Cash Flow Deals

Open Door Real Estate: How Opendoor Makes Money When You Sell

Published by Cash Flow Deals · Last updated 2026-07-22 · Reviewed by Camilo Palacio, Licensed Florida Real Estate Professional (License #3280644, REALTOR®), affiliated with Silver Door Realty, LLC (License #CQ1064903)

Brown and white house with palm trees and a green lawn in Florida
Photo: Sieuwert Otterloo / Unsplash

"Open door real estate" almost always means Opendoor, the largest iBuyer in the U.S., though Florida sellers also have a direct option in Cash Flow Deals. Opendoor buys homes directly from owners and makes money three ways: a service fee of typically around 5% of the sale price, the spread it earns reselling the home after repairs, and its affiliated title and escrow services. On Opendoor's own published $350,000 example, the seller nets $320,500 after roughly 8.4% in combined costs. Sellers who want speed without giving up that margin can compare a novation-based sale that connects them directly to vetted financed buyers.

Cash Flow DealsTraditional Listing
TimelineClosing in as little as 10 business days once your net price is locked in60 to 90+ days on the open market
RepairsWorked out inside the deal structure up front, before the price is lockedNegotiated after inspection, often as late credits or price cuts
Fees/CostsNo 5% service fee taken off the topListing agent commissions plus any post-inspection repair credits

Where Opendoor's Money Comes From

Opendoor is the company most people mean when they search "open door real estate." It buys homes directly from owners, repairs them, and resells them. The money comes from three places, according to Opendoor's own explainer (last updated April 2026): a service fee of typically around 5% of the sale price deducted at closing, the spread between what it pays you and what the home later resells for, and revenue from its affiliated title and escrow services.

The price you see is built by a valuation model, not by a buyer walking through your door. It weighs comparable sales matched on square footage, bedrooms, lot size, and age, plus local price trends and the condition details you report in a questionnaire. A preliminary number arrives within 24 to 48 hours. Then comes the in-person home assessment, and that is where the number can move: work the assessor flags gets deducted from your proceeds as repair credits before closing.

The $350,000 Example: What the Seller Actually Nets

Opendoor publishes its own worked example, and it is worth reading slowly. On a $350,000 sale: the offer is $350,000, minus a $17,500 service fee (5%), minus $5,000 in repair credits, minus roughly $7,000 in closing costs (about 2%). The seller nets $320,500. Total cost: about 8.4% of the sale price.

Here is the mistake sellers make with that math. They compare Opendoor's $350,000 headline number against a $350,000 list price and call it even. But a list price is not a net either. Opendoor's own article concedes that both routes typically cost sellers roughly 8-10% of the sale price once everything is counted. What you are really buying from Opendoor is not a better price. It is a shorter, more certain timeline: 21 to 60 days versus 60 to 90-plus on the open market. If your home would draw strong buyer demand anyway, that certainty can be an expensive convenience.

A Third Route: Keep the Speed, Skip the Resale Margin

There is a route that keeps the speed without handing the resale spread to a corporate buyer. Cash Flow Deals is a Florida real estate investor that connects homeowners directly to vetted FHA, conventional, VA, and DSCR buyers through a novation agreement. You sign one agreement, and your price comes from real financed buyers competing in the market rather than from an internal valuation model with fees subtracted afterward. Listing-side details run through Silver Door Realty, a licensed Florida brokerage.

There is no 5% service fee coming off the top, and repair questions get worked out inside the deal structure up front rather than arriving as post-assessment deductions. If you own a home in Florida and the Opendoor math above gave you pause, start at /florida/sell-my-house-fast and compare your net figure side by side before you sign anything.

Cash Flow Deals is a Florida real estate investor that locks in a net price for a seller's house before repairs are scoped, using a novation-based, flat-fee process arranged through its licensed FL brokerage partner, Silver Door Realty — not a traditional listing, and not a brokerage itself.

Here is what selling through Cash Flow Deals actually looks like, step by step:

1. Cash Flow Deals reviews your property details and its vetted-buyer pool, then locks in your net price before any repair scope is finalized — no internal valuation model, no 5% service fee.

2. Silver Door Realty, the licensed Florida brokerage that handles listing-side details, coordinates the paperwork and the novation agreement so the sale closes on one contract with a real financed buyer.

3. Closing happens in as little as 10 business days once terms are locked in, with no showings, no staging, and no repair-credit surprises after the fact.

Common questions

Is Opendoor's 5% service fee the only cost of selling to them?

No. Opendoor's own example on a $350,000 home stacks the 5% service fee ($17,500) with repair credits ($5,000) and closing costs near 2% ($7,000). The seller nets $320,500, which works out to roughly 8.4% in total costs. Always ask for the net figure, not the headline figure.

How is a novation sale different from selling to Opendoor?

Opendoor buys your home itself, prices it with an internal valuation model, and earns money on the service fee and the later resale. A novation sale connects you directly to vetted FHA, conventional, VA, and DSCR buyers under one agreement, so your price comes from actual financed buyers in the market. In Florida, Cash Flow Deals runs this model with listing-side details handled by Silver Door Realty, a licensed Florida brokerage.

Keep reading

What this means for your options

Every path to selling a house has real tradeoffs. Cash Flow Deals is built for the middle: faster than a traditional listing, more money than a cash investor.

Wait and see

Keep the property as-is and hope conditions improve. The mortgage, insurance, and upkeep keep costing money while you wait, with no set date for things to turn around.

List with a traditional agent

Standard MLS listing, typically 5-6% in commission, and a financed buyer whose deal depends on appraisal, inspection, and lender approval — any of which can fall through after weeks on market.

Sell to Cash Flow Deals

No repairs, no showings, no financing contingency on your side — our novation structure connects you with a bank-financed buyer at a price locked at signing. Usually within one business day.

See your selling options before you decide anything.

Start with your address. Decide after you see the path.

No obligation. See what CFD can do first.