Few things have been more certain in life than the advancement of modern technology. None other more recently than that little device in your pocket. Yes, the cellphone. Once bulky and only capable of a shotty sounding audio connection, this little miracle soon possessed the power to order you drinks, dinner, and even a ride home.
What’s more, you can now actually sell your home using pretty much just your smart device. Just gaze at how easy the graphic below makes it look!
Call me a skeptical tech-dinosaur, but it almost seems too good to be true.
As it turns out, using an “ibuying” app is actually pretty simple. However, the “too good to be true” part, came from the claim that homeowners would sell for just as much as they would have by going the traditional route. At least, that’s what the FTC determined when Opendoor agreed to pay a $62 million dollar settlement for unsavory marketing practices. Here’s an excerpt from the full LA Times article on the matter:
“The commission alleged that Opendoor, which uses software to buy homes from consumers and then put the properties back up for sale, tricked customers by promising they could make more money by selling to the company than they would on the open market, according to a statement Monday. The company agreed to pay $62 million to the commission.”
The FTC also stated that Opendoor’s offers on homes were below market value on average, while its costs were typically higher than what the average consumer would pay for a real estate agent.
Unlikely a case of an app gone rogue, but perhaps its algorithm worked too well. What I mean to say is the app was set on buying and then selling the home quickly for a nice profit, instead of trying to get the seller the most value as a traditional real estate agent is licensed and trained to do.
For now, I’ll let my apps stick to what they do best for me: I’m off to DoorDash some gnocchi and cannolis!