Firm that flips houses in Las Vegas raises $400M

A San Francisco startup that’s flipping houses in Las Vegas and other markets has raised a new round of funding.

Opendoor announced Thursday that Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Vision Fund invested $400 million in the company.

It did not disclose SoftBank’s ownership stake, but Opendoor said it has obtained more than $1 billion in equity investments and $2 billion in loans to date.

Opendoor, founded in 2014, said it operates in 19 markets and expects to be in 50 by the end of 2020. Spokeswoman Cristin Culver added that the firm will use the new funding to hire in Las Vegas, develop technology, launch products and expand services.

Opendoor has said it typically makes a cash offer to home sellers within 48 hours (“Get an offer on your home with the press of a button,” its website declares), and it doesn’t wait long to sell its homes.

But it wants to come out even on the deals and instead make a profit by charging fees and slashing its transaction costs, CEO Eric Wu told the Review-Journal in June.

Culver has said the firm “wholeheartedly” rejects the notion that it’s a house flipper. She said flippers try to buy low and sell high, while Opendoor aims to buy at-market and sell at-market.

Akilah Rogers, general manager of Opendoor’s Las Vegas operations, said Thursday that the firm has 198 homes listed for sale and is on pace to purchase 200 this month.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.