Looking to sell your home but not interested in putting it on the open market? If so, you should consider selling it through an alternative real estate platform like an iBuyer.
Two of the biggest alternative real estate platforms around today are Mark Spain and Opendoor. Wondering what these have to offer? Curious about how they differ from one another?
Then keep reading. Here’s a comprehensive review of Mark Spain vs Opendoor.
Table of contents
Discover your home’s worth online for free in minutes!
Mark Spain vs Opendoor: An Overview
Mark Spain and Opendoor are relatively new players on the real estate market. Nonetheless, they’ve made a seismic impact in just a short amount of time. Learn more about Opendoor vs Mark Spain by reading about each company’s history and purpose below.
Mark Spain
Mark Spain was founded in 2016 by former real estate agent Mark Spain. Spain had worked as an agent for Keller Williams and decided to leverage his years of experience into a full-on real estate brokerage.
Mark Spain, the company, is based out of Alpharetta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. That said, it has expanded to areas all throughout the southeastern United States and thus has become a major player in the region’s real estate market.
Opendoor
Opendoor was founded in 2014 by Eric Wu, Keith Rabois, and JD Ross. It’s based out of San Francisco, CA, and has successfully navigated its way through incidents like the pandemic.
A technology-driven platform, it uses statistics and algorithms to determine home prices. It then sends an offer through an automated system, allowing users to get an offer without having to speak with real people.
Business Model
While both Mark Spain and Opendoor are iBuyers, their business models differ from one another. Mark Spain provides a personalized and human-driven selling process. Opendoor offers an automated and technology-driven selling process.
Mark Spain
When you sell your home through the Mark Spain platform, you are matched with a real estate agent based on your home’s area and other characteristics. This real estate agent provides you with insights about your local buyer’s market, helping you find potential buyers and establish an appropriate listing price.
You ultimately have control over who the house is sold to and for how much. Note, though, that you will have to pay Mark Spain a commission upon a sale.
Opendoor
Whereas Mark Spain assigns you a human real estate agent, Opendoor does not. Instead, one of their real estate agents will assess the property value of your home as is and then make you an offer for your home based on that assessed value.
Once you’ve received this offer, you can either take it and get paid in cash or reject it and move on to a different selling process. Note that in some cases, Opendoor will expect you to pay for repairs to your home before purchasing it from you. While they will carry out these repairs for you, you will have to cover them financially.
Once Opendoor has purchased your home, they’ll prepare it for sale. They’ll then list it for another buyer to purchase. Once another buyer has purchased it, you’ll need to pay 5% of the sale price to Opendoor. You’ll also need to pay a portion of the closing costs, usually 1%.
Opendoor essentially takes the responsibility of selling the home off your hands. They do all the hard work for you and essentially allow you to complete the process from the comfort of your home.
Services Offered
Each company offers its own set of services. Mark Spain tends to be more traditional in its service offerings. Opendoor prioritizes convenience and efficiency.
Mark Spain
Mark Spain provides a suite of real estate services, some of them innovative and some of them traditional. If you wish, you can sell your home directly to Mark Spain, even without making repairs. Note, though, that in order to do so, your home has to meet certain criteria.
You can also work with the company remotely as a means of selling your home on the open market. You’ll be assigned a real estate agent who will then perform a market analysis on your house and help you advertise it.
Looking to buy a new home? Mark Spain has a number of properties listed on its website. It also lists rental properties.
Opendoor
Opendoor has a fairly straightforward services list. In addition to buying homes directly from sellers, they also list homes and sell homes, allowing prospective buyers to search through their database for available properties.
Home Selling Process
The process of selling a home through these platforms differs in myriad ways. Let’s get into the specifics of each company’s selling process below, helping you understand which better suits your needs.
Mark Spain
There are two home selling processes you can pursue through Mark Spain. One option is to sell your home directly to Mark Spain Real Estate. They’ll make you a cash offer on your home in its current condition, and you’ll either accept it or deny it.
The other option is to work with a Mark Spain real estate agent. When you do this, you’re assigned an agent with experience in selling your type of home. They assess the value of your home, advertise your home, and give you consultation on how to go about selling your home.
With Mark Spain, you get constant support from a full team of real estate professionals. Due to their wide reach, they’ll help you reach the optimal number of potential buyers and therefore, ensure that you make as much money from your sale as possible.
Opendoor
Selling a home through Opendoor involves requesting a cash offer and then going through the verification process. The company will review your home through videos, pictures, and real estate information and then come to assess your home in person.
Within a few days of the in-person assessment, you’ll receive a cash offer from Opendoor. You can either accept or turn down the offer. If you accept, you can choose your closing date, which will typically be within 15 to 45 days of selling.
With the exception of the in-person assessment, this entire process is carried out online. You’ll hardly even need to talk to another human being, though you have the option to if desired.
Pricing and Fees
In terms of pricing and fees, Mark Spain does not present a fee or commission on their website. Opendoor, on the other hand, charges set fees from the get-go. Learn more about each company’s pricing structure by reading below.
Mark Spain
Their website does not show a commission related to their home sale services. Therefore, selling through Mark Spain could end up being advantageous for you on avoiding any additional fees when selling your home.
Opendoor
Opendoor charges a 5% service fee to all sellers. So, whatever the sale price of the home ends up being, you’ll have to pay 5% of that back to Opendoor.
Market Presence
One of the big differences between these two platforms is their market presence.
Put simply, Opendoor has a much bigger presence. It serves over 20 major metro areas and they’re located all throughout the United States. Some of these metro areas include Atlanta, Phoenix, Tampa, Sacramento, Portland, San Antonio, Minneapolis, Denver, and Nashville.
Mark Spain works primarily in the southeast. This includes cities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas.
Pros and Cons
Now, let’s discuss some of the pros and cons of choosing each company. We’ll start with Mark Spain’s pros and cons and then move on to Opendoor’s pros and cons.
Mark Spain
Mark Spain offers personalized consultations from experienced real estate agents. They’ll help you make the best selling decisions possible, ensuring you get the most out of your property.
They’ll also buy your home in its current condition, negating the need for preliminary repairs. In addition, they will let you select your exact closing date (provided that it comes after the initial transaction is completed).
The potential downside is a less-than-stellar offer. Because the company is buying your home as is, they might not offer as much as you could potentially make elsewhere. The other downside is that Mark Spain works only in the southeastern United States.
Opendoor
The biggest pro of Opendoor is that it provides instant offers. You submit your home’s address online and get an instant estimated offer. After a few verifications, you get an even more accurate offer. This enables you to quickly determine whether Opendoor is a viable option for you.
There’s also its fee structure, which is rigid and transparent. You don’t need to worry about surprise fees. In addition, the company works in many metropolitan areas throughout the US.
The potential downsides? Almost the entire process is automated, which means you won’t receive a lot of guidance. In addition, you might be required to make repairs before selling the home.
Customer Experience and Reviews
Both companies are hugely successful at the moment, indicating their popularity with customers. That said, this doesn’t mean that they’re void of criticism. Let’s discuss the reviews associated with each company to highlight their average customer experience.
Mark Spain
Customer reviews for Mark Spain are scattered. Some individuals (mostly buyers) had a good experience with the company. Others had a bevy of complaints about the company.
Some complained that they couldn’t get an offer on their house; others complained that they were low-balled; some even complained that their home didn’t receive the marketing it was promised.
Mark Spain seems like a decent option for those looking to sell their homes quickly. If you’ve got time to sell, however, a different avenue is probably best.
Opendoor
Opendoor reviews are a mixed bag. Some customers had a good experience selling through Opendoor. Others, however, had a variety of complaints.
Some complained that their offers were much lower than expected. Others complained about how many repairs were required before they could sell. There were complaints about tacked-on fees as well.
Considering the quality of these reviews, it seems as though Opendoor should be something of a last resort. If you’re trying to sell quickly, it’s an option. However, it shouldn’t be your only option.
Future Plans
Mark Spain and Opendoor are both fairly new platforms. So, as you might expect, they have plenty of room for growth. Let’s discuss future plans for each company to highlight their potential long-term impact on the real estate market.
Mark Spain
While Mark Spain specifically provides services in the southeast at the moment, the company plans to expand to different areas throughout the United States in the future. At present, there’s no indication that it will expand upon its existing service offering.
Opendoor
Opendoor took seismic losses in 2022 but has turned it around big time in 2023. The future looks bright for the innovative real estate tech company. In the coming years, expect the platform to partner with more and more listing sites so as to expand the reach of its property offerings.
It’s also likely that Opendoor will expand to new metropolitan areas. The more revenue the company brings in, and the more successful its platform proves to be, the more confident it can be in offering its services in new areas.
Both Options Have Their Place
When it comes to the discussion of Mark Spain vs Opendoor, both options have their place. Whereas Mark Spain offers personalized services with authentic real estate agents, Opendoor offers an automated technology-based selling process. Depending on your circumstances, one might work better for your home sale.
This is why it’s important to really do your due diligence on this topic. Research both companies thoroughly to ensure that you’re making the right choice. If you wish, you can even try out both options.
Interested in selling your home to an iBuyer like Opendoor or Mark Spain? If so, you’re in the right place. iBuyer.com can connect you with a series of iBuyers, helping you get the best deal possible.
Start the home sale process right now!
