The chaos may be over, but the dust hasn’t settled.
In recent days, investors staged a coup at iBuying giant Opendoor. The investors — many of whom have congregated on social platform X and have no experience in real estate — knew they wanted something to change, they just didn’t know what it was. Eventually, attention turned to CEO Carrie Wheeler, and after a week of calls for her resignation, she left the company on Aug. 15.
Some of the company’s original founders and high-ranking employees are now returning to the fold, saying they see a path forward for the firm if it makes changes. None of the high-profile activists seem to agree on what those changes are, but the investors are now circling around a key question: Should Opendoor work with real estate agents, or should it compete against them?
Keith Rabois, an investor who co-founded Opendoor in 2014, was part of the recent effort to shake things up. While pushing for Wheeler to resign, Rabois — who didn’t respond to Inman’s interview request — shared on X his ideas for how to “fix Opendoor.”
Keith Rabois. Credit: Steve Jennings and Getty Images for TechCrunch
Much of Rabois’ vision appears to revolve around cutting costs with artificial intelligence. He has also mentioned a vague plan to add more financing options for buyers, including expanding access to assumable mortgages.
But Rabois also appeared to aim squarely at real estate agents.
“Kill agent partnership,” he wrote, “aim to win instead of appeasement.”
That was an apparent reference to Opendoor’s recent initiatives aimed at generating “asset-light” revenue. That is, revenue that doesn’t require Opendoor to take on the risk of buying, repairing and re-selling thousands of homes as its primary way of making money.
Meanwhile, retail investors have found a captain in Eric Jackson, a Canadian who is widely credited with sparking the Opendoor wildfire last month, buying up stock and encouraging others to do the same.
Jackson has engaged in an ongoing campaign to convince other investors that Opendoor can create value. His latest effort to stoke the fire includes going to Canadian mega-star Drake’s home and recording videos asking the musician to buy Opendoor stock.
The ongoing campaign has boosted Opendoor’s share price from a low point of $0.51 per share to $3.60 Thursday. Jackson — who is an extremely active X user — has argued that Opendoor can reach $82 per share or more. Social media is brimming with other investors who say they jumped onto the bandwagon, with some sharing their own ideas on how the company can grow in value.
But the investors, including Jackson and Rabois, aren’t united on a path forward.
“I’m not sure I’m with him on that idea,” Jackson told Inman of Rabois’ comment about breaking off from agents. “I’m pro asset lite, and I think you will have to have some kind of relationship there.”
Marshall Pickett is a real estate agent in North Carolina who picked up 20,000 shares of Opendoor after the stock had risen from $0.51 in mid-July to about $2.12 a few weeks later.
In recent days, he took note of comments by Rabois and others who said Opendoor should shift into mortgage and finance, among other ideas circulating on X.
“They’re talking about stuff that realistically won’t happen,” Pickett told Inman. “That’s what gets me annoyed.”
Pickett said he had a phone call with Opendoor this week to discuss some of his ideas that keep real estate agents in the mix but add value to the company by creating new streams of revenue — ideas like a subscription model for services that make agents more efficient.
“It’s a way that can make the listing agent’s lives 10 times easier. And they will pay for that,” Pickett said. “It will also make them stand out amongst other agents that don’t have this subscription.”
Opendoor declined to make its new interim leader, Shrisha Radhakrishna, available for an interview. It also didn’t respond to a request for confirmation that its representatives spoke with Pickett about his ideas.
In the meantime, Ian Wong — another Opendoor co-founder and long-time chief technology officer — shared his own plan for the company’s future in a post earlier this month that was viewed over 100,000 times on X.
In an email exchange with Inman, Wong expanded on his view. He said he sees a future for the company that involves more AI, and one that keeps agents involved.
“Opendoor won’t serve 100% of the market — segments like luxury will remain agent-driven. But just as Amazon built an affiliate model, agents can bring sellers and buyers to Opendoor and earn commissions,” Wong said.
“Taking a step back, we’ve entered the AI era. The ChatGPT Generation of buyers and sellers will be more informed than ever,” he added. “The best agents are entrepreneurs who hustle to win listings, attract buyers, and make matches. Opendoor can be part of their toolkit — while staying focused on serving end sellers and buyers, and becoming the liquidity platform for real estate.”
