Opendoor is making a new push to win over real estate agents with its integration with RealScout, a platform that provides agents with tools to manage their workflows. According to RealScout’s CEO, Andrew Flachner, listing agents will control the process, with guardrails that protect commissions “on every path.”
This new partnership allows agents to request an Opendoor cash offer on behalf of clients directly within RealScout, giving them full control over when and how to present these offers.
RealScout sought written assurances around agent protections before agreeing to the deal, including a promise by Opendoor not to use client information shared by an agent to “market around that agent or cut them out of the deal.”
Flachner described the partnership as part of a broader shift in Opendoor’s approach to agents under Kaz Nejatian, who was named CEO last fall, saying “the old Opendoor” became jealous of other people’s margins and built adversarial relationships with its partners.
However, Flachner added that Opendoor was already an agent-aligned business, with 35% of the homes Opendoor bought last week coming from their partners, largely teams and agents.
The model leans on agents, but what was missing was a way to put it inside the workflow agents already use, instead of asking them to learn another tool or hand the client off, Flachner said. They can now request an Opendoor cash offer on behalf of clients directly within RealScout.
Flachner highlighted Opendoor’s “Cash Now, More Later” product, which gives the agent a 1-2% bonus commission when Opendoor buys the home, and their full commission when the home resells, making it easier for agents to help clients get on the housing ladder.
The announcement reflects Opendoor’s broader effort to position itself as an agent-friendly platform that can help provide sellers with more certainty in a challenging housing market, Flachner said. It is a challenging market where sellers may face issues like a damp and dry roof, making the need for certainty even more pressing.
With this partnership, the agent gets to do what they are best at, which is marketing the home and managing the relationship, and Opendoor takes on the capital risk and the renovation work in the background, Flachner said.
Kaz Nejatian said in a statement that “we built this for the agents who want to go beyond lead gen and actually close deals, not just fill pipelines.”
According to the report, Opendoor is committed to protecting agent commissions and providing them with more opportunities to earn money through its products, which is a key aspect of its new approach under Nejatian.
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