Home Selling Tips
Flipping the real estate industry on its head vs flipping homes
Reading Time — 4 minutes
December 2, 2015
By Eric Wu
Reading Time — 4 minutes
December 2, 2015
Opendoor is rebuilding the home buying and selling experience, empowering homeowners to take back control of life’s most important transaction.
Since Opendoor’s consumer experience is entirely new, it’s natural to compare our business to existing models. One of the most common refrains we’ve heard is that Opendoor is a “home flipping business”. While home flippers do buy and sell homes, that’s where the similarities end.
For sellers, we provide a near-instant, competitive offer and effortless sale that closes on their timeframe – allowing them to skip the hassle of repairs, open houses and months of uncertainty.
For buyers, Opendoor offers an entirely new home shopping experience, featuring on-demand open houses at hundreds of homes that come with peace-of-mind as part of the package (every Opendoor home includes a premium warranty and 30-day money back guarantee).
Home flipping is betting. Opendoor is building a world-class consumer experience.
Home flippers typically transact with distressed sellers in a financial pinch where the consumer receives 25% less than fair market value. Many of these homes are in poor condition and require full remodels in order to be resold to a buyer. If a flipper bets correctly, they profit, but the customer experience suffers for both the seller, who receives far less than market value for their home, and the buyer who has no guarantee that they are buying a quality product.
Opendoor is offering a delightful product experience that puts the home seller or buyer in the driver’s seat and appeals to a much broader range of homeowners. Opendoor’s product gives the homeowner control over what would otherwise be a stressful process filled with uncertainty. Everything from near-instant offers, to flexible close timelines, a dedicated Home Expert by your side and a late checkout option; all come together to provide a compelling alternative to the traditional home selling process.
One of our core values is that we start and end with the customer. Joe DeLuca sold his Phoenix home to Opendoor in October and simultaneously bought a new home in Tucson to be closer to family and grandkids. Two weeks later, we noticed an initial $14,000 roof replacement assessment was no longer necessary because we found a more cost effective solution to fix Joe’s roof. We mailed Joe a refund check for the amount he no longer needed to pay. Doing right by the customer is our north star.
Opendoor Experience helps families by delivering certainty and convenience
At Opendoor, we buy homes from growing families looking buy a house with an extra bedroom and professionals changing cities for work. We help seniors downsizing into condos and newlyweds looking to find their first home. We help sellers who want convenience by removing the hassle from their home sale. We help sellers who are contingent buyers and need liquidity to buy their new home. We help buyers that are buying their first home and want peace of mind. We help buyers that have bought many homes and can’t imagine buying any other way after using Opendoor’s service.
There are countless stories of families unburdened from the stressful home sale process by working with Opendoor. The story of Ranjit and Natasha Bosu is representative of hundreds of similar customer experiences. As Forbes reported:
The Bosus filled out Opendoor’s online questionnaire, and within days, they accepted an offer of $334,000 for their five-bedroom home. “Initially, I thought they would probably lowball me,” Natasha says, “but when they sent me my offer I was pleasantly surprised.” They closed on the deal in August, and the family moved to an apartment and waited for the transfer to be finalized. In November they closed on the purchase of a new home in Austin.
Our value to customers is a move without all the headaches and hassle that come with the traditional buying and selling process. They put their trust in us to make the process of buying or selling their home stress-free. We take pride in helping them take the next step in their journey. It’s simple but revolutionary.
