Opendoor plans to expand to Washington, D.C., next year, marking a significant push for the company into the notoriously difficult-for-iBuyers East Coast market.
The company, which is the oldest and biggest of the major dedicated iBuying companies, also plans to expand in the Los Angeles metro area in 2019. The company confirmed both expansions to Inman Wednesday.
Opendoor already operates in the L.A. area thanks to its recent acquisition of discount brokerage Open Listings. However Opendoor spokesperson Cristin Culver told Inman in an email that the new expansion will involve “launching the same simple and certain Opendoor selling and buying experience we offer to customers in our other 18 metro areas.”
The company plans to begin serving the Washington, D.C., area in the first half of 2019. The Los Angeles expansion is coming in “early 2019,” Culver said.
Both expansions are highly significant. Los Angeles, obviously, gives Opendoor a greater presence in the second largest U.S. metro area — where real estate is so ingrained in the culture that it’s nearly a religion — and Washington, D.C., moves the company further north along the East Coast. Parts of the region, such as the Northeast, have so far been difficult for iBuyers to break into. And while D.C. is not quite there, it does show that Opendoor is gradually moving in that geographic direction.
There are some hints that Opendoor may, possibly, be looking into operations in the heart of the Northeast as well. According to the New Hampshire Real Estate Commission, Patrick Brennan appeared at a meeting with state officials Tuesday seeking to “qualify to take the broker examination.” Brennan is a consulting broker for Opendoor, Culver confirmed Wednesday, though that is not a full-time position at the company. Brennan, who previously worked for Compass, does not list any other current employers on his LinkedIn page.
The New Hampshire Real Estate commission provided few details about Brennan’s appearance and did not respond to a request for additional information, but did say that he ultimately asked that his request be withdrawn.
In an email, responding to Inman’s request for comment, Brennan said “thanks for your interest in Opendoor,” and referred questions to the company’s media department.
So does Brennan’s appearance in New Hampshire foreshadow a move by Opendoor into New Hampshire?
It’s difficult to say. When asked about the state, Culver replied simply that “we’re considering many markets for future expansion, but currently, we do not have any details to share about expansion into New Hampshire.”
What is clear, however, is that Opendoor has ambitious plans to grow. Culver said Wednesday that the company is “on our way to 50 markets by 2020.” That comes after a successful year of fundraising, and after the company expanded to 20 markets over the last 12 months. In November, Opendoor also told Inman that it was doing more than 2,000 transactions a month and had served more than 27,000 customers since launching five years ago.
Speaking of the company’s upcoming goals, Culver said Wednesday that “2019 will be another banner year for Opendoor and our expansion into new markets to serve more customers.”
