Offerpad Reviews: Why Does It Only Have 2.3/5 Stars?

What is Offerpad? | Is Offerpad legit? | How it works | Find Offerpad reviews from real customers | Top alternatives

Offerpad is an iBuyer that makes near-instant cash offers on homes, promising the opportunity to sell your home easily and quickly. In some markets, sellers can close in as few as ten days — much faster than the standard 30-45 days in a typical sale.

However, Offerpad’s promised convenience comes at a price. Service fees can add up to as much as 10% — and you won’t know the final offer price until after you’ve gotten locked into a contract. Plus, Offerpad isn’t forthright about its 1% cancellation fee. 

Before selling your home to Offerpad, we recommend asking a qualified real estate agent for a professional home valuation. Whether your goal is a quick sale or getting top dollar, getting a second opinion on your home’s true value can help you decide if selling to Offerpad is worth it — or a decision you might later regret. 

Our friends at Clever can match you with hand-picked real estate agents from trusted brokerages including Keller Williams, Coldwell Banker, and RE/MAX. Clever’s full-service partner agents will provide a professional home valuation for free — and if you decide to list your home with a Clever agent, you’ll receive full service support while paying just $3,000 or 1% in listing fees!

» SAVE: Meet top-rated agents near you and save big on realtor fees!

What is Offerpad?

First launched in 2015, Offerpad is a company that buys homes directly from sellers for cash, then flips them for a profit.

This business model is known as iBuying — an emerging type of real estate company that uses a combination of technology and in-house real estate experts to make cash offers on homes. Currently, the largest and best known iBuyers are Opendoor and Zillow Offers.

Offerpad does streamline many aspects of the home selling process. You won’t have to spend time and money on renovations, home staging, or open houses. In fact, you can close in as little as ten days in some markets. 

However, you’ll also have to accept some major tradeoffs — including expensive service fees and repair deductions, offers that are below fair market value, and little room to negotiate.

» MORE: The 6 Best iBuyer Companies, Ranked

Is Offerpad legit?

Yes, Offerpad is a legitimate business. However, since Offerpad will flip your home for a profit, its “fair” offer won’t match the highest possible price you could get on the open market. Once service fees and repair costs are deducted from your offer, you’ll almost always earn more by selling with a low commission real estate company instead.

In addition to expensive fees and a potentially low offer, Offerpad requires sellers to sign a purchase agreement before knowing its final cash offer. 

After receiving an adjusted cash offer following a required home inspection, you’ll have just four days to decide whether you want to move forward. After that point, Offerpad will charge you a 1% cancellation fee for backing out.  

By contrast, our friends at Clever can help you connect with as many real estate agents as you like, until you find the perfect match. Their free, no-obligation service allows you to find the best agent for your sale — and you’ll pay pre-negotiated low rates of just $3,000 or 1% in listing fees. 

Where does Offerpad buy homes? 

Offerpad is available in 18 metro areas across 11 states. 

Since Offerpad’s service areas are limited, your home may not qualify for a cash offer. If that’s the case, other iBuyers may be operating near you — for example, Opendoor is currently available in 40+ cities across 17 states.

» COMPARE: Request a cash offer from Opendoor!

How Does Offerpad Work?

Selling your home to Offerpad is simple, with just six steps:

1. Request an offer. Begin by submitting information about your home on Offerpad’s website. You’ll provide photos, plus add basic information like your home’s square footage, age, style, appliances, and finishes. 
2. Receive an initial cash offer. If your home is eligible, Offerpad will provide an initial cash offer within 24 hours. The offer is based on a combination of proprietary data and input from its in-house staff. You’ll have four days to decide whether to accept it. 
3. Sign a contract. To move forward with Offerpad, you’ll have to sign a legally binding agreement before knowing your final cash offer — which may be reduced by thousands of dollars in repair costs. Beware that if you decide to back out after this point, you may have to pay a 1% cancellation fee. 
4. Complete the home inspection. Once you officially accept Offerpad’s initial offer, you’ll schedule an inspection to determine how much it estimates for repairs. You can complete the repairs yourself (which could add to the timeline) or simply have the cost deducted from your sale price. 
5. Receive a final cash offer. Your final cash offer will reflect your home inspection and any repairs that may be necessary. Once Offerpad sends its updated offer, you’ll have just four days to decide whether to take it — otherwise, you’ll be on the hook for a 1% cancellation fee. That’s a tight window, especially if you want a second opinion!
6. Close the deal. In most states, you can close in as few as ten days, following a title search and final walkthrough. On the actual day of closing, you’ll sign the sale documents at an attorney or title company’s office to formally transfer the title and complete the sale.

Offerpad fees

In total, Offerpad fees add up to 8-15% of your sale price. This includes a 6-10% service fee, 1-3% closing costs, and 1-2% estimated repair costs. (For comparison, selling your home with a real estate agent typically costs around 6-11%.)

The biggest variable is Offerpad’s service fee, which is based on three main factors: 

• Profit margin: Offerpad wants to flip your home for a profit, which means it needs to charge fees — or offer relatively low prices — to make money from the sale. 
• Carrying costs: After purchasing your home, Offerpad will have to pay for utilities, property taxes, and basic upkeep until it finds a buyer. 
• Risk: Offerpad takes on the risk that the real estate market will crash before it’s able to resell your property, so it will assess risk based on your market. 

To better understand Offerpad’s fees, we compared them to what you’d pay while selling on the open market.

As you can see above, selling to Offerpad is typically more expensive than a traditional home sale, and that’s before their typically lower offer price. For example, selling a $400,000 home could cost up to $60,000 with Offerpad — compared to a maximum of just $44,000 during a traditional sale. 

If you want to save big when selling your home, our friends at Clever can help! 

Clever is a free, no-obligation service that can connect you with full-service real estate agents from top brokerages. Not only will you get incredible service, but you’ll also pay just $3,000 or 1% in listing fees thanks to Clever’s pre-negotiated low rates.

Offerpad reviews and complaints

Offerpad reviews online are mixed but skew negative overall, with a weighted average rating of 2.3 out of 5 stars:

• Better Business Bureau: 2.7/5 stars (40+ reviews)
• Yelp: 1.5/5 stars (20+ reviews)

Note: Although Offerpad also has numerous reviews on Sitejabber, many are from realtors and customers who have not completed a transaction, so we did not include them. Additionally, Offerpad’s local reviews may vary regionally. 

Among positive Offerpad reviews, some sellers praise the company’s fair cash offers and quick timeline.

However, even customers who praise Offerpad acknowledge that proceeds can be much lower than what they would have gotten on the open market.

Offerpad complaints focus on expensive reviews and final offers that plummet by thousands after the inspection. 

For example, one seller found that Offerpad’s estimated repair costs were almost double what the rates they identified during their research.

In addition to drastic price reductions following the inspection, some Offerpad complaints say the company unexpectedly canceled the sale after the inspection.

Though Offerpad complaints report repair costs of up to $40,000, some buyers who purchase homes from Offerpad say the repairs were subpar.

Overall, we recommend that sellers arm themselves with information about typical repair costs and get a second opinion from an independent inspector. In any sale, this can help you avoid overpaying for repairs or purchasing a home with major defects. 

Top Alternatives to Offerpad

Offerpad vs. Opendoor

Opendoor is the nation’s leading iBuyer company, with availability in 40+ markets and plans to continue expanding. 

Compared to Offerpad, Opendoor has several competitive advantages:

• Lower fees: Opendoor’s service fee is capped at 5% — which is half of what Offerpad charges. 
• Better customer reviews: Opendoor has an impressive 4/5 star rating with 840+ online reviews.

Interested in Opendoor? Request your no-obligation cash offer today!

Offerpad vs. other iBuyers

Explore our in-depth library of iBuyer company research to compare Offerpad to Zillow Offers, RedfinNow, Knock, and Orchard.

Should you sell your house to Offerpad?

Offerpad promises a fast, frictionless sale — and it’s true that eligible sellers can close in as little as ten days. This can be a helpful solution if you need to sell as fast as possible. 

However, Offerpad’s relatively high fees, mediocre customer reviews, and limited locations make it less competitive than leading iBuyers like Opendoor. 

Additionally, many sellers don’t realize that homes in competitive markets can still sell fast with a traditional sale. An experienced local agent can discuss pricing and marketing strategies that could help the right buyers find your home fast. 

If selling with an agent is the right choice for your sale, you can save thousands by selling with a low commission company like Clever. Clever pre-negotiates affordable listing fees with full-service agents from top brokers, like RE/MAX and Keller Williams. Compared to a typical sale, the average seller who lists with Clever saves $9,600! 

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What Companies Offer the Lowest Real Estate Commission Fees? Plenty of real estate companies promise to help you save on commission — but sometimes, that means compromising on quality. We found the best low commission real estate companies. 

Should You Sell Your Home to Opendoor? As the country’s leading iBuyer, Opendoor makes fast, all-cash offers on homes across the U.S. Read our in-depth review to learn how it works and what customers think of the service.

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