Last month’s announcement by Opendoor of its new Cash Now, More Later (CNML) concept is, or should be, a game-changer for agents who’ve been suspicious of Opendoor’s intentions over the past several years.
ICYMI, according to Nick Pipitone’s description, on these deals listing agents earn a 1 percent to 2 percent bonus when Opendoor buys the home, then their full commission when Opendoor relists and sells the home, all while remaining the agent of record throughout.
My vantage point is a little unusual since I’ve worked on both the brokerage side at The Address and the institutional investor side at Strategic Acquisitions and Wedgewood. Now, I advise proptech companies and tech-forward brokerages as principal at HomeCode, so I’ve watched the Opendoor story from both the inside and outside through multiple market cycles.
With its new CEO and board of directors, and on the heels of its “grand reopening,” it’s time to take another look. I’m not here to hype the product launch. I’m here to give you context that most industry coverage won’t and to encourage you to put your suspicions aside and help your sellers achieve their goals by cultivating relationships with investors like Opendoor.
Why agents pushed back on iBuyers, and why it made sense (at the time)
In the early days, the rhetoric around iBuying made it feel like disintermediation. The early narrative was that iBuyers were looking to “cut out the agent,” and the platforms’ early positioning was genuinely threatening to the traditional commission structure.
Real estate agents who’d built their careers on relationships and market knowledge had real reasons to distrust platforms that were engaging with buyers and sellers directly. Their fear was a reasonable read of the incentives at the time.
However, as iBuyers went out of business one by one, or rethought their strategies, the agent began to take on a more important role as an essential part of the client-facing process. And now, with Cash Now, More Later, the core objection no longer applies, since the agent earns a bonus when Opendoor buys and their full commission on the resale.
Another old iBuyer objection was essentially a pricing argument: They’ll lowball your seller, and those lowball prices will put downward pressure on the rest of the market. Here too, CNML neutralizes that objection: Upfront cash is a liquidity tool, not the final price, since sellers still capture full market value on the open-market resale.
This is an especially valuable scenario for move-up buyers who can tap into equity up front and remove the home-sale contingency, creating a more powerful bargaining position in a tight inventory market.
How the RealScout integration provides the missing piece
As the only launch partner, RealScout’s integration prioritizes agent protection. Opendoor cannot use a request initiated through RealScout to cut out the agent and solicit the client directly. That provides another layer of protection for the agent’s commission and client relationship.
Since the agent controls the workflow, they decide when to pull an offer, how to present it to the client and which path to recommend. This makes institutional investor-style relationships scalable with less risk to the agent or the client. As with many other tech tools, those that win are the ones that augment the agent workflow rather than trying to route around it.
What working in asset disposition taught me
Institutional investors are not your enemy, and they’re not the market’s enemy (no matter what you may have heard elsewhere). They’re motivated buyers and sellers with specific needs, just like your clients. The agents who understand those needs, and how to identify properties that meet those needs, win.
When structured correctly, an investor transaction is often cleaner and easier than a traditional sale or purchase, with fewer emotional variables, clearer criteria and faster decision-making.
Most sellers are looking for speed, certainty and liquidity, and the right investor can provide all of those.
How to think about your listing presentation now
If you want to take advantage of a product like Opendoor’s CNML, here’s how to rethink your next consultation:
- Understand that there are three paths to a successful seller transaction: traditional cash offer from an off-market buyer or local investor (speed and certainty), CNML (liquidity and upside) or a traditional listing with a full marketing and escrow process.
- Diagnose the type of seller who’s sitting in front of you and help them determine which scenario is the right one for them; never steer them toward one default.
- Learn to present all three options confidently as a comprehensive approach to listings. This will help you differentiate your service and win listings over agents who can only present the traditional approach.
IBuyer vs. agent is a false conflict; it’s never really existed. A quarter of Opendoor’s volume already runs through agents, and a significant number of agents (and sellers) need more options, not fewer.
Your seller doesn’t care that you hate iBuyers. They care about whether you gave them every option to get their home sold on terms that work for them. Forget ideological and institutional battles. Build trust and build your business by using every tool at your disposal to serve clients.
Troy Palmquist is the founder and principal at HomeCode Advisors. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
