A startup business OpenDoor raised $9.95 million from Khosla Ventures and other investors to launch an online home-buying website.
According to TechCrunch, OpenDoor will launch in three markets outside of California and only offer owner-occupied homes. Eric Wu, OpenDoor co-founder, did not say in which markets OpenDoor will operate, but he said it will focus on markets that do not have much liquidity or demand. The company picked this specific type of market because he said the lack of liquidity pulls people to debt and jobs that may not benefit people anymore.
Wu said the Bay Area is a unique and rare market.
“If you are an owner here, there’s a fair bit of certainty that if you list your home on a service like MLS with a real estate agent, you’ll see offers within seven days,” he said.
Wu did not explain how the website will work, but he said the company is “trying to take the 90-day process, convert into a few clicks online and make it simple, easy and fast.”
Homeowners can find the real-estate buying process stressful because it usually takes more than 90 days, and homeowners sometimes do not have enough money for a down payment or a mortgage.
After OpenDoor’s co-founder Keith Rabois, who is also a former Square COO, and Khosla Ventures both teased about making home-buying process easier, many investors were interested in the idea.
Khosla Ventures led the round in the project, joined by a long list of other investors, including Paypal co-founder Max Levchin, Former Youtube and Facebook CFO Gideon YU, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, and more.
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