We are buying a new house and in the process of preparing our current house for sale, I came across information about a cash sale to an iBuyer. I was sufficiently interested to start the process with Opendoor, and I'm going to pursue it to get a firm offer from them. If nothing else, it will be a useful data point on valuation.

So far it has involved answering some very simple questions online and a 30-minute zoom call where I toured a representative around my home virtually. Based on the former, I received a preliminary offer. There will be an in-person assessment later this week, and I've been told to expect that there may be "repair fees" deducted from the preliminary offer, so I'm fully expecting that it may be a bait-and-switch, but we'll see. It's not much of a commitment on my part to get the offer.

Of course, if they make a reasonable offer, it could be a convenient way to sell and I'd be tempted to consider it. So I'm curious if there are any other issues/challenges that might happen down the line. Opendoor buys tens of thousands of homes in the US annually and has a pretty significant market-share in certain metro areas, so I'm not concerned that it's a scam. It's more a question of whether they might add on extra hidden fees or make onerous demands regarding paperwork, etc.

So ... any experiences to share?

 

My ex-FIL sold his house some years back to a company that offered 'cash deals'. He got about 20% less than market value but he went for it because it was quick and painless. He did not have to fix anything, he did not have to finish the half-done guest bathroom that had been sitting for 10 years, he did not have to paint, he did not have to have the carpets pulled up and the wood floor below refinished, and he did not have to pay a 5-6% realtor commission. So in the end he probably netted about 5% - 7% less than he would have. He found it well worth it.