Is Opendoor and Offerpad Legit iBuyers?
Is Opendoor & Offerpad Legit?
Opendoor and Offerpad are both considered iBuyers. They purchase homes in certain areas of the country and then make money by selling them. Both of these companies are known for offering quick closing times, fair market value, and a slew of other benefits that make them sound almost too good to be true. It’s left many people wondering if Opendoor and Offerpad are legitimate companies. Yes, both of these companies are legit.
Is Opendoor Legit?
Opendoor has a website that appears legitimate. They provide an offer on a house within a day of each inquiry, and there are several people that have worked with the company. Reading Opendoor reviews can instantly provide curious sellers with a variety of information regarding Opendoor, including how legit the company is.
Yelp Opendoor Reviews
On Yelp, a very popular review site, Opendoor has over 200 reviews and has received a ranking of three stars. Many of the reviews are positive, although there are some negative ones.
According to this review, the seller was irritated that they sold her home for over 50k what they paid her for it. While this is unfortunate, it’s a testimony that the company does, in fact, purchase homes. She stated:
“They offered the same price as the zillow estimate which was great….then charged 5% (not an issue everyone needs to make a living) plus repairs (again not unreasonable). The issue I have is they refused to compensate for the solar that was added onto the house because ‘its up to the buyers to determine added value for solar so we don’t calculate that into the price’. Okay, that is understandable, until you go and check the price for the house after you sell it and they jack it up by 50k.
Now you may ask ‘what about the repairs?’
Well, they charged me for what ever repairs they thought needed to be done and let me tell you there is no way a few cosmetic repairs should add 50k worth of value.”
Another reviewer sold their home to Opendoor as well, and stated:
“This review reflects us selling our home to Opendoor. We did not purchase with Opendoor.
While the process was bumpy at times, in the end, we were paid a fair price, and we were given a credit to increase our proceeds above what we sold the home for on paper.
Overall very professional and while I kept thinking it’s too easy to work, it did. We closed on time, got to stay an extra week at no cost, and moved out as needed.
Not having to deal with showings, and staging made it as close to turn-key as possible.
I can recommend selling to Opendoor.”
Once again, another person can verify that they did sell a home to Opendoor. The majority of the reviews on Yelp are from people that have either sold a home to Opendoor or purchased a home from them.
Opendoor On Reddit
Reddit is well known for giving everyone the opportunity to provide their opinions. Since iBuyers become important players in the real estate market, Redditors have not held back in sharing their experiences. You can see an entire thread right here.
Some of the reviews are along the positive side, such as this one:
” I was very skeptical at first, still am. However, so my neighbor sold with Opendoor and got a decent offer so I decided to give it a try. The initial offer was 524K was above market value in my opinion as well as talking to a local agent. They came out, did the inspection and my price went up to 538K with only 4k in repairs. We’re currently IN contract to close Sept 7th. They let us set the closing that far out which is perfect in our situation.”
Others are a bit more on the negative side, such as this Redditor that said they completely ghosted her!
” OpenDoor ghosted us. Guess they considered my house too much work. After they sent someone to look at the outside, they never contacted me and didn’t respond when I contacted them. This after weeks of them reaching out with rising offers. Annoyed. Would have been more professional if they had said no thanks instead of ghosting.”
There is not a single mention of them scamming people or not being a legitimate company on the real estate thread in Reddit.
Opendoor Reviews on Reviews.io
Reviews.io features over 2,000 reviews from people that have dealt with Opendoor. Sellers that are investigating Opendoor will discover a wide range of both positive and negative reviews. Altogether, the company has received 4.4 stars. Approximately 85% of the people that have previously used Opendoor recommend them to homeowners that are searching for an iBuyer.
Sellers comment on how seamless the process was, such as in these reviews:
“My wife and I couldn’t be happier with the way this sale went. It was sooooo easy! There was literally no stress for us. We didn’t have to worry about showings, repairs or any of the traditional hassle of a home sale. ”
“Starting with the offer through closing everything exceeded my expectations. I had to extend my closing twice and I never felt rushed. Whenever I had a question it was answered promptly.”
However, not all of them are positive. You’ll also discover quite a few people that are unhappy with the company, such as the people that left these reviews:
” They will screw you and give you the daily run around, telling you what you want to hear. Stayed two days after closing, they advised it was free. However that is a lie. Opendoor keeps 2,000 dollars…”
“My mother left me a house. I was going to sell to opendoor. I sent pictures and texts. They said the house was great and would contact me soon about an offer. No calls or texts for a couple of weeks, I decided to list with a local Realtor.”
“Difficult to communicate with, making the home buying process more stressful than it needs to be.”
While there are plenty of negative reviews and positive reviews, there are no reviews stating that the company is a scam. You can trust that Opendoor is a legitimate company, but buying a home from them can be a bit of a nightmare for some potential buyers.
Is Offerpad Legit?
Offerpad is another iBuyer that has made headlines in recent years. They are known for being Opendoor’s leading competitor. Offerpad is not as popular as Opendoor because they are not as available, but they do offer competitive benefits and boast of a seamless sale. This leads to many people wondering if Offerpad is legit as well.
Yes, they are a legitimate company. Offerpad is currently owned by Brian Bair and a team of executives that strive to work with homeowners to sell their property. Similar to other iBuyers, Offerpad makes its money by selling homes that they purchase.
BBB Profile
According to Better Business Bureau, Offerpad is, in fact, a legitimate company. They have been in commission since 2015, and continue to operate.
While this does verify that the company is legit, it’s important for potential sellers to note the wide list of complaints. These do verify that the company has interacted with, and done business with, a lot of people. However, there are quite a few things that customers will want to beware of.
For example, this customer stated that they felt ripped off in this review:
“They misled me into accepting an offer and encouraged me to stop working with my agent. After accepting an offer and signing a contract before terminating my contract with my realtor, they took a long time to schedule an inspection and then after the inspection, I didn’t hear a word after a week. I didn’t to work back with my realtor a d requested termination, now no one including the title company is replying my emails, phone calls or texts. They stated that there is a 1 percent convenience fee for walking away from a bad deal for what ever reason; however, they want even respond.Poor customer service. Poor business practices. Doesn’t appear to be mutually beneficial.”
This customer felt very misled by Offerpad:
“The transaction manager then went to tell me that it was a 1% fee ($2460) price to cancel. The offerpad representative never informed me that it would be a cancel fee. This is one of the many reasons that I decided to not move forward with the sale to offerpad.”
You can read the rest of the reviews on the BBB website here.
Offerpad Reddit Reviews
This Reddit thread features several comments from people that have considered working with Offerpad, or have actually done business with them. According to one commenter, Offerpad offered her a seamless selling process, just like they advertised. The review states:
“We requested an offer, they came back with an offer, we waited a couple of days and they offered more. Nothing came back needing fixed during the inspection and we closed in the time frame we requested. 5% standard fee, nothing to fix and no showings while we lived there. It seemed to good to be true until the wire hit our bank account. Look into Offerpad. We’re glad we did. That being said, I have no clue how purchasing works because we are renting until we can find a place to build when we are empty nesters.”
Offerpad Reviews On Yelp
Offerpad reviews on Yelp average at 1.5 stars. While this doesn’t make the company look great, it does indicate that they are legit. Several of the negative reviews reference experiences that people have had when attempting to purchase a house from Offerpad. For example, this review:
” If you try to buy a home through offerpad it will not appraise. Our appraisal came in 23,000 under what they listed the house at and they wanted us to eat the cost, asking if “can we get help from family for the funds,” for them so they could meet the profit margin they wanted. Do not buy with Offerpad unless you want to waste your appraisal money and your inspection money.”
However, this is a very positive review from someone that sold their house through Offerpad:
” What a fantastic decision my husband and I made using offerpad to sell to. The whole team was so helpful. Offerpad also gave me the highest price for my house. More than many other offers I got from other companies. Not to mention they are moving me for free since I’m moving in the same city. I’m not sure if that is all the time or limited but I’m happy. I highly suggest their bundling packages. I received discounts for using their realtor and lender. I am very happy with the lending company and my realtor Chad Clement…”
While there are plenty of negative reviews from people attempting to purchase a house through this company, there are mixed reviews from individuals that have attempted to sell their home to Offerpad. This is a good indication that the company is a legit company.
How To Tell If A Company Is Legit
While there are quite a few ways to tell that a company is legit, reading reviews is often the easiest way to determine whether a company is a scam. Companies that have all five star reviews are suspect. Companies that pay for reviews typically pay for a person to leave a four or five star review. They will not pay people to leave a review that states that the company is a scam or that they were deceived.
To learn more about iBuyers like Offerpad and Opendoor, read the rest of our informative blogs:
