What Is Door Real Estate? | Door.com Locations | How Does Door Work? | Door Real Estate Reviews | Door.com Alternatives
Door.com is a discount brokerage that advertises a 1.5% listing commission in Texas. Read on to learn about the major pros and cons of this company based on Door Real Estate reviews, and alternatives that might work better for you.
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Key Takeaways
- Door.com charges a discounted 1.5% listing commission for sellers
- Door.com offers a virtual selling experience, with very little (to no) face-to-face interaction with your agent
- At Door, multiple team members work on a single transaction, as opposed to the conventional model in which one agent takes a sale from start to finish
- Door.com recently downsized their workforce by about 50%, shrunk their service area from ten states to one, and scrapped a national expansion
What Is Door Real Estate?
Door.com is a discount real estate brokerage based out of Dallas that currently only operates in Texas. They offer a 1.5% listing commission at the close of a home sale, along with a host of other innovative features.
Much like their much larger competitor Redfin, Door uses a team-based approach for each transaction. This differs from the traditional model of a single agent shepherding your sale from start to finish.
Sellers also have a largely virtual experience. You'll schedule or approve showings, track offers in real time, and a lot more online — all without ever meeting your agent.
Door promises greater efficiency and speed with this approach, though. On their website, they note that Door.com agents handle 10X more transactions than a conventional agent. This can come with challenges, as we'll discuss shortly.
For experienced sellers who are looking for a hands-off experience, Door could be a great choice — if you're in Texas and are willing to sacrifice some services.
Note: Door.com’s name closely resembles Opendoor, which is a separate and unrelated discount brokerage.
Door.com Locations
Door has some tremendously appealing features; the catch is you can only take advantage of them if you live where Door operates. And, currently, Door.com operates only in Texas.
They previously operated in ten states across the U.S., so this represents an extreme decline in coverage for the startup.
Door recently underwent significant downsizing. In early January 2020, more than three dozen agents were reportedly laid off — amounting to about half of Door’s workforce.
If you’re interested in working with a discount brokerage, but you don’t live in Texas or are looking for a stabler option, our free service is a great choice.
We have agents throughout the U.S., and offer a full service, five-star selling experience for a low, flat fee of $3,000, or 1.5% if your home sells for more than $350,000.
Contact us today to find out what we can do for you!
How Does Door Real Estate Work?
Like its larger competitor Redfin, Door uses a team-based agent model and streamlined digital platform to turn over more transactions.
Sellers transition from team member to team member as they progress through their sale. Door passes these savings onto sellers with a 1.5% listing commission.
This can lead to real savings. For example, if you sell a $600,000 home, a conventional 3% listing commission would cost $18,000. If you sold that same home with Door, you’d pay only $9,000.
However, Door does have minimum fees that are currently $5,000 per transaction. For lower-priced homes, you may not realize much — if any — savings.
Another unique feature of Door’s business model is their remote-only agent experience.
Sellers can text, email, or call their agent, but don't interact with them face-to-face. This is a huge departure from the conventional model, in which an agent provides much needed in-person support during a complex — and often stressful — sale.
Door does leverage a lot of technology tools to help sellers, though. Sellers benefit from online home valuations, a comprehensive online dashboard, and a lightning-fast listing process.
Selling with Door.com
When selling with Door.com, you'll move through a team of market advisors, agents, and closing specialists. Let’s look at a typical Door transaction, step by step.
Getting your home onto the market, fast
Door prominently advertises its precision home pricing process. Combining information about your home with data about local market trends, they’ll suggest a data-driven listing price.
You’ll discuss this price in a virtual meeting with your market advisor, when you can ask questions and make suggestions.
If you decide to sell with Door, they move fast; your listing will be live within four days of signing the listing agreement.
Door’s onboarding team immediately arranges for professional-quality photos to be taken of your home, and they’ll also install a lockbox and yard signs.
Tracking your sale
You’ll coordinate much of your sale process through Door.com's online portal and mobile app. These let you:
- Monitor buyer activity and interest
- Schedule services
- Communicate with your Door team
With Door, your listing is populated onto Trulia, Realtor.com, and other real estate websites. They also place ads on:
If you’re a tech-savvy person who wants a low-key sale experience, with minimum (or zero) face-to-face interaction, you’ll love Door’s online interface and approach.
But if you’re not super comfortable conducting your business entirely online, you're a first-time seller, or you want that face-to-face agent experience, you may find Door’s online portal inadequate and alienating.
With our service, you'll enjoy a lower commission rate and personal, face-to-face interaction with your agent. It's a win-win. Find top agents near you today.
Buying with Door.com
Buying a home with Door isn’t all that different from buying with any other brokerage, but you may experience some service trade-offs due to the virtual experience and potentially over-extended agents.
As a buyer, you can use Door's interactive online map to search properties. This allows you to run custom searches of specific areas — a great feature for buyers who already know exactly where they want to live.
They also allow you to create custom market reports, which shows properties that:
- Are on the market
- Under contract in your area
- Have recently sold in your target area
Door also lets you save searches, and will email you if new listings hit the market in your target area, or when prices change.
Learn how to find a real estate agent to help you buy a home.
Door Real Estate Reviews: Pros and Cons
Any company that uses an innovative business model is going to offer certain advantages and disadvantages, and Door is no exception.
Let’s look at specific Door.com pros and cons.
Pro: Lower commission fees
Door charges a 1.5% fee at closing — about half of the average real estate commission. Note that you don't get any discount on the buyer's agent commission. You'll still pay them their standard 3% of the sales price.
That’s still real savings, though!
For example, if you sold a $400,000 home, a conventional 3% listing commission would set you back $12,000. If you sold that same home with Door, you’d pay only $6,000. As mentioned, you may not see savings on lower-priced properties due to Door's minimum fees.
As the following positive Door.com review from Google notes, many customers are very happy with the amount of money they saved.
These customers loved doing everything online, which supports our point that Door can be great for people who want a virtual experience.
Pro: A virtual-first option
Speaking of, Door offers a high tech real estate experience. If you're tech-savvy, you'll enjoy:
- Great, customizable search tool on their website
- Fast and accurate home valuations
- An online dashboard that brings everything together at your fingertips
This review from Homeopenly describes a typical positive experience with Door; they got along well with every member of their team, and had a smooth transaction.
They were also able to sell their home during the difficult early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when virtual integration was a major benefit.
Con: Inconsistent and impersonal service
Door’s virtual-only agent model is great for sellers who are familiar with the industry, and don’t want a lot of face-to-face interaction. For the majority of sellers, though, a remote-only agent may leave them feeling unsupported and unsure.
In addition, the high number of people working on each sale increases the probability of mistakes and oversights. Without a central point-of-contact or person leading the process, it's easier to be lost in the shuffle.
In this Door.com complaint from Homeopenly, the seller explicitly says "it felt like no one was paying attention." They also note that Door.com's process was "fraught with blunders."
Another negative review from Facebook describes the worst case scenario for anyone who works with a team-based brokerage: "you are shuffled from one employee to the next, none of whom know what’s been transpiring."
The client notes that they were able to sell their home themselves, paying only for a flat-fee MLS service. This suggests they were selling a very desirable property, and Door dropped the ball.
Con: Internal company challenges
Finally, as we noted at the outset, Door fired half their workforce in 2020, and scrapped plans for a nationwide expansion.
All businesses experience adversity, but it’s fair for sellers to wonder if they’re signing with a company on the rise, or on the decline.
Are There Door.com Alternatives In My Area?
You won’t be able to use Door.com to buy or sell your home if you're outside of Texas.
But there are other real estate brokerages you can use, and many Door.com competitors offer similar features. These are all of the main Door.com alternatives to consider.
| Company | Average rating | Locations | Listing fee | Average savings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Door | 4.8 (438 reviews) | TX | 1.5% (min. fees vary) | $4,825 |
| Clever | 5.0 (3,000+ reviews) | Nationwide | 1.5% (or $3,500) | $7,375 |
| Redefy | 4.6 (300 reviews) | CO, FL, GA, IL, NC, SC, TN, TX, VA | $3,500 (or 1% over $1m) | $8,500 |
| Redfin | 2.9 (331 reviews) | Nationwide (select markets) | 1.5% (min. fees vary) | $5,550 |
As we see it, our service combines the best of both worlds: a 1.5% listing fee (or $3,500 for homes over $350,000), and a warm, one-on-one sale experience with a top agent from your local market.
That translates to big savings on your commission, and a five star agent experience.
Our agents are pre-vetted with proven track records in their markets. With our low listing fee, you can save thousands of dollars on your home sale.
Intrigued? Contact us today to get started!
Recommended Reading
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Redfin: Reviews, Competitors, and More: Real estate giant Redfin is known nationwide for their low commission, stellar website, and salaried agents. But how good are they, and what red flags should prospective Redfin customers know?
How Much Does it REALLY Cost to Sell a House? We’ve all heard the old saying that it costs money to make money — and it’s true. We break down how much, exactly, it’s going to cost you to sell your home.