Trading Houses: New Home Selling Program Seeks to Expand

In spring 2017, home builder Lennar Corp and listing site Opendoor tested a new homebuying and selling program in Las Vegas. The companies now want to offer the service in every Opendoor market.

Bloomberg reports that Opendoor's program is an attempt to "simplify homebuying and selling by having sellers fill out an online form, and then using algorithms and market data to put together an offer within 48 hours. If the homeowner accepts, the firm sends an inspector, who confirms or adjusts the offer. Opendoor then buys the home, makes repairs and puts the property back on the market." Opendoor's fee is typically between 1 to 1.5 percent, in addition to the 6 percent average commission from real estate agents.

“Trading in a car is second nature to Americans, but no one thinks about that relative to a home,” said Jon Jaffe, chief operating officer of Miami-based Lennar. “What we’ve found is that the customers love it. It’s something that they didn’t think about as a possibility because it didn’t exist before.”

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