Opendoor is acquiring a portion of Doma, a property technology company that uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to automate title searches and streamline real estate closings.
The deal targets refinance closing costs, which can take several days to process and add thousands of dollars to a transaction. Title searches, escrow setup, mortgage payoffs and transfer fees are among the contributors, with much of the process still handled manually.
Since 2024, Doma’s technology has been part of a Fannie Mae pilot program that allows certain low-risk refinance transactions to close without a lender’s title insurance policy or an attorney opinion letter. About 80 percent of refinance candidates have qualified, according to Doma. The program was recently extended through 2027.
“This program grew so dramatically last year, we were operating our own closing and escrow agency, and it’s a sizable one, and doing a decent job of keeping up, but, frankly, the demand was outstripping our ability to close transactions,” Doma CEO Max Simkoff said in explaining the impetus behind the merger.
Opendoor buys homes directly from sellers and operates a title and escrow business.
Opendoor President Lucas Matheson called the acquisition part of a broader automation push. “We’re in the process of completely rebuilding and automating, like most of the other pieces of technology that Opendoor is working on to eliminate time and money for customers,” he said.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Following the acquisition, 85 Doma employees will join Opendoor.
