Selling Your House to OpenDoor? See Reviews & Pros vs. Cons
The Truth About Open Door..
OpenDoor is the most innovative way to sell your home. It eliminates most of the things that people consider a hassle, such as dealing with a real estate agent and having to hold open houses, while guaranteeing that you get money on the spot for your home.
OpenDoor is more than just another iBuyer, though. They were the first company like this on the market. Their modern strategies opened the door for ibuyer companies like Offerpad and Zillow Offers to follow in their footsteps.
By now, they’ve perfected the online real estate market, ensuring that customers get more of the great things about them instead of the mistakes that they made in the beginning. There are quite a few great things about working with a company like OpenDoor, but there are still a few disadvantages that you’ll need to keep in mind. OpenDoor is only right for certain people.
| Category |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Service Fee | ✔️ 0% | ❌ 5%* |
| Time To Close | ✔️ 7 days or Less | ❌ 14 to 60 days |
| Locations Served | ✔️ All 50 States! | ❌ Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, Minnesota, North Carolina, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah |
| Home Eligibility | ✔️
| ❌
|
Pros of using OpenDoor
Convenience
When it comes to convenience, OpenDoor remains unrivaled. A seller lets the company know that they are interested in selling their property. This involves letting them know the address, lot size, features, etc. Then, if OpenDoor is interested, they’ll send you an offer.
Once the offer is accepted, your home will be evaluated in person to verify the information that you submitted. You can close in as little as two weeks or up to two months. Selling a home simply does not get easier than that!
Less Selling Costs
Every homeowner is familiar with the picture perfect appearance of a home when they first walked through the house and decided to buy it. When you sell to OpenDoor, you don’t have to spend money to prepare your home, which is a huge benefit of using an online service like OpenDoor.
OpenDoor Offers Trade-Ins
Sellers that would like to re-locate can benefit greatly from the trade-in program offered by OpenDoor. Instead of selling a house while having to buy another one, you simply trade your house for one in the area you would like to relocate to. If the value of your house doesn’t equal the value of the house that you’re buying, you pay the difference.
Comprehensive List Of Services For Home Buyers
OpenDoor makes both buying and selling easy. Buyers can be matched with a lender, eliminating the need to find one. Those interested in their homes can view available homes on the market. Then, they can see them independently thanks to the lockbox system that this iBuyer uses.
Moneyback Guarantee For Buyers
It can be challenging to buy a home, especially for buyers that are moving out of state. OpenDoor knows that, and that’s why they offer a ninety-day money back guarantee. If you don’t love your new home, you can back out of the deal.
Cons of using OpenDoor
OpenDoor Only Submits Offers On Certain Homes
While this company is known for buying homes, they don’t buy every home that someone is interested in selling. Mobile homes, prefabricated homes, and houses that are in a flood zone are usually not accepted. They also want homes to be newer, which means they should be built after 1960-1970. In addition to that, your home should be worth at least $100,000. That is the minimum.
Only Available In Certain Areas
It’s wonderful that this company continues to expand, but the areas that they are buying homes in are severely limited. For example, they may only be purchasing homes in:
- San Antonio, Texas
- Los Angeles, California
- Denver, Colorado
- Tampa, Florida
- Orlando, Florida
This is not a comprehensive list, and the market continues to change daily. However, it should be noted that this iBuyer is known for buying homes in more popular areas. Sellers that are trying to sell a home in a less popular, less populated area, such as South Vienna, Ohio, are more than likely out of luck.
Repairs May Need To Be Made
When your home is evaluated, the evaluator will note any repairs that need to be made. Then, you can either make the repairs or have them deduct the final cost of the repairs from the money they are giving you for your home.
It’s more cost-efficient to do the repairs yourself, but that does mean that it will take longer to sell your home. Once the repairs are completed, the house needs to be re-evaluated. OpenDoor will not close the sale until the repairs are completed to their satisfaction.
Because of that, it makes sense to simply have them take the cost of repairs off the price they are paying. However, this also has one major downfall. Sellers will spend significantly more on the repairs than they normally would. OpenDoor has received several negative reviews regarding them overcharging for repairs.
Sellers Might Wind Up Making Less
When your house is on the market, there is room for negotiation. Typically, those interested in selling their home would list the house for a higher price, and then only go down on that offer a little bit. If there are several buyers interested in the property, homeowners can make more than their asking price.
This is not the case with OpenDoor. Their first offer is their final offer. It should be noted that they typically offer market value, or close to it, for a house, though.
You Spend More Money On Fees
Every real estate agent charges a fee to sell your home. While most will only charge 5-6%, OpenDoor charges 7-14%. The fees that they charge will depend on how long they think it will take for them to sell your home. You might fall into the low 7% range. However, they may also wind up charging you 14%. It’s important to make sure that you read the fine print, and ask about how much you are being charged for fees before closing the deal.
What Other Customers Are Saying
While a company can pay for fake positive reviews, that doesn’t mean that they are all fake. You can also trust that negative reviews are usually a person trying to save someone else from a headache. Because of that, it’s important to consider what other people are saying before working with a company like OpenDoor. Here’s what other customers have loved, and hated, about OpenDoor.
Lack Of Communication 
Several buyers and sellers were irritated about the lack of communication they received from OpenDoor. Buyers had a hard time backing out of a sale,
like this one:
“I’m was in the process of buying from opendoor. It’s the house across the street from my best friend, a dream come true! Everything was going fine until the appraisal came back $36,000 less than the asking price! There were also 27 pages of repairs needed after inspection. Opendoor absolutely refused to negotiate on price or repairs and I had to back out. Who doesn’t negotiate at all on a house?! Their communication is awful, too. I still haven’t heard back from the agent about canceling.”
Not only was there a lack of communication, you can see where the company refuses to negotiate.
Another review on this website mentioned the same problem. Further investigation revealed that several customers were dissatisfied with communication with the company and that it made them difficult to work with.
Overpriced Houses
Another common complaint among those that have attempted to buy houses from OpenDoor is that the houses are overpriced. Several buyers on the same website linked above stated that they paid over one thousand for an appraisal and inspection only to discover that the house was overpriced. Then, as usual, OpenDoor refused to negotiate.
Sellers Appreciate The Convenience
According to reviews, selling a house to OpenDoor is as easy as it should be. However, if there are multiple repairs needed they do seem to overcharge. Aside from that, most sellers are happy with how easy the process is. For example, this Reddit thread is all a review from a woman that was ecstatic with her experience selling her home to OpenDoor.
Faulty Inspections, Overpriced Repairs
While some sellers rave about their wonderful experience, that is not always the case. This woman was already interested in selling her home, so she was intrigued when OpenDoor approached her. (They occasionally do that in certain markets.)
It worked out well for her that she was already in the process of selling her home. She knew what it was worth, knew to double-check the inspection, and knew when they were full of it. You can read her experience here. She felt she was getting robbed, and walked away to sell with a realtor that she trusted.
Buyers Beware Of Shoddy Repairs
Here we see another Reddit thread from a person asking advice about buying a house through OpenDoor. While one real estate agent chimed in and appeared to be selling her own services, another agreed with her and seemed to be genuinely trying to help.
This is another common theme that we see among people that are interested in buying homes from them or have already bought a home. Repairs that are made are not up to par. In fact, they are significantly below the standard. So much so that homeowners find themselves having to put more money into the house after buying it.
Should You Sell Your Home To OpenDoor?
OpenDoor definitely has its pros and its cons. There are some people that can benefit from their services, but others that should stay away.
Inexperienced Individuals Are Better Off Staying Away
To buy a home from OpenDoor, you need to know the market value. Most homes are priced above what they should be. Then, you’ll need to attempt to negotiate with them. Working with a real estate agent can help you in that area.
You’ll also need to know a thing or two about fixing houses, or who to call. You should assume that repairs are simply made to look nice, and more than likely need to be re-done in the future.
This is not a loving family that is selling you their home. They are a business. OpenDoor is there to make money, not because they care about your future. You’ll need to keep that in mind and be able to navigate through the process and negotiations. That can be hard for beginners.
Not only does this apply to buying a house, but it also applies to selling a house. You’ll want to make sure that you get a fair price, and that you aren’t overcharged for repairs. OpenDoor is known for both of these tactics, so you need to make sure that they don’t leave you feeling as though you were just robbed.
OpenDoor Is Great For People That Need A Quick Sale
The one area where OpenDoor tends to outshine the alternative is in a quick sale. Sellers that are moving and need to get rid of their house quickly can benefit from the convenience that companies like OpenDoor offer. You can close the deal in as little as ten days. That’s not always going to happen if you put your house on the market. Sometimes, it can take weeks. There is also always the fear that someone will back out of the deal at the last minute when you attempt to sell a home through a real estate agent.
Buyers Should Think Twice
The thought of buying a house from someone you don’t trust can be enough to make you think twice. A common counterargument is that most buyers don’t personally know the person they are buying from. However, this company is known for painting over repairs instead of fixing them. There’s a chance that toxic mold was painted over in your future son’s nursery. Most people that are aware that a person is shady do not do business with them. Companies should be held to the same standards.
In Conclusion
OpenDoor is an iBuyer that offers buying, selling, and trade-in services. They provide exceptional communication and quick services for those that are interested in selling their houses. However, this also comes at a cost. Buyers should beware of doing business with this company. It might not be worth the risk that you’re taking. Canceling a deal and holding them to their 90-day money back guarantee seems to result in a lack of communication from the company, making the entire process rather difficult. Remember that homes are purchased as is.
