How Opendoor helped a growing family find their future home

When Laura and Jim Boldin decided to have a third child, they knew it was time to upsize. With 2 young girls, Harley, age 3, and Evangeline, 19 months old, plus 3 dogs, the family’s Copper Ranch home was already bursting at the seams. “I needed more space. We needed somewhere with a yard because I was slowly losing my mind,” Laura recalls.

The Boldins had been married for 4 years, and had lived all over Phoenix—in Old Town, North Scottsdale, and now Gilbert. They were unsure of where to live next, but knew they wanted to find an affordable but safe neighborhood to raise their kids. Luckily, the Boldins had a secret weapon for their house hunt: Opendoor.

From window-shopper to home buyer

Laura had learned about Opendoor two years ago, when she noticed one of their for-sale signs with the intriguing promise of an “all-day open house.” Self-described as having “real estate in my blood,” Laura comes from a family of realtors and appraisers, and loves window-shopping homes as a hobby. She’d often accompany her mother, a realtor, to check out homes for sale.

So when she learned she could use Opendoor to visit thousands of homes without a realtor, Laura was hooked. Over the years she had dropped into many homes casually, but now that she was in the market for a new home, she doubled down on visits.

A stay-at-home mom, Laura often brought her two little girls along to showings. Since Opendoor’s homes aren’t owner occupied, this wasn’t a problem. But in traditionally listed homes, it was stressful. “I’d try to hold them and tell them ‘sit still, you can’t touch anything! Those are not your toys, not your puppy!”

Visiting Opendoor homes was “so much easier and so much more relaxed,” Laura remembers. Whereas with non-Opendoor homes, “if I wasn’t sure if I loved the home, I didn’t really want to go in it, because I knew someone was in there, and I didn’t want to disrupt their day.”

Opendoor also made it easier for Jim to come along. Traditionally, open houses happened during the day, when Jim had to work. But Opendoor’s all-day open house meant the couple could visit homes after work or during other hours that fit their schedule.

Visiting Opendoor homes all over the Valley eventually led the Boldin’s to find their future house in San Tan Valley. San Tan Valley hadn’t even been on the couple’s radar until Laura stumbled upon an affordable and spacious home there while browsing the Opendoor app. Although they didn’t end up buying that particular home, visiting it made them realize they had found the right neighborhood.

From contingency to certainty

As their home search narrowed, Jim and Laura also began thinking about their options for selling their current house. They realized that Opendoor could simplify their home sale too.

The Boldins knew they had a lot of work to do to get their home in list-ready condition. But with Jim’s work schedule and Laura busy with the kids, they didn’t know when they’d find the time to do all the necessary cleaning and repairs.

Plus, the house needed repainting, but Laura’s pregnancy meant nausea at the smell of fresh paint. Selling to Opendoor meant they could skip all that prep work—Opendoor would handle it for them. “We didn’t want to go through the whole process of selling: having people go through our house, making updates, all those little things,” Jim remembers.

Then, once the family found their perfect next home, there was an even bigger reason to sell to Opendoor. As contingent buyers, they needed the money from their home sale for their downpayment. Opendoor gave them a certain sale with no risk of financing fall-through so they could make an offer on their future home without worrying that something would stop the sale.

Flexibility when it matters most

After accepting their Opendoor offer, the Boldins were connected to their home advisor, Patrick. As first-time home sellers unfamiliar with how home sales worked, they were glad to have Patrick to answer all their questions about the Opendoor process. “He was very reassuring for someone who literally had no idea what was going on,” Laura said.

“We didn’t want to go through the whole process of selling: having people go through our house, making updates, all those little things.”

Jim and Laura recall Patrick truly saving the day when they unexpectedly needed to move their close date two separate times due to changes in the new home’s close date. “Each and every time I called Patrick, it was ‘no big deal, I got it, no problem,’” Jim recalls.

Because Opendoor could accommodate their second close date move request, the Boldins were able to move into their new, larger home on their 4th wedding anniversary. “I was teasing Jim, saying, ‘you got me a house for our anniversary!’” Laura joked. Today, the couple is happily settling in to their San Tan Valley home, enjoying the extra space and preparing for baby number three.