How a busy entrepreneur used Opendoor to simplify selling his rental property

How a busy entrepreneur used Opendoor to simplify selling his rental property

Sold his home to Opendoor in Atlanta, GA

Eric Somers and his wife bought two homes without a hitch — but when it came to selling a rental property, they turned to Opendoor for a hand.

The couple had lived in a cozy suburban Atlanta home for 10 years. They welcomed a son, who is now 6, and started planning for a second child. That’s when they decided they wanted a larger space.

“My wife … [said] we can’t have one-and-a-half bathrooms, Eric said.

They bought a beautiful home in Marietta, Georgia, and rented out their former home. Eric, who runs a landscaping company, also kept some of his business materials in the backyard.

They spent the next two years as landlords. Their first tenants were great, but the next tenants posed problems. They threw huge parties. The neighbors complained about guests parking up and down the street.

Letting Go

When the second set of tenants moved out, Eric decided not to look for a replacement. Instead, he realized it was time to let go of the house. He considered listing the house on the market, but didn’t want to deal with delays and uncertainty.

“My agent said we need to list it at $200,000,” Eric said. “I thought that would be amazing, but what if it doesn’t sell? I don’t want to be holding the bag of donuts.”

His second concern was the backyard covered in gravel.

“All of [my landscaping supplies] had to be moved to be able to list the house,” he says. Gravel is “an eyesore for most people.” The backyard didn’t resemble the grassy suburban lawn that many homeowners desire.

“I had anticipated having to do a fair amount of work to the outside of the yard,” Eric said. But this would incur significant expense and hassle.

Eric thought selling the home to a company would be simpler than searching for a buyer. He just needed to pick the right company.

Under Contract

He went under contract with an Opendoor competitor in Atlanta, but felt dissatisfied with their service.

“It seemed like there was a lot of back-and-forth,” Eric said. He described the process as “slow” and said that the company’s process was unclear.

He dealt with an assessor, a realtor, an overall coordinator, and several other people involved with the transaction. He grew frustrated with needing to interact with so many people.

“I just felt like it was being passed off,” Eric said.

Around this time, his wife received a postcard in the mail from Opendoor. He decided to give them a call.

“I thought, what could it hurt to get another quote?,” he said.

He worked with an Opendoor Home Advisor named Emma, who sent him an offer for his home in less than 24 hours. The Opendoor offer price came in higher than the competitor’s bid. He terminated his previous contract and decided to sell to Opendoor instead.

From there, Eric worked with Emma to schedule a home assessment. “At the end of the day, it was fairly smooth,” he said, adding that he received “fair, quick service.”

He chose Opendoor because “they offered me more money, and as far as work that needed to be done, it wasn’t impossible stuff to do.”

Recently, Eric’s former neighbor mentioned that he might move out of state. Eric recommended looking into Opendoor.

“Opendoor gave a very fair price and a seamless transaction, honestly,” he said. “It was very simple.”

Simplicity is exactly what Eric and his family needed after they sold their original home to Opendoor — the couple were expecting their second child.