Can Opendoor Continue to Dominate the IBuyer Market With Impeding Competition?

Can upgrading your home be as simple as upgrading your phone? San-Francisco-based iBuyer company Opendoor thinks so. The company has been taking steps to make transactions as simple as possible since they entered the real estate industry in 2014.

Opendoor Labs Inc. has had little issue raising funds in the past ( $320 million since their start) and is attempting to raise an additional $200 million, increasing the value of Opendoor to $2 billion. One reason this hot, forward-thinking start-up is attracting some serious attention is due to its home trade-in program partnership with Lennar that began in 2017. The program was created to entice home buyers and sellers with the concept of selling their current home to Opendoor and buying a Lennar new-construction build “in one simple transaction.” This concept has gained enough speed for Opendoor to announce it will begin working with consumers and homebuilders all across the country. Opendoor hasn’t shared any details on how successful the partnership with Lennar has been, but one would assume it’s gone well as Lennar is now an investor in the startup.

The concept also gained the attention of real estate giant Zillow who announced in April their plans to become an iBuyer. Although imitation is the best form of flattery, this move by Zillow shouldn’t be taken lightly by Opendoor. Eric Wu, CEO of Opendoor shared his original reaction prior to the news breaking with a tweet.

Opendoor

It’s onward and upward for Opendoor. The startup has since ramped up its hiring strategy in the Bay Area and across the country, looking to fill at least 50 new positions.

So what’s next for Opendoor? In March, Wu told the San Francisco Business Times, “We’re going to be launching and scaling in several markets to eventually operate nationwide. We’re looking to more than double the number of cities this year.”

Read more on the entire iBuyer process with Opendoor here