Opendoor, the $3.8 billion SoftBank-backed instant home buyer, and its competitor Redfin Corp. are teaming up to gain an edge in the new home-selling segment.
The new partnership means Opendoor can get a piece of Redfin’s web traffic — 31 million monthly visitors in just the first quarter, Bloomberg reported. Homeowners in Atlanta and Phoenix who visit Redfin’s site will be given the option of requesting a cash offer from Opendoor, which buys and flips homes after minor repairs, or get an opinion of what a home could go for on the open market. Opendoor will pay Redfin a referral fee.
The move comes after RE/MAX and Redfin joined forces in March. Redfin, which already has its own iBuying division, would be willing to expand the Opendoor partnership into markets it’s already in, according to CEO Glenn Kelman.
Opendoor has been popular with venture capital firms, raking in $1.3 billion in equity from such investors as SoftBank Group’s $100 billion Vision Fund. The partnership further establishes a business model that Opendoor pioneered in 2014 — as it expands into more than 20 markets and established real estate firms including firms Zillow and Keller Williams, the nation’s biggest franchise brokerage, follow suit.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Opendoor was laying off 50 of its roughly 1,300 employees, and asked between 200 and 300 employees to relocate to its base in Phoenix. It follows turnover in the startup’s C-suite. [Bloomberg] — Georgia Kromrei