As the saying goes, "If it appears to be too good to be true, then it probably is."  I have recently encountered a couple of interactions through a friend of mine that I thought deserved to be shared.  You've heard of those companies out there that advertise that they will pay you cash for your home on the spot - no showings, no commissions, no open houses, etc.  Sounds great, right?  No hassles AND you save time and money?  Well, not so much.  My friend was in a situation where they needed to sell quickly and they had used OfferPad in the past years ago and it worked out well for them.  They understood completely that they would get less than current market value proceeding this way, but they were in a good position equity wise, so they were willing to take the hit.  So, they began the process once again with them; an amazing offer was made (well above current market value), they came out and shot a video of the home as well as took numerous pictures and my friend was told by OfferPad how excited they were to be gaining such a beautiful home!  My friend was elated and honestly shocked at what a fabulous price they were getting for their home.  A week later, OfferPad withdrew their offer stating that the market was too saturated and they were no longer interested.  Funny how they didn't mention any of that when they were at the home as the market hadn't changed within that 1 week period. . . . . 

So my friend contacted OpenDoor to have them come out, another "so-called" hassle free company.  They did within a day and again, took their videos, pictures and commented on how beautiful the home was.  They proceeded with an offer and didn't explain ANYTHING to my friend.  Just "here you go, sign here, here and here."  Unfortunately, my friend didn't ask me to review the contract prior to signing and they were fleeced royally!  Not only is OpenDoor collecting a 5% commission from the seller (so much for paying no commissions, but they don't call it a commission though, they call it a "service fee", so they can still lie and say that you don't pay any commission), but they are also collecting almost $20,000 as a repair credit!  No inspections were ever done!  And just for the record, my friend's roof is only a year old and has no faulty warranted items or cosmetic issues.  How can you collect money for repairs when you aren't even aware that repairs are needed?  To add insult to injury, my friend requested to stay 1 week after closing so that they could move and OpenDoor happily agreed. . . . . charging them over $1,800 for the 1 week!  That's close to an entire month's rent!  Truly criminal.

If all of this wasn't bad enough, when the preliminary closing statement was released, OpenDoor is also charging them a $4,000 "late check out fee" deposit that was never disclosed to them.  There are no written details as to how or when this deposit will be released back to them.

The moral of this story - ALWAYS USE A LICENSED REAL ESTATE AGENT!!  Yes, you will have to pay a commission and there are fees involved, but your real estate agent is worth their weight in gold in explaining every detail of the transaction and protecting you against these nonsense fees!  It's very discouraging to me that there are companies out there like OpenDoor that are taking horrible advantage of people and profiting off of their situations.  What sounds too good to be true usually is.