Can Opendoor 2.0 Redefine iBuying Through AI and Automation?

Opendoor Technologies Inc. OPEN is attempting one of the boldest resets in the history of iBuying. Under new CEO Kaz Nejatian, the company is abandoning the slow, consultant-driven operating model that led to deteriorating margins and weak acquisition volumes in early 2025. In its place, Opendoor 2.0 is being rebuilt as a software-first, AI-native real estate platform — a shift that could structurally redefine the economics of iBuying if execution holds.

Central to this reinvention is automation. Opendoor has launched more than a dozen AI-powered products in just weeks, including end-to-end AI home scoping, automated title and escrow workflows, multilingual AI valuation agents and a revamped inspection system that feeds standardized video and audio directly into machine-learning models. These tools have already collapsed home assessments from nearly a day to about 10 minutes and reduced the number of employees needed in underwriting flows from as many as 11 to just one.

The results are emerging quickly. Weekly acquisition contracts almost doubled between mid-September and late October, accelerating the core flywheel of more inventory, more buyers and better conversion. Management believes this speed, paired with tighter spreads and improved resale velocity, is the path to sustainable unit economics and its goal of adjusted net income breakeven by the end of 2026.

Risks remain — including macro housing softness, older low-quality inventory pressuring near-term margins and the challenge of scaling new workflows — but Opendoor’s AI-driven rebuild is the most aggressive transformation the company has undertaken. If successful, Opendoor 2.0 could position the company not just as an iBuyer, but as the first true e-commerce engine for residential real estate.

Competitive Context

In evaluating whether OPEN can redefine the iBuying industry, two U.S.-listed peers warrant particular attention: Offerpad Solutions, Inc. OPAD and LGI Homes, Inc. LGIH.

Offerpad mirrors Opendoor’s core iBuying model — acquiring homes directly from sellers and then preparing and reselling them — making OPAD the most direct operational competitor to Opendoor. Offerpad’s approach to turn-time compression, pricing discipline and inventory risk provides a yardstick for Opendoor’s transformation.

LGI Homes, while primarily a builder rather than a pure iBuyer, competes in adjacent segments of the residential ecosystem — particularly in using technology and automation to bring homes to market faster and at lower cost. LGI Homes’ tech-enabled home-construction model pressures Opendoor to deepen its automation from acquisitions into renovations and resale logistics.

In summary, Opendoor’s fight is most head-to-head with Offerpad in the instant buy/resell model, while LGI Homes represents an adjacent automation-enabled competitor that shows how efficiency matters across the housing value chain.

OPEN Stock's Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of Opendoor have surged 889% over the past six months, outperforming the industry’s 3.8% decline.

OPEN’s 6-Month Price Performance

From a valuation standpoint, OPEN trades at a forward price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of 1.42, significantly below the industry’s average of 4.68X.

OPEN Stock’s Valuation

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for OPEN’s 2025 loss per share has widened to 25 cents in the past 30 days. However, the estimated figure indicates a narrower loss from the year-ago loss of 37 cents per share. 
 

OPEN stock currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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