Opendoor is acquiring part of Doma, a real estate technology company that uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to automate title searches and streamline real estate closings.
The deal covers refinancing closing costs, but it can take several days to process and add thousands of dollars to the transaction. These include title searches, escrow settings, mortgage repayments, and transfer fees, with much of the process still being handled manually.
Since 2024, Doma’s technology has been part of Fannie Mae’s pilot program, allowing the company to complete certain low-risk refinance transactions without the need for a lender’s title insurance policy or an attorney’s opinion. About 80% of refinance candidates qualify, Doma said. This program was recently extended until 2027.
“This program has grown so dramatically over the last year that we operate our own closing and escrow agency, which is large and continues to serve us well, but frankly the demand has outstripped our ability to close deals,” Doma CEO Max Simkov said in explaining the impetus behind the merger.
Opendoor buys homes directly from sellers and operates a title and escrow business.
Opendoor President Lucas Matheson said the acquisition is part of a broader automation push. “Like most of the other technologies Opendoor works on to reduce time and costs for our customers, we are in the process of complete restructuring and automation,” he said.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Following the acquisition, 85 Doma employees will join Opendoor.
