Real estate startup Opendoor increases scope with Open Listings acquisition

Matt Sprague packs up the last of his belongings from his family's home in west Houston after closing on the sale of the home, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018 in Houston. Sprague had an offer on the house virtually overnight using the web-based service Opendoor. less Matt Sprague packs up the last of his belongings from his family's home in west Houston after closing on the sale of the home, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018 in Houston. Sprague had an offer on the house virtually ... more Photo: Mark Mulligan, Staff Photographer Photo: Mark Mulligan, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close Real estate startup Opendoor increases scope with Open Listings acquisition 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

Opendoor, an app-based real estate company that expanded to Houston in July, has acquired Open Listings, a discount brokerage.

Opendoor is one of multiple real estate startups that have moved into Houston this year. The San Francisco company makes online offers on homes within minutes of sellers filling out a form and buys the home itself, charging a 6 percent to 10 percent fee. The company then sells the home using an app that allows prospective buyers to take self-guided tours of its properties by unlocking doors with their phones.

The app, of course, could only be used with its own inventory of homes. But that may soon change.

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Opendoor announced its acquisition of Open Listings on Tuesday. Open Listings is a discount brokerage -- if you use one of the company's agents, you receive a 50 percent rebate on the buyer's fee, which is typically 3 percent of the home price. Its site includes all homes on the multiple listing service, so the acquisition will allow Opendoor to participate in the sale of any home, not just the ones it owns.

The additional service will pilot in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, then roll out to other Opendoor markets including Houston.