Opendoor, a company who profits on Seller’s equity

Opendoor, a company who profits on Seller’s equity

     As a realtor for Keller Williams Realty East Valley, I have shown a few homes Opendoor has had listed and I also previewed a few homes to see if any of the homes would appeal to my buyers. I also received several mailers from Opendoor wanting to buy my home and some of my clients received mailers for their homes that were listed at the time with The Ehrke Team.

     Many of you may have received a mailer from Opendoor (if you own a home) making statements such as “Say hello to an offer in your back pocket”, “Receive an offer on your home by this time tomorrow”, “Request an offer on your home at the press of a button”. One of the mailers my clients received while listed with The Ehrke Team said, “Welcome to selling your home for exactly what it’s worth”. The range between the low offer and the high offer shown on Opendoor’s mailer was $42,000. After my clients received this mailer from Opendoor, they went to Opendoor’s website and requested an offer, this offer came in about $20,000 less than the lower offer amount that was on the mailer. If my clients had accepted Opendoor’s offer, they would have lost about $42,000+/- in equity. The Ehrke Team helped our clients keep the equity by selling their home for more than Opendoor was willing to pay for it.

    For those of you who have not used Opendoor, this is how Opendoor works: First, you receive a mailer stating Opendoor will buy your home between X (the low offer) and X+ (the high offer). After you decide you would like to get an offer you access their website and request an offer from Opendoor. The first thing you may notice on the offer is the price offered for your home may be below the amount shown on your mailer. The other item you may notice, Opendoor has deducted 9 to 9 ½% from the already low offer to cover Opendoor’s operational cost. In addition to this operational cost if you live in a community that has an HOA you the seller will be required to pay all HOA fees. The last cost the seller will pay for are any repair cost that Opendoor determines during the inspection of your home and this amount will also be deducted from the home price as well. This is an unknown cost at the time of the offer and is a number provide by Opendoor to enhance their profits and to reduce your equity.

     For some Sellers Opendoor is attractive to them for selling their home fast, but it is at the cost of a good percentage of the Seller’s equity and that equity will then become Opendoor’s profit and not the Seller’s profit. If you are thinking of getting an offer from Opendoor, that’s great, but call an agent to provide you with comps so you can see how much equity you are giving up to Opendoor. If you live in Arizona and you are in the East valley, you can contact me at 480-526-0306 for your free CMA (Comparable Market Analysis). Don’t pay a convenience tax and throw away your hard earn equity to a large profit hungry company, call a realtor to get the most out of your home, and pocket the equity you built for you and your family.