iBuyers make a cash offer on your house so you can skip listings and showings. The published fee is knowable, but the discount buried inside the offer isn’t. At the July 2026 national median of $434,100, one point of offer price is $4,341. I want you watching that number, not the fee line.
What iBuyers actually are, and who is still buying in 2026
Most sellers I talk to treat an instant cash offer as a new kind of investor buying their house, which is close but not quite right. NAR defines iBuyers as corporate entities that buy homes directly from sellers. They use their own cash, venture funds, Wall Street-backed funds, or a mix of those.
Opendoor, whose instant-offer pitch I’ve picked apart before, uses a shorter label: instant buyer. A tech-driven company makes an automated cash offer on your home, so sellers skip the listing, the showings, and the wait for a buyer. A preliminary offer arrives within minutes, and closing lands on a date you choose, inside a 14 to 60 day window.
I’ve sat on calls where that email landed before the seller had finished describing the kitchen. Speed and certainty are the product, and price is the part they’d rather you didn’t stare at.
The live roster is thinner than the old marketing. Opendoor’s own rundown of iBuyers still standing is the source I use. Opendoor launched in 2014 and pioneered the model. Offerpad entered in 2015 and still competes in many of the same cities, and I’ve written a fuller read on how selling to Offerpad works. Orchard blends iBuying with a trade-in program, while Knock does bridge financing.
Coverage is patchy, and that’s a pricing fact too. Opendoor publishes a supported-locations list at the foot of that same page. In Florida it names Miami, Southwest Florida and the Panhandle, not every metro in the state. On the Pennsylvania side it names Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. If you’re weighing an instant offer against a listing in Florida or Philadelphia, you’re one of the sellers who actually has both options. Plenty of people reading this don’t.
Same rundown records the exits, and those matter more than the logos. Zillow shut Zillow Offers in 2021, citing trouble predicting home prices. Redfin closed RedfinNow in 2022 and now operates only as a brokerage. Fewer corporate buyers means fewer cash offers you can pit against each other. I treat that shrinkage as a pricing problem for you, not gossip.
iBuyers are also not as-is cash investors. Opendoor says investors usually buy as-is at a deeper discount. An iBuyer offer is typically closer to market value, with a service charge shown on the sheet. When a house would never clear their assessment, I’ve pointed sellers toward as-is investor cash buyers instead. Different buyer, different haircut.
What iBuyers charge, according to their own published pages
Sellers argue about fees because fees look comparable. I get why, because a percentage printed on a page feels like a price tag. Offerpad actually prints one; Opendoor, for its own deals, doesn’t.
Offerpad publishes a 5% service fee of the purchase price, plus about 1% in closing costs. Repair costs out of pocket: $0. Concessions, meaning credits you’d otherwise give a buyer at closing, sit at $0. Agent commissions sit at $0. You pick a closing date from 8 to 60 days out. Needed repairs go through a credit adjustment, so you never write a check for the fixes.
Opendoor’s editorial on the category is less exact about its own number. iBuyer service fees typically run 6 to 8 percent of sale price, it says. Rates vary by company and market, and estimated repairs get deducted after the assessment. Standard closing costs of 1% to 2% still apply, and the closing window runs 14 to 60 days.
Opendoor doesn’t publish its own rate. Your service charge “is disclosed in your offer and varies by market and property.”
Look at the offer breakdown and you’ll see why shopping iBuyers on fee is a dead end. Opendoor’s breakdown carries a separate “condition adjustment” line. That line covers their cost to prepare, maintain and resell the house, and closing costs sit on a separate line that includes title insurance and appraisal fees.
Net proceeds, meaning the cash you actually keep, sit at the bottom after every charge comes out. Two instant offers can print similar service fees and still land far apart once the condition adjustment moves. You can’t compare iBuyers on a published rate when one of them refuses to print a rate, so the only honest comparison left is net proceeds. I wish more people started there.
The number nobody publishes: the offer itself
Fees are visible and roughly fixed, but the haircut inside the offer price is invisible, and no company publishes a cap on it. I keep repeating that because it’s the whole decision.
Offerpad says cash offers may be lower than what you’d get on the open market with full exposure and competing buyers. That’s the tradeoff for speed, certainty, and convenience. Opendoor lists “lower offer” and “no bidding wars” under the cons.
Believe them.
Now the arithmetic that makes the gap concrete. At the July 2026 national median of $434,100, one percentage point of offer price is $4,341. Two points is $8,682, three is $13,023, and four is $17,364. Five points is $21,705 and six is $26,046.
A one-point fight over the fee looks serious until you put dollars on the offer. Move the offer two points and you’ve moved $8,682. That sum is larger than most of the published fee gap, which is why arguing about 5% versus 6 to 8% is the wrong fight once you’ve seen the unit. The unpublished number can swallow the published one.
I’ve watched sellers celebrate a low fee and give it back inside the offer without noticing. I will not invent a typical discount for you. None of these companies publish one. What I can give you is the unit of measure, $4,341 per point, to run against whatever number lands on your screen.
iBuyers vs a 1% listing: the math on a $434,100 home
I’ll put both packages on the same $434,100 house so the dollars sit still. Published fees first. Then the caveat that actually decides it.
Offerpad’s published package on a $434,100 sale starts with a 5% service fee, equal to $21,705. Add about 1% closing costs, equal to $4,341. Together that’s roughly $26,046 of the sale price, with $0 out-of-pocket repairs, $0 concessions, and $0 commissions. Net to you, if the offer itself equals $434,100, is $408,054.
Houwzer’s side uses a 1% listing fee, equal to $4,341 on the same price. Add the 2-3% typically offered to a buyer’s agent, $8,682 to $13,023. Total commission lands between $13,023 and $17,364, plus the seller’s own closing costs. A traditional 6% commission on the same sale is $26,046. The gap between Offerpad’s 6% package and a 4% Houwzer package is $8,682.
| Cost line | Offerpad | Houwzer 1% |
|---|---|---|
| Listing side | 5% service fee, $21,705 | 1% listing fee, $4,341 |
| Buyer’s agent | $0 | 2-3%, $8,682 to $13,023 |
| Closing costs | About 1%, $4,341 | Your own, varies by state |
| Repairs | $0 out of pocket | Your call |
| Concessions | $0 | Negotiable |
| Published total | About $26,046 | $13,023 to $17,364 plus closing |
| Sale price | Their offer, not published | Open market, with competing buyers |
That last row is the one that decides it, and it’s the only row neither company can fill in for you.
On published fees, the listed sale costs less. I want that said plainly, because we do this work. But the entire fee comparison is dwarfed the moment the cash offer arrives below what the open market would have paid. A 2-point lighter offer is $8,682, which wipes the fee advantage on its own. A bigger gap in the offer wipes it without trying.
One more thing worth knowing before you sign anything. Since the MLS policy changes took effect on August 17, 2024, listing and buyer agreements have to carry a conspicuous disclosure that compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable. Nobody can lock you into 6%. Houwzer lists at 1% and recommends 2-3% for the buyer’s agent, and a traditional 6% is a habit rather than a requirement.
When taking the cash offer is the right call
I work at a 1% listing brokerage, so take the next part as against my own interest. Some sellers should take the cash and stop shopping. For those people, iBuyers are the better answer. A Houwzer agent isn’t.
A relocation with a hard report date is one, and an inherited house two states away is another. So is a seller who would otherwise carry two mortgages through a long listing. Above all, a house that genuinely needs work.
Offerpad’s schedule charges $0 out of pocket for repairs and $0 in concessions. I can’t match that on a house with real deferred maintenance, meaning the work you’ve been putting off. No amount of marketing makes a dated roof sell at full price on a fast timeline. I’ve written about selling a home that needs work. I’m not going to talk you out of cash when that’s your house.
Take the cash offer even though we make nothing on that sale. Don’t sit through a listing pitch you don’t need.
How to pressure-test a cash offer before you sign
Got an offer on the screen? Pressure-test it before you sign, even if you already know cash is the right path. Certainty is worth something, but you should still know what you’re paying for it.
- Ask for the offer breakdown in writing, and make the service charge and any condition adjustment separate line items. A blended number is exactly how the haircut hides itself in plain sight.
- Pull a second offer from the other platform. Since Opendoor won’t print a rate, a competing bid is the only way I know to put a price on the first offer.
- A local agent can give you a list-price opinion with comparable sales attached, meaning recent nearby sales of similar homes. Stack that against the cash offer minus the fee, and skip the headline-to-headline comparison entirely.
- Convert the gap into dollars at $4,341 per point. Percentages let people stay vague.
- Decide what certainty is worth to you, in dollars, before the number arrives. My rule of thumb is to pick that number first so the offer cannot pick it for you. That’s my read, not a published figure. Weigh it accordingly.
- Confirm the house even qualifies. Opendoor notes that homes needing significant structural or mechanical work often do not. A disqualified house isn’t a failed negotiation. It’s a different buyer.
Do that work on a Tuesday afternoon, before anyone is waiting on your signature. I’ve seen people skip that homework because the offer arrived as a relief, and relief is not a number that appears anywhere on the breakdown.
Questions sellers ask me about iBuyers
What is an iBuyer, exactly?
An iBuyer is a tech-driven company that makes an automated cash offer on your home and closes on a date you choose. NAR calls iBuyers corporate entities that buy directly from sellers with their own cash or fund money. You skip the listing process. The service charge replaces a listing-agent commission and shows up in the offer breakdown. Mix them up with as-is investors and you will underprice the comparison before you have even started.
Which iBuyers are still buying homes in 2026?
The 2026 list is short. Opendoor is still buying, having launched in 2014 and pioneered the model, and Offerpad is still buying too after entering in 2015. Orchard runs a trade-in program and Knock does bridge financing, while Zillow and Redfin exited. I wouldn’t plan on a bidding war between corporate cash buyers. Request every quote you can actually get.
Is Zillow still an iBuyer?
No. Zillow shut Zillow Offers in 2021, citing trouble predicting home prices. Redfin closed RedfinNow in 2022 and continues only as a brokerage. A site that still runs home ads isn’t writing you a corporate cash offer. I get this question constantly, which tells me the exits never made it into the pages sellers actually read.
Do iBuyers pay fair market value?
They tell you they often don’t. Offerpad says cash offers may be lower than what you’d get on the open market with full exposure and competing buyers. Opendoor lists “lower offer” and “no bidding wars” as cons. Whether that is fair depends on your timeline and the condition of your house, not on anybody’s slogan. On a $434,100 median home, each point of offer price is $4,341. Use dollars.
What do iBuyers charge in fees?
Offerpad states a 5% service fee plus about 1% closing costs. Out-of-pocket repairs, concessions, and commissions are $0 on that schedule. Opendoor’s editorial puts typical iBuyer fees at 6 to 8 percent of sale price. They deduct estimated repairs after the assessment, and standard closing costs of 1% to 2% still apply. Opendoor still won’t print its own rate. The charge is disclosed in your offer and varies by market and property. Get every line item in writing.
Are iBuyers cheaper than listing with an agent?
On published fees, no, not against a 1% listing plus 2-3% to a buyer’s agent. Offerpad’s package on a $434,100 sale is about $26,046. Houwzer commission on the same price is $13,023 to $17,364, plus your own closing costs. Traditional 6% equals $26,046 too. Fees still lose the comparison if the cash offer comes in light. Cheaper fees on a lower price isn’t more money in your pocket. Watch the offer.
The bottom line: iBuyers sell certainty, and certainty is a real product that some sellers should buy. Just price it in dollars before you accept it, because the fee schedule is the half of the deal they publish and the offer is the half they don’t. If the timeline isn’t forcing your hand, get a list-price opinion from a full-service agent charging a 1% listing fee and compare net proceeds, not headlines. Worst case you confirm the cash offer was fair and you sign it with your eyes open.
