Buy Your Home Online With Open Listings

Looking to buy a new home but not sure where to start? Enter Open Listings—the all-in-one home buying site designed to give you an edge in any competitive market. House hunt 24/7, get free expert advice, create offers online and save an average of more than $8,500 when you buy with Open Listings.

Judd Schoenholtz, CEO of the California and Washington-based startup, is here to make the home buying process as simple and affordable as possible. With up-to-the-minute data, insider info and reports and showings on demand, the innovative site will help you find "the one" when it comes to house hunting.

Patch: How long have you been doing business in town or how long has the organization you represent been around in the community?

Schoenholtz: Open Listings has been around since 2014. Buyers can use our service throughout California and Washington, but we’re headquartered in Los Feliz.

Patch: What attracted you to the line of work you’re in, and how did you get started?

Schoenholtz: After going through a frustrating home buying experience, I realized how antiquated the process was. Unlike so many other industries, technology just hadn’t made home buying any easier. It’s still slow, expensive, and inefficient. So, my co-founders and I started Open Listings.

Patch: If you had to sum up your business mission to a stranger in five words, what would those words be?

Schoenholtz: Make home buying simple and affordable.

Patch: What’s the biggest challenge or most difficult moment you’ve faced in your job?

Schoenholtz: I left a leadership role at a design agency that I’d been working at for nine years to start Open Listings. I had no real estate, company-building or fundraising experience. What I got right in the decision was the founding team. Quitting together with talented and motivated co-founders made it easy. Together and focused, we quickly made an MVP (minimum viable product), started acquiring users and got accepted to Y Combinator, the startup accelerator that helped launch businesses like Airbnb, Dropbox and Reddit.

Patch: How would you say your business or organization distinguishes itself from the others?

Schoenholtz: Besides the top notch service from our real estate agents that buyers can depend on, Open Listings has the biggest commission refund in the industry. Homebuyers get a 50 percent commission refund when they buy using Open Listings, which can be used towards closing costs, renovations, furniture, etc.

Patch: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given when it comes to success?

Schoenholtz: “A day job will always be there.” That helped me take the plunge to start my own business because it was reassuring to know that the worst-case scenario is just back to where you started.

Patch: Are there any new projects or endeavors you’re working on that you’re extra excited about?

Schoenholtz: I’m most excited about the impact that machine learning will have. We’re already using it to improve listing data, recommendations, valuations, and customer support, but it’s just beginning to unlock features.

Patch: How can Patch readers learn more about your work and business?

Schoenholtz: Visit our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also email me.

This Patch article is sponsored by Open Listings.

Photo Credit: Open Listings