Opendoor Competitors: Where to Get the Highest Offers

• 

  Written by Katy Byrom

• 

  Edited by Jessica Johansen

Top Opendoor competitors | Consideration before you sell | Other options | FAQ

As the nation’s first iBuyer, Opendoor has built its business around helping homeowners avoid the hassles of a traditional home sale — like making repairs, vacating your house for showings, and waiting on buyers to get approved for a home loan.

In exchange for a convenient, all-cash sale, Opendoor charges a 5% service fee, plus closing costs and variable repair deductions. Your final offer from Opendoor may be significantly lower than your home’s fair market value.¹SourceMike DelPrete, 'Opendoor Recalibrates to a New Environment,' May 18, 2023, https://www.mikedp.com/articles/2023/5/18/opendoor-recalibrates-to-a-new-environment

If you’re considering selling your home to Opendoor, we recommend comparing offers from several similar companies. Getting multiple offers is the best way to maximize the profits on your most important asset. That’s why we recommend Clever Offers!

Clever Offers is a free service that matches you with trusted cash home buyers in your area, and you can sell your home in 7 days or less with their 7 Day Sold program.

Sign up for Clever Offers here by answering a few simple questions.

6 Top Opendoor competitors for 2024

What to consider before selling to a company like Opendoor

• iBuyers have limited service areas and strict purchase criteria, so they’re not an option for most sellers. As the nation’s largest iBuyer, Opendoor is only available in about 50 markets nationwide, and they typically look for newer homes in appreciating areas that don’t need a lot of work to resell.
• Offers are unique to your home. iBuyers like Opendoor and Offerpad make offers based on a variety of factors, including current market conditions and the amount of work needed to make your home move-in ready.
• It’s a good idea to get a professional opinion of your home value. Listing with a real estate agent will likely get you a higher selling price than selling to an iBuyer. However, for some sellers, the convenience of Opendoor’s process is well worth the trade-off. In any case, you should know your home’s fair market value going in so you can make an informed decision. Many realtors are willing to provide a comparative market analysis (CMA) for free.
• Buy-before-you-sell programs offer an interesting alternative. For sellers who want to avoid the hassles of a traditional home sale but don’t want to sacrifice their equity, companies like Knock, Homeward, and Orchard provide bridge loans to help you buy a new house before you sell. However, the selling costs for these services tend to be higher than costs for iBuyers or traditional listings.
• If you need to sell fast but don’t meet an iBuyer’s purchase criteria, consider selling to a real estate investor. These investors include local house flippers and national “we buy houses” companies. Investors can close in 1–2 weeks, but you’ll usually make a lot less profit.
• To get the best price, seek competing offers. You can shop alternatives by reaching out to top cash home buyers in your area or using a free cash offer comparison service like Clever Offers.

Opendoor vs. alternatives

Offerpad | Buy-before-you-sell programs | ‘We buy houses’ companies | Offer networks | Realtor

Opendoor vs. Offerpad

🔑 Key similarities

• Both companies charge a service fee of 5%.
• You can pick your closing date. You’ll have the freedom to move when you want to. 
• No showings are required. Instead, both companies will schedule an inspection and take care of repairs for you. (They deduct the cost of repairs from the selling price.)

🔑 Key differences

• Offerpad has a more flexible closing timeline. In most locations, Offerpad can close in 8–90 days. Opendoor offers a range of 14–60 days.
• Offerpad may have higher repair costs. Home sellers claim that Offerpad has a more thorough inspection process, often resulting in higher repair costs.
• Opendoor is available in more markets. Opendoor operates in 50+ cities across the US, while Offerpad operates in just 24 markets.

Offerpad is Opendoor’s main competitor in the iBuyer space. Like Opendoor, Offerpad purchases mostly move-in ready homes in appreciating areas to resell them for a profit. Both companies charge a 5% service fee in exchange for a quick, hassle-free home sale.

Offerpad has a few advantages over Opendoor, including a more flexible closing timeline. You can close in as little as 8 days or up to 90 days if you need more time to find a house. Offerpad also offers perks like free local moves and a three-day grace period after closing in case you need more time to move out.

However, some customers we talked to note that Offerpad charges more for repairs, resulting in final offers that are much lower than initial offers. Offerpad also charges a 1% cancellation fee, while Opendoor doesn’t charge a fee to cancel. Additionally, Offerpad is available in only half as many markets as Opendoor.

Buy-before-you-sell programs

🔑 Key similarities

• Your home sale is guaranteed. While Opendoor buys your house directly, buy-before-you-sell programs help you purchase a new home before you list your current one. However, they also provide a cash offer that you can take as backup in case your home doesn’t sell the traditional way.
• Home showings won’t disrupt your schedule. With buy-before-you-sell programs, you can move into your new home while showings happen at your old home. With Opendoor, you don’t need showings because the company is your buyer.
• You choose your closing date. Both types of companies allow you to choose when you move.

🔑 Key differences

• Opendoor has lower fees. Companies offering buy-before-you-sell programs typically charge service fees well as standard real estate commissions. Opendoor’s service fee is 5%, but you don’t have to pay realtor fees.
• Buy-before-you-sell services can usually get you more for your house. These companies help you maximize your home’s selling potential by working with your realtor to list it after you secure a new house. Some also offer interest-free financing for home improvements prior to listing.
• Opendoor automatically deducts repair costs from your offer. When you sell with a buy-before-you-sell program, you’ll negotiate repairs directly with the buyer.

Rather than buying your home outright, buy-before-you-sell services like Homeward, Orchard, and Knock let you borrow against your existing home equity to purchase a new home even before you list. If your home doesn’t sell on the open market, you can take the company’s cash offer as a backup.

When you contact one of these companies, it will estimate your home value, determine how much cash you qualify for based on your current equity, and furnish a short-term, interest-free loan or cash advance to purchase your next house.

Once you move out, you’ll work with a realtor to list and sell your previous home. You can use a portion of your equity advance to pay for moving expenses, make repairs before listing, and cover ongoing mortgage payments during the period between closing on your new home and selling your old one.  

However, you’ll have to pay anywhere from 1.9–6.5% of your home sale price in service and loan fees, on top of traditional realtor commissions and closing costs.

Opendoor vs. ‘we buy houses’ companies (or ‘house flippers’)

🔑 Key similarities

• Both types of companies make a quick offer. Like Opendoor, house flippers can usually make a cash offer within 24-48 hours — it often happens on the spot after they inspect your home.
• Both Opendoor and ‘we buy houses’ companies offer fast closings. Because iBuyers house flippers purchase homes with cash, you can usually close in as little as 1–2 weeks.
• Neither requires you to make repairs. The trade-off is that both companies offer below-market value so they can resell your home for a profit.

🔑 Key differences

• ‘We buy houses’ companies will purchase homes in any condition. Opendoor has strict criteria and excludes most distressed or worn-down homes.
• Opendoor makes offers closer to market value. ‘We buy houses’ companies typically offer anywhere from 60–85% of your home’s after-repair value.
• We buy houses companies are available just about anywhere, while Opendoor operates in about 50 markets.

‘We buy houses’ companies range from national franchises like We Buy Ugly Houses to local mom-and-pops that purchase a home or two per year. 

They are far more willing to purchase homes in less-than-ideal condition. They’re also available in more markets than iBuyers like Opendoor, which generally stick to major cities. 

The trade-off is that these fix-and-flip investors typically pay as little as 70% of a home’s fair market value. They make a profit by buying homes at a bargain price, fixing them up, and selling or renting them for a higher price. However, some investors may offer more depending on their investment model.

» MORE: Are ‘we buy houses’ companies a ripoff?

Opendoor vs. cash offer networks

🔑 Key similarities

• Either option can get you a cash offer quickly without you having to list on the open market.
• You can request an offer for free — with no obligation to move forward.
• Both options aim to make the home-selling process hassle-free. You won’t have to make improvements to appeal to buyers or vacate your house for showings and inspections.

🔑 Key differences

• Cash offer networks solicit buyers for and connect you with the best options. That way, you save time and awkward conversations seeking prospective buyers. Opendoor gives you only one offer to choose from.
• You’ll likely get much lower offers. These companies work with investors, who tend to look for fixer-uppers they can flip for a profit — although Clever Offers also have iBuyers in its network.
• Neither Clever nor HomeLight charge sellers fees for their service, while Opendoor charges a 5% service fee.
• You can seek offers from cash buyers nationwide, while Opendoor only operates in certain markets.

Often, the best way to get offers from investors is through a cash offer service like Clever Offers or HomeLight Simple Sale. 

Both companies have large investor networks spread across the country and screen investors before accepting them as partners — requiring them to show current proof of funds and a paper trail of successful deals.

With either option, you can compare multiple cash offers with the peace of mind that you’re dealing with legitimate buyers. However, Clever’s network includes iBuyers like Offerpad and Opendoor, as well as investors offering alternative deal types that may net you a higher payout.

Since both companies also offer agent matching services that connect buyers and sellers with top local real estate agents, they can also help you explore the price difference you’d get with listing a realtor vs. selling to a company that buys houses. However, Clever pre-negotiates realtor fees with their partner agents, so if you opt to list your house, you’ll save significantly on the standard real estate commission.

Opendoor vs. a realtor

Real estate agents are still an option even if you don’t have the time, money, or desire to make repairs before listing. Many realtors are adept at helping you minimize the losses from selling a home as is.

“At my brokerage, we offer a program called InnoEquity,” says Suzanne Seini of Innovate Realty in Irvine, California. “The program enables homeowners to tap into their equity with no out-of-pocket costs and have pre-listing renovations done to their homes. The homeowner would then pay for the work when they close escrow.”

A realtor may even advise you to list on the MLS while using a cash offer as a backup. 

“One of the first things I do when I am helping a seller is shop around to iBuyers and investors to see if anyone is willing to pay as much as I expect it will sell for on the open market,” says Phoenix-based realtor Adam Evans. “They usually don’t, but sometimes they will and we can speed things up. Also, it’s good to know about them for a baseline value and backups.”

Before signing with a realtor, make sure you understand who pays their commission if you sell to a company like Opendoor. Since iBuyers charge you a service fee of ~5%, you may not want to offer your agent an additional commission. A good agent should be willing to negotiate their fees.

» MORE: The best brokerages for competitive commission rates

iBuyers no longer in business

FAQ

Related reading

What Is an iBuyer? iBuyers offer cash payment for homes on a lightning-fast timeline. The trade-off is that instant offers may be less than what you’d get on the open market.

How to Sell Your House Fast: On average, it takes a little shorter than a month for a home to go under contract once it’s listed for sale. However, that’s not the end of the process. It could take another month for the sale to close. Read on for tips to streamline this process and sell fast.

We Buy Houses for Cash Companies: In this guide to “we buy houses for cash” companies, we detail the differences between types of cash buyers, the process cash buyers use to purchase your home, and the pros and cons of selling to a cash buyer.