Opendoor

When I first thought about selling my home, I only knew of two options. Sell the home myself or hire a realtor. Both options required a good amount of my time. I first heard of Opendoor through a billboard I saw, then again on the radio. The concept sounded great but I’m always skeptical about things that sound too good to be true. After researching and asking around, I decided to give it a shot.

My experience with Opendoor was wonderful. It required very little of my time. The customer service was amazing and friendly. Also, their online hub was clean and very user-friendly. I would recommend Opendoor to anyone who doesn’t want to deal with the hassle of selling a home.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I wanted to sell the house my dad was living in after he passed away. I didn't want to take long because of the mortgage I was paying. The only hesitation I had was the fee charged by Opendoor but it's true that removing the anxiety and possible time spent on the market equaled the extra fee, in my mind. Everything else about the transaction was fair and smooth. All the people I talked with were friendly and helpful. Not having to make repairs or hire someone to throw out the garbage was very nice. I would consider using them again if I need to sell a house in a hurry.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I would not recommend Opendoor if you are trying to sell your house and have the option to do it the traditional way. The numbers they estimate are very far from what you actually get at the end. If you are in a hurry to sell and don't care about the net you'll get, they are fast with the process and very easy-going.

In my case, I need it to sell fast. I accepted an offer that was around $20K lower than comparables in the area, even with the low ball offer, they will nick-and-dime you for what they call 'repair credits.' They basically go to your house and expect everything to be in brand new condition, or they will charge you fully to get it replaced, even so when the offer said 'as is' condition. So be prepared that if it is not in perfect condition, you'll get charged. I lost close to $5K on 'repair credits,' and only $1K made sense, the other $4K was just trivial. If I had the time I would have fix all for probably $500.00.

In the end, from a $220K offer, I ended up leaving with only $194K.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

It provides an option if you are in a crunch, need to sell quick, and are willing to lose some profit.

Pros: Fair offer, quick process.

Cons: Their service fee is more than a realtor, they use their own contractors to assess damages and come up with unnecessary repair items, which they then use to deduce the value of your home. This service would be a good option if you have high equity and your home is in perfect condition (updated home with zero damages). In my case, they offered $236K but then came up with a bid of $40K for repairs, which disqualified me.

I was content with the outcome because I got to keep the option fee money and made more profit selling my home using iList. I sold my home for $226K with no repairs and only 1% listing fee and 3% to the buyer’s agent, a tremendous savings from the $17K that Opendoor was asking for plus the cost of repairs.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Part of their proprietary algorithm seems to be a penalty for not accepting their offer.

The initial offer I requested out of curiosity, and the number price was actually fair, but I disagreed with their market risk percentage (4.5%).

So I talked to the agent, forwarded a dozen pictures to show the house was ready (actually planning to list in the next few days) to see if the offer would increase, or the market risk would go down. The second offer came back, $6k less on the offer and market risk raised to 5% (this was inside of 2 days).

Fast forward, my house has been on the market a few weeks, and I noticed that my estimated value on Zillow had gone up by about $20k from when we had listed based on comps. Since Opendoor's offer was pretty close to what Zillow had estimated initially, I figured if their offer scaled with Zillow, then even with their 'market risk' percentage, it was actually within the range of what I'd consider an acceptable offer. So I submitted for an offer again. (This was a Saturday). I waited and hadn't heard anything by Monday morning, so I submitted again.

Finally, today, I received two offers, 6 hours apart. Each was about $6k less than the one before, and each had about .5% increase in market risk, so despite the market value improving, their offer decreased by about $18k, and market risk went from a high 4.5% to 6%. Dropping $6k in value and 0.5% increase in Market Risk within 6 hours.

So if you get an offer, and are on the fence at first, just know that if you come back later, they're going to take advantage of your desperation.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I just wanted to give the other side of the experience.

My parents bought a house from Opendoor and had to go through multiple inspections. Although the house is supposed to be move-in ready and no repairs needed, the house had items exposed through my parents' inspector. Although they agreed to repair them and said they sent their contractor to make the repairs, my parents paid money for their inspector to check again and found that the repairs had not been done or had been short changed. They rely on their contractors (or want to just give you money and put the repairs on the buyer) and their contractors take advantage of every little oversight!

It was not a good experience! It took multiple tries to get them to make any actual repairs and multiple expenses to my parents to keep having the lack of repair re-inspected. It is a nice concept, but they need to provide better oversight or get better contractors.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

The idea of Opendoor is great. A hassle-free sell and/or buying experience. This is what my husband and I were looking for. We did a trade-in where we sold to and bought from Opendoor.

The sell was relatively easy. We got our offer and scheduled for inspectors to come. Then we waited and waited. It was over a week before we were told the HVAC inspector hadn’t showed and we needed to schedule to have him come out. We were waiting to hear from Opendoor if there were repairs needed on the house we were selling. It was frustrating having to schedule for someone to come out again when they should have done it right the first time.

As for the purchase, I would never recommend Opendoor to anyone. Our representative was unresponsive. They did not answer phone calls or emails. It was consistently "sorry." We would have been better off to have a realtor representing us.

We made an offer, and the offer was accepted. There was no cut-in price for selling to Opendoor as was advertised. We went to look at the house while under contract to find the kitchen sink in the middle of the living room and the countertops replaced. A pool of water under the sink.

My representative didn’t answer his phone. We called the Opendoor service line. No one knew what had happened. This was alarming as we were under contract. We waited two days for a phone call back stating the renovation team goofed up. Okay...

Then we requested the paint on the walls that had been removed from the countertop install be touched up. So they did...with the wrong paint color. The appliances were advertised as new, but they are from 2012. We brought this up, and no one really said anything. Trying to negotiate repairs was a joke. They did replace the nonfunctioning hot water heater and performed a termite treatment. But the other electrical and plumbing issues, although minor, were not addressed. They continued to low ball is on what they would repair. Like I said, having a realtor to represent would have been better.

In the end, we paid $12,666 for the Opendoor experience. A terrible experience full of stress, miscommunication, and feeling being taken advantage of. We love our new house but would never recommend purchasing from Opendoor. If you do, be prepared to feel like you are taking to someone in a call center without expertise in their area, you will be taken advantage of, and all for a hefty price tag. No service at a large premium. Opendoor is a joke.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

After reading mixed reviews, I was excited to receive the initial offer from open door despite the offer being somewhat less than what I would have expected to sell for. I set my assessment date for Wednesday then contacted the closing manager to see if she had any earlier appointments. Not only did they not have anything earlier; apparently there was a problem with the scheduling system, and Friday was their first available appointment.

On Friday morning everyone began to arrive shortly after 8 am. During the assessment process, I began to feel a little awkward as the inspectors would ask questions about previous repair work, however, not really provide any insight into their findings, as if for some reason they couldn’t share the information. One assessment team member even had the audacity to use my bathroom without asking; which was really unsettling.

The following Tuesday, today, the results were in, which were completely ridiculous. They were suggesting thousands in repairs. I politely passed on the offer.

I was warned about their business tactics prior to engaging this company. It clearly came to reality today. The initial offer in my case was close to market value, but they pulled a fast one when it comes to repair work. Thanks but no thanks Opendoor. I will pass.

In addition to this, the termite inspection guy damaged my attic entry while he was here. When I mentioned it to the closing manager, she immediately dismissed it as an existing condition. No big deal as I was able to quickly repair it.

If you're not in a rush to sell, please consider other options or you will leave money on the table with Opendoor.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

So far, Opendoor has quoted us a fair market value price for our updated home. We had a new roof (as well as many updated features), a fairly large home, with a pool and basketball court. They were friendly and usually (though not always) responsive to phone calls and emails.

The "inspectors" came out and basically spoke of minor things that we are aware of, and said, "anything under $75 they would cover, like a cover for a light fixture." The roofing "specialists" that they sent seemed a bit unsure of themselves and were staring at an area on our ceiling saying it had "water damage," where there was never any water damage. I said to the the main inspector that I had hoped they were not fabricating fake repairs to cash in on them. He told me they were "new" to Opendoor. I was then told a set of different roofing "specialists" are to come to my home today, 6/15/18. I will not only update my experience from today, but will post the total repair costs they quoted after all is said and done.

The good thing is that we do not have to sell our home to purchase a new home. I just don't want them to waste my time when my fantastic realtor could be showing my home, and we can get the ball rolling in the right direction.

If my experience was positive, I will update my review assigning the appropriate stars. As of now, the jury is out, but I would still recommend them so far, especially if you are in a bind and need to sell your home quickly.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

We had our house on the market and found a house to buy fairly quickly. Our realtor suggested OpenDoor, so we can try and get a quick buyer for our home. Their offer was low but decent, so we accepted and moved forward. OpenDoor sent an inspector to our house and demanded repairs or an additional $11,000 in lieu of the repairs.

The repairs they are demanding are ridiculous:

* Complete carpet replacement; we offered to clean the carpet.

* Complete house repaint; we have patched holes from pictures and repainted those areas.

* Repair linoleum floor in a closet; it has scuff marks on it, and we offered to clean.

* Replace unstable deck and railings; our deck is not unstable, we use it daily.

* Replace upstairs AC unit; we recently replaced the downstairs unit and the upstairs unit is older, but it works. I would understand wanting a home warranty or a letter from our AC company, but to replace a unit that currently works is not reasonable.

Our final straw was after when we made the repairs, they refused to remove the wording from the contract that said the buyer has the right to refuse the repairs and the seller will be required to pay. This company is trying to nickel and dime us everywhere they can. We are trying to get the equity out of our home while they are trying to take as much money from us as possible. Thanks but no thanks, I like to deal with people that are reasonable. This has been a horrible and incredibly annoying experience for us.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

I decided to go with Opendoor since we have to close on our other home in 45 days. I knew there was no way to sell our home by then. I figured I would give Opendoor a chance since I saw the same home bought by Opendoor a couple of months ago. We got an offer I was happy with, and everything was going smoothly until the assessment came back. I got a call from Opendoor saying that they couldn't buy our home because of cracks in the stucco.

I thought that it's a deduction from the amount offered would fix any issues they found. The stucco cracks are hairline cracks and were surprised at this. My home is a Virginia home which is a very strict inspection that I had done just over two years ago, and everything was fine. The home identical to mines that I mentioned earlier has fewer upgrades and with my new roof being only two months ago except for few stucco cracks I have. Just a warning, don't get your hopes up to high on just the offer. Wait until the assessment even to think they are really going to buy your home. Also, my home was built in 2005. I talked to them about an offer pad and their working with me to see if the stucco cracks are indeed bad. They will just deduct from the amount, something Opendoor could have done.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend