After quietly launching the product in September 2021, Opendoor officially announced the debut of Opendoor Exclusives, a new online platform for homes being sold by the iBuyer, on Tuesday.
Exclusives sounds like a hybrid of Zillow and Amazon, with buyers selecting a home for sale on the platform and completing the deal digitally. No negotiations, no agents, no physical paperwork – click on a listing and buy the home.
Here’s how it works: 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, Houston 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, eliminating bidding wars, price negotiations and the need for real estate love letters. Prospective homebuyers can reserve and fill out a contract for the home online through the platform. In addition, Opendoor says that homebuyers may back out of the purchase at any time and receive a full refund on earnest money deposit.
Opendoor says that when a home is listed as an Exclusive it is offered at a cheaper price than what it will be listed for on the MLS if it does not sell in the 14-day window.
In addition, the home comes 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.
While homebuyers may bring a real estate agent into the purchasing experience if they so choose, the cost of the agent’s commission will not be covered by Opendoor.
In a press release, Opendoor stated that it was confident that its new product could help homebuyers frustrated by the competitive homebuying environment and rising mortgage rates.
This announcement comes one day after the Federal Trade Commission announced that it is fining the iBuyer $62 million for deceptive trade practices.
