Opendoor is a good alternative when you need to sell your house fast with a deadline in mind. You will not get as much as you might have via conventional realtor channel. But for an investor like myself, time is money.
After realizing my deadline is approaching, with no firm offer in hand, we decided to try Zillow first, since Opendoor was unknown to me. We eventually got in touch with Opendoor and Offerpad a few days later, after some online search.
We went parallel with all 3. Before requesting the estimate, I gave all 3 the same info: a 20-year rental house, with everything original (AC, water heater, etc ), except a 3-year new roof and the 5-year new hard floor. Everything works and in renter move-in ready conditions. All came back with about the same market price we consider to be fair, with a fraction of 1% difference between the 3.
The real difference came after the inspection.
Zillow came back with a big repair bill, 3 days after the inspection, including everything you would expect from a well maintained 20-year rental house. I told them they were double counting, since such cost should have already been included in the price discount in their initial estimate. They found nothing new other than age-related wear and tear I already told them. So I rejected Zillow first.
Opendoor came back with $0 repair bill, 5 hours after inspection. Thumbs up for a job well done in precise pricing. They appear to be well in tune with my local (Atlanta Suburb) market.
Offerpad came back with a much smaller repair bill than Zillow, about 1/4, 3 days after inspection. They also double-counted, but it appears to be a bargaining chip to get more discount from me. They agree to reduce it a bit but not to $0.
In the end, the dollar amount difference between Opendoor and Offerpad is insignificant. But in the process, I noticed Opendoor's operation procedure is a lot smoother than Offerpad. So we eventually went with Opendoor. But I'd give Offerpad another chance when it is time to offload my other rental houses.
I'd expect Zillow to improve over time and will not rule them out in future.
BTW, I also tried a few traditional cash investor buyers, which low balled the price as I'd expected.
If I have to give each a score on a scale of 1-10 from this single selling experience, then:
Opendoor - 9
Offerpad - 7
Zillow - 5
Traditional cash investors - 1 (only when none of the 3 above take your house).
Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend