Opendoor is a real estate iBuyer that utilizes technology to purchase and sell homes almost completely online.
The company, which is headquartered in San Francisco, California, was founded in 2014 by Eric Wu, Ian Wong, JD Ross, and Keith Rabois.
Its proprietary algorithms enable Opendoor to quickly assess the attractiveness of a potential purchase. Opendoor, to minimize risk, focuses its efforts on cities in the medium price range (such as Orlando or Phoenix). Prices in those cities tend to be less volatile.
Additionally, Opendoor focuses on single-family homes built after 1960 that cost anywhere between $125,000 to $500,000. Lastly, Opendoor does not purchase distressed or luxury properties to further decrease volatility risk.
Apart from receiving a cash offer, sellers can also trade in their homes by choosing another house in Opendoor’s inventory. Being technology-enabled has allowed Opendoor to purchase close to 37,000 homes – in 2021 alone. It also sold close to 22,000 homes.
The firm’s continuous growth, furthermore, enabled it to go public in December 2020, raising $1 billion in the process. During its life as a private company, Opendoor’s founders managed to raise another $1.5 billion.
Opendoor is now widely believed to be the leading iBuyer in the United States, the only market it operates in. It purchases and sells houses in over 50 markets across the country. All those numbers equate to $8 billion in revenue that Opendoor generated in 2021 (up 211 percent vs. 2020).
Its growth is even more impressive considering that some absolute heavy hitters have pulled out of the iBuyer market. Zillow, the leading real estate listing site in the United States, shut down its Homes segment in November 2021 after spending billions on buying homes.
Opendoor currently employs close to 3,000 people across multiple offices in the States. Its website is being visited more than 2.5 million times every month.
The methodology with which competitors of Opendoor are ranked is based on publicly available information. Data points such as the revenue generated, the number of houses in its inventory or purchased in a given time period, monthly website visitors, and anything else in between will be considered.
This analysis, in order to ensure comparability, looks at potential competitors in both the iBuyer as well as real estate listing industry. Opendoor lists the available houses on its own website. Not only that, it offers a personalized purchasing experience that is based on the buyer’s listed preferences.
Consequently, competitors in its mortgage business line will not be included. If you’re curious about how Opendoor makes money, then feel free to check out the linked article.
Additionally, only competition within the United States will be taken into account since that is the sole market that Opendoor operates in.
Lastly, this analysis should not be seen as an endorsement of any company or service. It merely acts as a summary of all the competition that Opendoor faces right now.
So, without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the top 8 competitors of Opendoor.
1. Redfin
Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States Founder(s): David Eraker, David Selinger, Michael Dougherty Year Founded: 2004
Redfin is one of the leading real estate platforms in the United States. It has used that clout to expand into iBuying back in 2019. Interestingly, it launched its iBuyer division, dubbed RedfinNow, in partnership with Opendoor.
However, unlike many of its competitors, Redfin takes a more measured approach to buying homes. RedfinNow is currently only available in around a dozen states. Consequently, the company only purchases and sells homes in the low four-digit range.
Where Redfin shines, though, is its other business lines. The Redfin platform itself is visited over 44 million times – each month. Many users visit the site to get an estimate for their homes or simply check the prices of homes in proximity.
Redfin works together directly with real estate agents who help customers find homes that fit their budget. In fact, Redfin currently accounts for 1.15 percent of all real estate sales in the United States, which is equal to around $52 billion in overall transaction volume.
The company now generates annual revenues of $1.9 billion of which roughly a quarter can be attributed to its iBuyer division. Lastly, Redfin employs close to 5,000 people (counting both agents and other types of staff).
Sources: Redfin
2. Offerpad
Headquarters: Chandler, Arizona, United States Founder(s): Brian Bair, Jerry Coleman Year Founded: 2015
Offerpad is another iBuyer that has used favorable market conditions to go public. In September 2021, it completed a SPAC merger with Supernova Partners, which is led by former Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff.
The service is currently available in 16 states across the country. For customers that are time-pressured, Offerpad provides them with a non-binding cash offer within 24 hours (via its EXPRESS solution).
Another option is Offerpad FLEX, which provides sellers with in-home agent support, value-enhancing renovations, flexible moving dates, and more. Offerpad, much like other iBuyers, is focused on purchasing less volatile properties (i.e., built after 1960, single-family homes, the land is smaller than one acre in size, etc.).
In 2021, Offerpad also became the first pure-play iBuyer that has managed to turn a profit for a full year ($6.5 million, in fact). The company purchased 9,023 homes and sold 6,373 over the same timespan (and sold more than 100,000 homes since 2015).
Funding-wise, Offerpad is well equipped to compete with Opendoor. It has raised $355 million in equity-based funding and another $650 million during its IPO. Another $1.5 billion in debt funding have been raised on top of that.
Despite some setbacks, which included the departure of its co-founder and co-CEO Jerry Coleman, Offerpad remains one of the fiercest competitors to Opendoor. Offerpad currently purchases homes in 17 cities across the United States. Lastly, its website is visited over 400,000 times every month.
Sources: Crunchbase, Offerpad, Similarweb
3. Knock
Headquarters: New York City, United States Founder(s): Jamie Glenn, Karan Sakhuja, Sean Black Year Founded: 2015
Knock is another home-swap service – albeit one that had its fair share of problems as well. Founded by former Trulia executives, the company scrapped its plans to go public in March 2022. Additionally, it laid off 50 percent of its workforce, effectively reducing it from 250 people to around 125.
Despite those issues, Knock has carved out a fairly big market share for itself. The company is currently available in 75 markets across the United States.
It largely operates on the same parameters that Opendoor does, meaning it seeks homes that have a stable price range, are occupied by the owner, are not distressed, and is a single-family residential home.
The firm’s HomeSwap program provides two types of financing, namely approval of a new home loan before the current one is sold or an interest-free bridge loan that backs all transaction-related expenses.
Knock has raised $654 million in funding thus far. Unfortunately, the firm does not disclose how many homes have been purchased and sold via its platform.
Sources: Crunchbase, Knock
4. Orchard
Headquarters: New York City, United States Founder(s): Court Cunningham, Phil DeGisi Year Founded: 2017
Orchard, formerly known as Perch, is another iBuyer that is currently available in 13 cities across the United States. The company offers three core services, namely Move First (buying and selling a home), Buy with Orchard (simply purchasing a home), and List with Orchard (only wanting to sell).
Buyers can either purchase an existing home or make a non-contingent offer on a new build. The service has facilitated transactions for 1,000+ buyers and sold homes worth more than $1 billion throughout its existence.
Its business model is similar to other iBuyers. Orchard charges a 6 percent commission that is paid by the seller. Customers can, furthermore, compare various loan options on Orchard’s website. It also takes care of prepping the home (e.g., via renovations) to maximize its value.
Orchard almost went public during the summer of 2021 but ultimately pulled back and raised venture funding instead.
Backers have invested a total of $472 million into Orchard, which is currently valued at $1 billion. Orchard employs over 800 people while its website is being visited 400,000 times per month.
Sources: Crunchbase, Orchard, Similarweb
5. Zillow
Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States Founder(s): Lloyd Frink, Rich Barton Year Founded: 2005
Zillow was one of the leading iBuyers in the United States until it wasn’t. Back in 2018, the firm launched a division called Zillow Offers through which it began to scoop up homes. In theory, Zillow was well equipped to become a significant player in the niche.
Its Zestimate, now a frequent source of joy and desperation for many (upcoming) homeowners, already provided the company with millions of data points about home prices. On top of that, it’s the most visited real estate website in the United States with 36 million unique monthly visitors.
In November 2021, Zillow announced the shutdown of its iBuyer division while laying off 25 percent of its workforce. Nevertheless, for the time being, it did become a significant player. In 2021 alone, Zillow Offers generated close to $6 billion in revenue.
Zillow, regardless of its problems in the iBuyer niche, remains a fierce competitor to Opendoor. It offers options to purchase, rent, and sell on top of home loans and the ability to directly work together with an agent.
The company went public back in July 2011 and has since scooped up competitors such as Trulia ($3.5 billion in July 2014) or Naked Apartments along the way. In 2021, Zillow generated $8.1 billion in annual revenue, an increase of 144 percent. However, Offers alone caused losses of $881 million.
Its co-founder Rich Barton, who replaced former CEO Rascoff in 2019, certainly has the entrepreneurial chops to turn Zillow around. He was heavily involved in the creation of companies such as Expedia, Glassdoor, and Nextdoor, among others.
Sources: Crunchbase, Statista, Zillow
6. Compass
Headquarters: New York City, United States Founder(s): Mike Weiss, Ori Allon, Robert Reffkin, Ugo Di Girolamo Year Founded: 2012
Compass is another non-iBuyer on this list. It is a real estate brokerage that, much like Opendoor, utilizes technology to aid agents during the sale of a property. In fact, it claims to be the leading brokerage by sales volume in the United States.
Compass now works together with 26,000 agents across the United States where it’s available in 69 markets. The company has used its popularity to expand into various other business lines including commercial development, insurance, and offering brokerage services for movie and sports celebrities.
The continued success has enabled Compass, which has raised $1.5 billion during its life as a startup, to go public in April 2021. The IPO netted Compass another $450 million. In 2021, Compass generated $6.42 billion in revenue.
While still not profitable, it has facilitated 225,000 transactions worth $254 billion in 2021 alone. Its website, which lists all available homes, is visited six million times every month.
Sources: Crunchbase, Compass, Similarweb, The Real Deal
7. HomeLight
Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States Founder(s): BC Broussard, Drew Uher, Jason Zhang Year Founded: 2012
HomeLight is a company that connects home buyers and sellers with agents to help them purchase or sell a home. Its main service is its agent matching system, which will match any customer with an agent in his or her area.
Its matching technology takes a plethora of factors into account including the customer’s price range, location, desired timelines, and many more. Much like dealing with a real estate agent in the real world, customers will have to pay their agent a fee for facilitating the transaction. HomeLight then takes a portion of that fee for matching the agent with a seller.
It does not purchase homes like Opendoor but instead connects sellers to a pool of pre-approved cash buyers. HomeLight claims that homes on its platform can be sold in as little as 10 days. Much like Opendoor, HomeLight provides sellers with non-binding offers.
In fact, HomeLight partners with 28,000 real estate agents across the United States. Over $1 billion of real estate transactions are supported via its platform every year. The firm was projected to reach $300 million in revenue in 2021.
HomeLight has raised over $627 million in funding while being valued at $1.6 billion. Its website counts over 1.5 million monthly visitors. The company employs close to 1,000 people.
Sources: Bloomberg, Crunchbase, HomeLight, Similarweb
8. EasyKnock
Headquarters: New York City, United States Founder(s): Ben Black, Jarred Kessler Year Founded: 2016
EasyKnock puts a social twist on the process of purchasing and selling homes. The service helps homeowners to get cash from the equity in their homes without moving. After purchasing the home, EasyKnock then offers sellers the chance to stay as tenants after they’ve sold their property.
The company offers three distinct sale-leaseback programs, namely MoveAbility (a bridge solution while transferring between homes), Sell & Stay (convert home equity into cash with the flexibility to repurchase home), and ReLease (maximize home equity while moving back as tenants).
EasyKnock, furthermore, works together directly with real estate agents, lenders, attorneys, and financial planners to ensure its customers are being properly attended to. This is because EasyKnock’s mission is not necessarily to sell homes but to improve the overall financial well-being of its clients.
People transacting with EasyKnock are, on average, 50 years old with a home worth $315,000. The service is available in all states. EasyKnock even plans to expand its service to farm owners after it acquired FarmlandFinder for an undisclosed sum in August 2021.
Investors have poured a combined $401.7 million into the company whose revenue and valuation remains undisclosed. EasyKnock employs over 100 people and its website is being visited around 120,000 times per month.
Sources: Crunchbase, EasyKnock, Similarweb
Honorable Mentions
Of course, there are a variety of other real estate companies that Opendoor competes with. Essentially, it battles for customers with any platform or service that offers to purchase or list one’s home.
For once, there is a plethora of listing sites that all garner millions of monthly visitors. Examples include Realtor.com, the previously mentioned Trulia, Yahoo! Homes, ApartmentGuide, and many more.
Opendoor also competes against real estate brokerages. Apart from Compass, which is now believed to be the leading brokerage in the United States, there are other significant players such as the Realogy Brokerage Group (around $244 billion in annual volume), HomeServices of America (~ $200 billion), and eXp Realty (around $180 billion).
In essence, Opendoor is in competition against any real estate agent that seeks to sell a home on behalf of their client.
Sellers can, furthermore, decide to list their homes as ‘FSBO’ (for sale by owner). That means they list and sell their homes without the usage of an agent (and thus avoid paying seller fees).
Apart from the established platforms like Zillow, there are also dedicated FSBO websites such as Houzeo.com or FSBO.com available. Some homeowners even use classified sites like Craigslist, Facebook’s Marketplace, or OfferUp to gauge demand.
Lastly, there are a variety of smaller-scale iBuyers that didn’t make the list (mostly because of their low volume). Examples include Keller Offers, We Buy Ugly Houses, ExpressOffers, RealSure, and more.
