Opendoor launches new mortgage offering

iBuying giant Opendoor announced last week it’s planning to enter the mortgage game. The company says it won’t just restrict its services to making instant cash offers on seller’s homes, but will now issue loans for buyers of its homes as well.

The company said the idea is to speed up the time it takes to complete its transactions to less than a month. The new mortgage division, called Opendoor Home Loans, will debut in Arizona and Texas before rolling out nationwide.

Opendoor said the program has already been running as a pilot in Texas for the last few months, and has shown that it can help cut closing times by roughly half, from an average of 45 days to just 27 days.

It said the loan program takes it “one step closer to providing an end-to-end experience where you can buy, sell, or trade in a home in just a few clicks.”

Opendoor’s business revolves around targeting homeowners who want to sell their properties fast. It makes instant cash offers at what it says is a “fair market price”, meaning sellers can bypass the traditional route of listing their home for sale on an MLS and waiting for any offers.

Opendoor said its mortgages will be made available to any buyer, not just those looking at its properties. And there’s no requirement to use an Opendoor mortgage if a buyer does decide to buy one of its homes – they can always go with a different provider, it said.

Opendoor is trying to become a one-stop shop in a real estate transaction. It also has partnered with several title insurers across the country and even homebuilders in offering a home trade-in program. Buyers of a new home who need to sell their home before purchasing a new one can do so without having to sell their old home under one of its programs.