Working With Opendoor
Selling a home – Here’s your support team
Reading Time — 3 minutes
April 9, 2019
Reading Time — 3 minutes
April 9, 2019
There’s a lot of people working behind the scenes at Opendoor to help you buy, sell, and trade-in a home. Here’s a few people you’ll work with directly so you know who to reach out to and how they can help:
Opendoor Expert: Your personal guide
Estimators: Quick and easy home assessment
Closing Manager: A hand across the finish line
Pricing Associate: The team behind your offer
Opendoor Expert: Your personal guide
When you request an offer from Opendoor, we connect you with an Opendoor Expert. They are your personal guide throughout the process and your first point of contact.
Your Opendoor Expert can set up a call to go over all of the details of your offer one-on-one. They can answer any questions about our selling process and our fees. They’ll also walk you through the next steps like setting up a free home condition and repair assessment.
The purpose of our home assessment is to verify the condition of your home and identify if any repairs are needed. If the assessment turns up any needed repairs, we’ll ask for a credit and deduct the costs from your net proceeds. We’ll then handle the work after you move out so you can avoid the headache and move on your timeline.
You’ll have a chance to review your estimated net proceeds with your Opendoor Expert before closing. And if you change your mind or disagree with our repair ask, you can cancel the contract anytime before close without a penalty.
Josh Scotia – Opendoor Expert
Phoenix, AZ
What advice do you have for home sellers who are considering Opendoor?
It’s easier for us to find a solution if we can understand your needs, whether it’s related to repairs, the timeline, or the offer itself. I always recommend taking advantage of hopping on the phone to review your offer. In a 15 minute call, I’ve helped people plan their entire move.
What questions come up the most?
Naturally, customers want to compare the Opendoor Service Fee with the traditional agent commissions. I think people are surprised to find how many services we provide.
You get a competitive, all-cash offer. You control the close date with flexibility. You know almost every cost up front. We streamline repairs. And you have someone to help you from beginning to end.
Common questions to ask your Opendoor Expert
How does selling to Opendoor work?
How does this differ from a traditional sale?
What does the Opendoor home assessment involve?
The Estimator: Quick and easy home assessment
When it’s convenient for you, we’ll send someone from our team of local Estimators, along with a few specialists, to verify the condition of your home and check for any repairs; just as is common in a traditional sale.
Our Estimators are trained professionals. They primarily look for things that impact your home’s safety, structural stability, or functionality. Here are some of the most common repair items our Estimators find. Our philosophy is to ask for repairs we know the next reasonable buyer will request. We don’t ask for upgrades like replacing a Formica kitchen countertop with granite.
The Estimator is only there to collect information—they will analyze their findings later. You’ll have the opportunity to review the final report with your Opendoor Expert following the home assessment.
Rick Angelotti – Estimator
Orlando, FL
What should sellers know about the home assessment?
We aren’t there to uncover every deficiency in your home to lower the offer; that would take a really long time. We are there to make sure the house, at the time of assessment, is clean, safe, and functional.
This is the standard we provide to the next family that moves in. The things we’re looking for are likely the same things you look for when buying your next home.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen in a home?
One time there was a tree branch actually growing through the roof into the attic, and a family of squirrels were living there.
Common questions to ask your Estimator
What happens during the home assessment?
How long before we get contacted with the results?
What spaces of my home will need to be accessed?
Closing Managers: A hand across the finish line
When you officially accept an offer from us, your Opendoor Expert will connect you with an Opendoor Closing Manager. The last steps of selling a home can involve multiple third parties, financial requirements, and not-so-fun-to-read legal documentation. Your Closing Manager has your back.
They can coordinate title/escrow services, the logistics of moving out, and any remaining repair issues. If you’re represented by a real estate agent, your Closing Manager can work directly with your agent to complete the sale. We work with buyer and seller agents all the time.
Katie McKinney – Closing Manager
Dallas, TX
What questions come up the most at closing?
Is it really that easy?
I hear this a lot, and yes, it can really be that easy. Documents can be signed online and downloaded at any time, and Opendoor will complete any needed repairs after you move out so you only have to think about packing and moving.
What if my plans change?
We don’t penalize you for needing to change your close date. If you need more time to move out or if your next home purchase is delayed, we are flexible to meet your needs. We also enable you to buy and sell at the same time through our trade-in service.
Where are you from?
The biggest misconception I come across is customers think I’m based in San Francisco. After the first “y’all” comes out, they realize I’m actually local in Texas.
Common questions to ask your Closing Manager
What happens during closing?
What should I do to prepare for close?
What if my plans change and I need to change my close date?
Pricing Associate: The team behind your offer
While you won’t work with a pricing associate directly, it’s good to have them on your radar. We have a team of local experts that review offers, as well as test and improve our valuation process.
Opendoor typically makes an offer within 1-2 business days without needing to send someone to your home. We value your home based on the information you provide about your home, current market trends, and data from thousands of recent comparable home sales.
Our pricing associates review thousands of homes per week. They combine their local knowledge with all of the data we have on recent sales.
Sean Busby – Central Division Pricing Manager
Dallas, TX
What should people know about how Opendoor values their home?
We are local. The teams we hire are from your city and live in your city. This allows us to understand the subtle nuances of a market. We also capture millions of data points for recently sold homes with a wide range of upgrades, price points, and home features.
We use that granularity to not only quantify individual features in the home but to also capture broader trends in the market. We want our valuation of your home to be as if you’d literally just sold your home that day.
Related guides and blog articles
→ Most common misconceptions about Opendoor?
→ How Opendoor’s costs compare to a traditional sale