A miracle move for a family that beat all the odds

Chantelle Miller lives by the philosophy “family comes first.” She’d been living in her Chandler, AZ home with her daughter, 3-year old grandson, and younger sister with dementia she cared for, when she realized her parents needed more help too.

Chantelle’s mother, Sherrie, had been battling colon cancer for the last 23 years. Diagnosed at stage 4, Sherrie had beaten every obstacle, making it on to the miracle list at the Mayo Clinic. Chantelle’s father took great care of her mother, but as they grew older, it became harder for him to take care of her alone. Chantelle helped as much as she could, preparing meals to bring over so her parents wouldn’t need to cook, but they lived over an hour’s drive away in Sun City West, and Chantelle wanted to help out even more.

A new home to bring the family together

The family decided the best thing to do was to move in together under one roof. Chantelle was certain this was the right decision, but she worried about managing the logistics of this mega-move. Coordinating the sale of two homes and the purchase of a new one wouldn’t be easy.

First, there was the matter of selling her current house. Having sold 4 homes before, Chantelle knew how time-consuming the work of preparing a home for sale was. On top of caring for her family, Chantelle worked full time at ASU and was also taking classes towards a career change. When would she find the time to de-clutter, clean, and paint? Also, with 3 dogs, a 3-year old grandson, and her sister’s anxiety around strangers, showings would be a challenge.

Then, there was the task of buying the new home. It couldn’t be just any house—Chantelle had a long list of requirements based on her family’s needs. Plus, she hoped to do the impossible: closely align the timelines of her home sale, her parents’ home sale, and the purchase of their new home so they could avoid temporary housing and double moves. Realizing how daunting this move was going to be, Chantelle recalls feeling overwhelmed. “I started panicking, thinking how am I going to do make this happen with the two houses and the closing dates?” Then, she remembered Opendoor.

“I’m the type that makes things happen quick. I liked that with Opendoor, you can go and look at homes anytime. You don’t have to wait for a realtor.”

Chantelle had heard about Opendoor months earlier, and realized the company’s service could be the answer to her problems. If she sold her home to Opendoor, there’d be no showings and no work needed to get the home show ready. Plus, she could choose her close date and have full control over the timeline of her move. While visiting Opendoor’s website, she realized the company sold homes too.

The family had decided to move in together on a Friday, and by Saturday morning, Chantelle was already on Opendoor’s website, looking at the homes they had for sale. “I’m the type that makes things happen quick. I liked that with Opendoor, you can go and look at homes anytime. You don’t have to wait for a realtor.”

The perfect home on the second try

The first home the family visited wasn’t going to work—it was too small and the bathroom would need renovations to accommodate her mother. But on the second Opendoor home, they struck gold. “We walked in, and it was like, Oh yea!” Chantelle remembers. The house seemed like it had been custom built for their situation. It had enough room for the entire family, an open floor plan easy to navigate with a walker, and a downstairs bathroom that wouldn’t need any remodeling to fit Sherrie’s needs. “We especially liked the house because it had 2 living rooms, so my parents could have their own living room and I could have mine. Even though we’re all living in the same house, we still need some independence.”

It was love at first sight. But Chantelle didn’t want to make such an important decision lightly. Before making an offer, she came back to the visit the home 6 times that weekend. She loved that she didn’t have to wait for a realtor to schedule a showing. With Opendoor, she could visit as many times as she wanted on her own schedule. “When you’re visiting a home with a realtor, you miss stuff the first time,” Chantelle explains, “[With Opendoor,] I didn’t have to call and schedule anything. You just get the code and you can go in and look at it. Because you start second guessing yourself—thinking, is this really the one? We were coming in and measuring, asking ‘well what about this, is this going to fit?’ It was just easy to keep coming and taking a look at the home.”

Buying and selling in one simple transaction

The blitz of visits convinced Chantelle that this was indeed their dream home. She connected with Ali, her Opendoor Home Advisor, who informed her she could streamline the process by trading in her current home for the new one. Born to a family of realtors and once licensed herself, Chantelle knew Opendoor’s offer was in line with comps in her neighborhood. Plus, by working with Opendoor Mortgage, Chantelle saved thousands of dollars.

“Trying to move two families in at the same time would have been even harder, and with a traditional sale that’s probably what it would have been like.”

With Ali’s help, Chantelle sold her home and closed on the new home in only 4 weeks. Because Opendoor allowed her to chose her close dates, Chantelle was able to carefully plan the family’s moving timeline. She moved in first, unpacked and settled in before helping her parents with their move. Reflecting on her move, Chantelle was glad to have had that option. “Trying to move two families in at the same time would have been even harder, and with a traditional sale that’s probably what it would have been like.”

Today, Chantelle, her sister, and her parents live happily together in their new home. Occasionally, friends and family who haven’t worked with Opendoor will ask her about her experience, skeptical that the process could have been so easy. Chantelle tells them she has no regrets. “If you have months where you can sit on a house, maybe Opendoor is not for you,” she tells them, “but I have better things to do with my time then sit and worry about showing the house. I’d rather spend it with family.”