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Opendoor Buys Part of Doma to Cut Home Loan Refinancing Costs

Prime Highlights 

  • Opendoor is acquiring part of Doma to automate real estate closings and lower refinancing costs for homeowners. 
  • Doma’s AI-driven platform has already qualified around 80% of refinance candidates under a Fannie Mae pilot programme running since 2024.   

Key Facts 

  • Opendoor is a property technology company that buys homes directly from sellers and operates a title and escrow business. 
  • Doma is a proptech firm that uses AI and machine learning to automate title searches, underwriting and real estate closings.   

Background 

Two property technology companies are joining hands to take the pain out of home loan refinancing, a process that has long been expensive and slow for American homeowners. 

Opendoor, which buys homes directly from sellers and runs a title and escrow business, is acquiring part of Doma, a company that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate title searches and real estate closings. The financial terms of the deal are yet to be declared. 

Lucas Matheson, president of Opendoor, said the company is working to cut both time and money out of the closing process for customers through automation and technology. 

Doma has been part of a Fannie Mae pilot programme since 2024, aimed at reducing title insurance costs on eligible refinance transactions. The programme was recently extended through 2027. Under it, refinance deals assessed by Doma as low-risk can be sold to Fannie Mae without requiring a lender’s title insurance policy. So far, roughly 80% of refinance candidates have qualified. 

However, title insurance is only one piece of the puzzle. Closing costs also include escrow setup, mortgage payoffs, transfer fees and taxes, many of which still involve manual work and can add thousands of dollars to the process. 

Doma CEO Max Simkoff said demand for the programme grew so quickly that the company could no longer handle both the technology side and the closing operations on its own, prompting the tie-up with Opendoor. 

Following the acquisition, 85 Doma employees will move to Opendoor.