Building the future of real estate

I’ll never forget one of Opendoor’s first customers in 2014 — a couple from Anthem, Arizona who had spent nearly two years planning a trip around the world. Soon to be retired, they were gearing up for the trip of a lifetime. As early startups often require, I was both the CEO and a customer service rep, so I answered the call. Confident and commanding, the woman on the other end of the line said to me, “I will sell you my home under one condition… we get to leave the furniture behind.”

I remember turning to our team of 4, explaining the situation, and with a few half-confident nods around the room, we accepted. A few days later, we had one of our first customers and I was in Arizona moving furniture to Goodwill.

Besides the misunderstanding that I, Eric Wu, was buying the home myself, and the fact that we didn’t have anyone to move furniture, there was something beautiful about this situation. The retiring couple valued their time so much, that they just wanted to pack their clothes and embark on a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

They didn’t want to wait 100+ days, deal with the hassle of open houses, or be burdened by the uncertainty that comes with selling a home. Instead, they wanted to connect with each other and explore the world. They wanted to move forward in life.

Progress towards our mission

This early customer story is the very reason we created Opendoor. We started because we believed in the mission of empowering millions of people each year with the freedom to move. We envisioned a world where people could seamlessly move between cities and neighborhoods with no friction — and at a low cost.

We didn’t have the path perfectly planned (moving furniture was certainly not part of it), but we dreamt of improving mobility and helping people find the right home for any chapter of their lives.

Since that phone call in 2014, I’m incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made in just a few short years. We’ve hired nearly 1,000 teammates, expanded our services to 19 markets, and helped nearly 25,000 customers move to new opportunities all over the country.

And we’re just getting started.

A visionary partner

Today, we’re excited to announce backing from the SoftBank Vision Fund — a bold new partner inspiring us to dream even bigger and execute even faster towards empowering millions of people to move each year.

Together, we will not only further simplify the home sale, but build an end-to-end experience that will enable people to buy, sell, and move in 1-click. And we will be streamlining the entire transaction for our customers — giving them the convenience, certainty, and control that will allow them to focus on what matters most in their lives.

With gratitude,

Eric

Founder & CEO, Opendoor

Further reading