INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
they can make it even a little simpler
Home-buying and selling can be one of the more intense ones, requiring a lot of moving pieces and coordinating multiple time tables and
technology-powered business model in the process, just like Uber or Airbnb.Opendoor says it hopes to expand to 50 markets by the end of 2020
with this additional financing
It is in 10 markets right now, and also says it now purchases more than $2.5 billion in homes on an annual run rate
The company says it has raised a $325 million financing round co-led by General Atlantic, Access Technology Ventures and Lennar
efforts to make viewing those homes just as seamless
The company enables potential customers to check out a home by opening it with the app seven days a week
Wu said that most potential buyers go to the house each of the seven days up to the transaction, and then seven days after the transaction
The next step is to create a sort of trade-up system, where Opendoor works to create a streamlined way to turn around an existing home for a
metropolitan area where houses can quickly hit the $1 million-plus range
Wu said that the challenge there was to build enough trust with customers that they realize the process should be as seamless and powered by
robust data set that will help best model potential prices for homes and be more transparent about that information
Wu said Opendoor currently employs around 650 people and hopes to double that by the end of next year, and the company is investing a
significant amount of capital in growing out its data science team
Opendoor acquires some risk by purchasing some homes and holding them for a period of time, so ensuring that the company knows how the
market performs will be one of its biggest challenges.Opendoor is certainly not the only player in this area, as some competitors like Knock
and OfferPad are starting to raise additional capital
Knock picked up $32 million in January last year with a similar bet: simplify the home-buying process and handle all of the details behind
models that look to tap the same consumer demand of simplifying overly complex processes to just a few inputs on a smart app powered by data
