Real estate technology agency Opendoor has secured office space at a new location north of Tempe Town Lake.
“[The reason] why we are expanding and moving from Tempe to Scottsdale is to accommodate a lot of growth within the Phoenix market. We actually expect to double our headcount to approximately 500 in the next year, which we are really excited about. With that comes the necessity of finding a great, new home for us that will accommodate that expected growth,” a company spokesperson said.
The firm has plans to take over three contiguous floors of the Watermark, a luxury commercial and residential development that is currently under construction. The office will be located a little more than a mile away from Arizona State University’s Tempe campus at 430 N. Scottsdale Rd.
Many startup businesses choose to start or grow in Tempe because of its proximity to the school. “ASU is a really big magnet for us. It’s really a wonderful asset,” said Maria Laughner, the Economic Development Program Manager for the City of Tempe.
Students who graduate from ASU are attractive candidates for these startups and can often find good positions within the companies, according to Laughner. This mutually beneficial exchange is why so many entrepreneurial companies find Tempe enticing.
“I think in general, whenever you have entrepreneurship in your community you have innovation around you all the time. Entrepreneurs are always thinking about how to further whatever idea they have. There’s no complacency when you have entrepreneurship,” Laughner said.
The city of Tempe itself has programs in place to help startups succeed. According to Laughner, the City of Tempe contributes by putting on seminars and building networks. The city also helps with connecting entrepreneurs to academia by finding workers and expounding ideas.
While proximity to ASU had an impact on the location, the new office location was also partially based on employee convenience. “We want to keep employees at the heart of the decision making process, so we analyzed this particular location based on where every current Phoenix office employee lives. On average, it will reduce their commute time by two to five minutes per person, per day,” the Opendoor spokesperson said.
Since launching, Opendoor has served more than 17,900 local buyers and sellers as well as infused over $79 million into the Phoenix small business community. Phoenix agents have collectively made over $55 million from commission when partnering with Opendoor since the company entered the market, according to the company spokesperson.
In order to simplify the home selling process, Opendoor offers competitive, all-cash offers to home sellers within 24 hours.
“It takes a lot of the hassle out of cleaning your home, having to stage it, having to corral family and pets, all the uncertainty and hassle that can come with traditional home selling,” the company spokesperson said.
Opendoor then lists the property on their mobile app. Home buyers can use the app as a front door key that lets you unlock and self tour at the buyers convenience, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week.
This process is convenient for both home buyers and sellers, and allows them to work around their schedules and needs.
Contrarily, while the process may be more convenient, it can come with a higher fee. Typical real estate agents charge around 6 percent of the home’s purchase price for their commission fee, according to Redfin. Opendoor’s service charge can range anywhere from 6 to 14 percent, according to the company’s website.
Once construction is finished on the Watermark development, the company will take over three floors, making them the single largest tenant.
“It gives us a lot of flexibility to grow. We expect to nearly double our headcount in Phoenix to 500 next year. The Watermark office has a total capacity of nearly 1,000 people. We’re building out a space for the long haul. It gives us a lot of runway to continue to grow,” said the company spokesperson.
