iBuyers offer another option to quickly sell homes in Las Vegas

Members of the Opendoor national real estate firm pose for a photo in front of one of their properties.

Instead of selling their homes through traditional real estate agents, some Las Vegans are opting to sell directly to so-called iBuyers such as Opendoor.

San Francisco-based Opendoor has operated in the Las Vegas Valley for just over a year and is helping change the game for homebuyers and sellers.

“We’re very competitive with the market,” said Akilah Rogers, general manager of the company’s Las Vegas operations. “If someone is selling a home or buying a home, they can do both with us.”

Opendoor uses a computer algorithm to value a property and make an offer to the seller within 48 hours. It deals only with homes valued between $100,000 and $500,000, and the properties must have been built after 1960.

The company charges homeowners an average fee of 6 percent when buying their home, similar to what real estate agents charge, Rogers said.

In addition to making a reasonable offer, the company provides sellers the convenience of skipping showings and open houses, giving them a guaranteed buyer without the risk of the deal falling through, she said.

The company expects to buy 170 valley homes this month and sell 95 — up three-fold from its numbers a year ago, Rogers said.

“Las Vegas is one of the few places on the West Coast where you can afford a home as a middle-class individual,” she said. “Affordability is really an important factor at Opendoor or any company that thinks about coming to this market.”

Opendoor also sells homes directly, providing potential buyers with a code to open doors so they can tour properties on their own. Most Opendoor homes are available to inspect from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Las Vegas is one of 11 metro areas where Opendoor operates. Zillow and Offerpad also buy and sell homes in Las Vegas using a similar model.

Chris Bishop, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, said agents so far have been largely unfazed by such buyers. While iBuyers offer fast transactions, they often buy properties for less than what sellers could get by listing with an agent, he said.

“All realtors would be out of business if the iBuyers could offer a better deal,” Bishop said. “But everyone has a scenario in their lives going on. Whether you’ve inherited a property or need to sell your home tomorrow, iBuyers are an option.”

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