4 ms·

> their position in the market gives them a very good insight into the likelihood of a crash LOL what? What insight into the market will opendoor have that is

• phire 10y ago
  There are two reasons why someone might sell their house to Opendoor... A) They are willing to sacrifice some of the money for a much easier sales experience. B) They really, really need to finish the sale now. The size of the first group will follow a constant trend, but the second group will fluctuate based on various factors. So Opendoor can infer the desperation of the sellers in the market based on their numbers of sales. Most other factors are publically available, but the desperation of sellers isn't publicly tracked. Regular real-estate agents will be exposed to the same desperation, but it's in their best interest to hide any desperation, to maximise the sale price. Lenders will also know when some homeowners are falling behind on payments, but again they don't publish those numbers until a foreclosure actually happens. It's not like Opendoor is going to predict the crash before it happens, but as long as they can spot the crash early, before it really picks up steam, they can minimise their exposure.