Backed by Y-Combinator, homebuying service Open Listings has announced it is now available in the Chicago area after its success in revitalizing the homebuying process in California, Texas, and Washington. Open Listings is a digital platform that gives prospective homeowners information, tools, and support to buy a home online. Open Listings offer a 50% refund on the buying agent's commission, which in some cases, covers half of the buyer's down payment.
With the booming Chicago tech scene gaining recognition as one of the top 10 tech hubs in the world, technology companies and startups are flocking to Chicago. Along with this surge comes a swell of tech workers looking for housing. Open Listings offers a digital-first way for these buyers to not just find, but buy, their new home.
Almost a million monthly shoppers -- mostly tech-savvy millennials, young families and first-time homeowners -- turn to Open Listings to help digitize & simplify their house hunt. Now, Chicagoland area buyers can take advantage of the Open Listings website or app house hunt 24/7, bookhouse tours and create offers on any home.
When purchasing his first home, Judd Schoenholtz, CEO, and co-founder of Open Listings, found the process to be slow, expensive and frustrating. After realizing that unlike so many other industries, technology just hadn't made homebuying any easier, he created Open Listings to ensure other homebuyers wouldn't have to experience the same frustration.
"Buying a home is a big deal, but it shouldn't be complicated. We're excited to introduce buyers to our simple platform and to save them serious money in their house hunt," says Schoenholtz.
Once a buyer creates an account on the easy-to-navigate platform, they can personalize a real-time feed of house listings from the MLS, schedule and manage property tours on demand and make an offer on any Chicagoland listing at any time of day. Buyers also receive instant updates on the status of favorited properties and access to free advice from a team of licensed agents. Once a buyer is ready to make an offer, Open Listings pairs them with a top-rated local real estate agent dedicated to getting their offer accepted and closed. From there, buyers can track progress on a dashboard and review and sign documents electronically.
While the savings in a competitive housing market are a serious benefit to buyers -- last year, Open Listings buyers received an average of $8,800+ -- the platform also enables real estate agents to focus on getting offers accepted instead of searching for new clients, allowing Open Listings partner agents to offer a more personalized, responsive experience.
Open Listings opened in 2015 and has helped homebuyers purchase nearly a billion dollars worth of houses in California and Washington. The online platform launched in Austin, Texas earlier this year and plans to move into more major markets as the year progresses.
SOURCE Open Listings
Edited by Victoria Haviland
Join us in Miami from the 20th to the 22nd of June for the Global Online Marketplaces Summit. Our summit theme is From Classifieds to Marketplaces – Capturing Value from the Transaction and we’ll hear from Global Leaders who are creating the Online Marketplaces of Tomorrow.