FinTech profile: Opendoor - innovation in real estate

Opendoor was designed to reinvent the way in which people buy or sell their home.

The innovative fintech, formed in 2014, approached this change with a view to simplicity.

Everyone, it says, should be empowered with the freedom to move with as few simple steps as possible and a seamless translation process.

Since it was established, the company has served more than 75,000 customers and currently operates in 21 US cities.

It has also been recognised as the most innovative company in real estate by Inman for the past three years and, in 2020, was listed as one of Forbes’ top 50 fintechs.

Selling with simplicity

Whether selling or listing, Opendoor’s innovative approach is designed to guide customers through the entire process.

Or, as the company says, to “sell your home from the comfort of your couch”.

That simplicity revolves around receiving an instant offer on a property and flexibility around which selling option works best - Opendoor buys the home directly from the owner or helps to list it, for example.

To sell, owners use Opendoor’s platform to enter basic details about themselves and the property.

From this, the company prepares a cash offer that is received within 24 hours. This is based on similar sales prices, market trends and features.

The company also uses a home advisor service to walk through the offer process. Customers can then choose a sell date that works for them and avoids issues around double mortgages and similar.

With regards to buying, Opendoor has a dedicated app that allows the viewing and virtual digital touring of potential properties.

This lets customers take a live and personalised tour of any home with a tour assistant through a video chat app.

In 2019, Opendoor reached several milestones. For example, over the course of that year more Opendoor homes were visited more than 1.5 million times, which equates to nearly 5,000 per day.

This was all achieved through the company’s mobile app, which allows for viewing any time between 6am and 9pm seven days per week, and with no appointment.

In addition, during 2019 the company saved home sellers more than 1.4 million hours of stress, infused more than $132mn into local small businesses and more.