Opendoor Buys 316% More Homes but Loses $218 Million

Opendoor went shopping and filled its garage. The company that buys homes online for cash purchased 4,865 houses in the third quarter, up from 1,169 a year earlier, according to its November 5 release ^[1].

Revenue grew 12% to $1,022 million ^[1]. The net loss, though, reached $218 million, versus $90 million a year earlier, and the company told investors it is behind on its profit goal, HousingWire reported ^[2].

The buying spree in numbers

• Its signed purchases equaled about 0.56% of its addressable U.S. market, against 0.13% a year earlier ^[1].
• Marketing cost per acquired home fell 57% to $2.8 thousand over 12 months ^[1].
• Opendoor sold 2,728 homes in the quarter, 160 more than a year before ^[2].
• Over the past year it did more than $1 billion of Cash Now, More Later deals, which put less of its own cash into each home ^[2].

But a bigger shelf of houses means more risk if prices slip. Inventory hit 7,596 homes, more than double the 3,139 held a year earlier ^[2]. Opendoor says stale stock is shrinking: homes listed over 120 days were 18% of listings, versus 51% a year ago in the company's figures and 50% in HousingWire's account ^[1][2]. CEO Kaz Nejatian said the late summer slide pushed the team to clear homes rather than chase margins ^[2].

What it means for you

If you are selling, iBuyer offers are more common and come in more shapes, including listing help and split payouts. Treat an instant offer as one bid, not the price. On a $366,157 home, the typical U.S. value per Zillow ^[3], each 1% gap between a cash offer and an open market sale costs about $3,660, by our math.

Zoom out

Opendoor is betting on mortgages too: its lender is now licensed in 25 states, HousingWire reported ^[2]. A flipper holding over 7,500 homes into winter is a live test of how firm resale prices really are.