Redfin, Opendoor Partner in Phoenix and Atlanta
A new partnership between tech-powered brokerage Redfin and iBuyer Opendoor will bring a collaboration of sorts in Phoenix and Atlanta. Buyers in those markets can now request an Opendoor offer through Redfin’s site and mobile apps.
The partnership with Opendoor enables home sellers to compare listing their home on the open market with a Redfin agent to receive an instant offer from the iBuyer and skip the listing process altogether. The partnership is currently live in the Phoenix and Atlanta markets, and the companies will evaluate expanding to additional markets.
“Every homeowner should have a choice between putting a home on the market via a Redfin agent, or taking an instant cash offer,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. “No matter how fast RedfinNow expands, there will always be homes we can’t buy, because it’s so hard to match our capabilities and capital with the market’s ups and downs.
Just as traditional agents are our partner for brokered sales our own agents can’t handle, Opendoor is our partner for giving customers reliable, competitive offers on homes we ourselves can’t buy.”
Eric Wu, founder and CEO of Opendoor, sees the partnership as “bringing together the reach of the most visited online brokerage with the scale of the largest iBuyer service to deliver a comprehensive service for more customers.”
“Both companies are focused on making the experience of buying and selling a home simple and hassle-free,” he said. “By working together, we can amplify our efforts and give customers more choice when making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives.”
How the Collaboration Works from Consumer Standpoint
Phoenix and Atlanta homeowners who visit Redfin’s website or mobile apps will be able to request an instant offer from Opendoor as part of their homesale inquiry. When the Redfin agent meets with the homeowner, the agent will advise on the home selling process, what the home is likely worth on the open market, and will present Opendoor’s offer. The homeowner can choose to sell to Opendoor to maximize convenience and control, or work with a full-service Redfin agent to list the home on the open market for a 1.5 percent listing fee. If homeowners do not want to meet with a Redfin agent, they can choose to receive only the Opendoor offer. Redfin will receive a referral fee for each customer who decides to sell to Opendoor.
Redfin will also market Opendoor’s home listings on Redfin.com and Redfin’s mobile apps and promote Opendoor’s all-day Open House, where buyers can unlock the home on-demand from their phone and self-tour.
Building on Innovation
Redfin says it will also continue to expand RedfinNow, its own instant-offer service. Redfin also recently announced that another program that debuted in Boston this spring, Redfin Direct, is expanding to Northern Virginia. That program enables unrepresented buyers to make an offer on a Redfin listing online, sans agent. Industry observers will remember that there was much buzz about a partnership between RE/MAX and Redfin–a partnership that was curtailed by the former after the announcement of Redfin Direct.
