Just three months after officially launching Opendoor Exclusives, an online platform for homebuyers to browse and buy properties being sold by the iBuyer, the company has announced that it will be opening the platform to home sellers as well.
As the platform functions now, the homes being sold by Opendoor are available to any consumer through the Opendoor Exclusives platform 14 days prior to the home being listed on the local multiple listing service. (To date, Opendoor Exclusives is available in the Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan areas, but the company plans to roll it out in other markets.)
The properties listed on the platform are on a first-come, first-serve basis, which eliminates bidding wars, price negotiations and the need for real estate love letters. Prospective homebuyers can use the online platform to reserve and fill out a contract for the home. In addition, Opendoor says that homebuyers may back out of the purchase at any time and receive a full refund on their earnest money deposits.
With the new platform feature, home sellers in Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth are able to request an offer on their home from Opendoor’s network of Opendoor Exclusives buyers, in addition to an offer from the iBuyer itself. The firm says the experience is “designed to put home sellers in control, with no upfront commitment, flexibility to close early, and certainty of close.”
Homes bought and sold through the Opendoor Exclusives platform come with an appraisal price match guarantee, meaning that Opendoor will pay the difference if the home is appraised for less than it was listed for on Opendoor Exclusives.
In a blog post, Eric Wu, Opendoor’s co-founder and CEO, wrote that the firm is aiming for over 30% of its “total transactions via [its] Exclusives marketplace by the end of 2023.”
