
Opendoor raises 325M and hits $2B valuation - trevorcreech
https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/13/opendoor-raises-325m-to-make-buying-and-selling-homes-a-near-instant-process/
======
askafriend
Interesting business model, risky, but if it works - it’s definitely
innovative.

The other aspect of this is that there are a lot of other companies that are
doing the exact same thing in several markets including the elephant in the
room Zillow which recently changed their business model overnight to involve
buying/sellling property themselves.

It’s clearly a capital intensive business so this fundraise makes sense.
However, it remains to be seen what efficiencies these firms can get at scale
and whether those efficiencies are meaningful enough to differentiate from
other services that increasingly offer a similar buying/selling experience.

Down the line, there could be consolidation in the space. I could see Opendoor
being acquired or a lot of the smaller firms consolidating into some bigger
entity that competes with Zillow, Opendoor etc.

Anyway, probably still too early to tell which way the winds are blowing.

------
sharemywin
It's kind of f'd up that it's cheaper for a company to buy and sell a house
than for someone to just sell it through a broker.

~~~
acchow
Think of it more like market making.

------
hideo
Has anyone on HN bought and/or sold a house on OpenDoor? Do you have thoughts
on the experience? (And if you've also bought/sold through the traditional
route, how does OpenDoor stack up?)

