the home.
Therefore, the company can offer a rebate on the buying agent commission.
The company launched in California in 2015, expanded into Seattle in 2017, and now operates in Chicago, Austin, and Dallas-Fort Worth as well.
Opendoor says that it plans to expand the real estate site’s services into all of the markets where Opendoor operates and plans to operate in the future. Opendoor recently announced that it is taking its platform nationwide and plans to be operating in 50 cities by the end of 2020.
“Opendoor modernized how people sell their homes by making it simple and instant and we are excited to now bring that same simplicity to buying a home,” Eric Wu, founder and CEO of Opendoor, said. “By integrating Open Listings’ online buying experience with Opendoor, we’re putting customers in control of the entire process so they can buy, sell or trade-in their home seamlessly be it for retirement, up-sizing for a growing family or moving for a dream job.”
Opendoor said that the acquisition will allow its customers to tour and submit an offer on any home on the market, secure a cash offer on their existing home, and line up the timing of both to allow them to sell their home and move into their new one when they want to.
“By integrating Open Listings with Opendoor’s mortgage, title and home services, the company will make it as easy to buy, sell or trade-in a home as it is to hail a ride, book a flight, or shop online,” the company claims.
According to Opendoor, Open Listings’ discount on real estate commission will continue, so buyers who use Open Listings will commission rebate of up to 50% on their purchase.
Opendoor has already begun integrating Open Listings services into its platform. In fact, Opendoor and Open Listings are already integrated in Dallas-Fort Worth, and the company said that the integration of the two companies will continue throughout all of Opendoor’s markets.
“We share Opendoor’s vision that buying and selling a home should be radically simplified and on-demand,” said Judd Schoenholtz, CEO of Open Listings.
“Joining forces with Opendoor will make it possible for customers to buy and sell a home with a simple, online process while giving customers a true competitive advantage over other buyers by having an Opendoor offer in their back pocket,” Schoenholtz said. “Together, we’re eliminating double moves, added expenses, and months of headaches — which have all made moving a chore rather than the exciting life moment it should be.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
