I bought a 120 year old home and it needs so much work. My stepdad, who owns a construction company, insists on having his crew do the work because he “wants it done right.” I mean, how kind of him. I can’t say no to that. So, they started with my roof.

The problem? He will not charge me for labor. Absolutely refuses. I covered all materials (as far as I know anyway). Even then, it was at his discounted rate. I have plenty of money set aside to cover the work so that’s not an issue.

Anyhoo, I’m just trying to get a rough estimate of what something like this runs, so I can surprise him with an appropriate gift (like an XL check).

Bear with me here on the next part. My roofing knowledge leaves a lot to be desired. I’m doing my best. 💁‍♀️

I don’t know how roofs are normally measured but this is a 2000 square foot, two story home. I believe I paid for 26ish squares of OC shingles and I have some left over. Hopefully that gives you an idea of its size. I’d say the pitch is average. Definitely nothing extreme. The job, however, was not average. My roof was a mess.

The work, as I understand it: removed two layers of shingles; removed like three layers of old felt with a ton of overlapping nails, which seemingly took forever; replaced nearly all of the decking because it was warped or rotten; replaced/sistered several bad rafters and properly fixed prior rafter ‘repairs’; laid insulation in areas that were uninsulated; spent a lot of time making everything more level and plumb, since my house is ancient; and then everything else that’s required to install a new roof on an old house.

Are we talking $15k? $20k? More? I just need a starting point here, if possible. Please help me.

I had so many questions when selling to OD and all of the information I found online was either dated or incomplete. So, I documented my experience from beginning to end for others. Hope it helps!

Phase 1: Assessment & Offer

March - June 2026: interviewed three real estate agents. They all suggested a listing price of $390-410k. After making ~$20k (a conservative estimate) in concessions and paying a 6% RA fee, I figured I’d make $356,000 at best. That’d require staging, deep cleaning, showings, uncertainty, negotiating, the whole rigamarole.

June 23: Entered my info and OD estimated my house was worth up to $420,000.

The house is beautiful for the area. It sits on a large private lot surrounded by woods, but it needs work. For instance, it has a new roof and gutters and recently refinished white oak floors but it also has a cracked countertop, dated appliances, some older carpet in the bedrooms, one unpainted deck, and the driveway needs work. It’s built into a hillside (anchored to bedrock) in an area with seasonal snowfall. It has lots of interior stairs, a septic, and a HOA. Frankly, it’ll be great for the right person but it is not for everyone.

By going with OD, I prioritized the guaranteed closing date and the avoidance of staging/showing over maximizing every last dollar of equity. I understand that this process isn’t for everybody, just like the traditional process doesn’t appeal to me.

June 24: I did the photo assessment myself through the OpenDoor Key app. I was very forthcoming about my home’s condition. I documented every known flaw inside and out.

July 1: Offer ready 7 days after my self-assessment. The cash only option is not available in my market but the cash now + more later option is.

After the self-assessment, OD still valued my home at $420,000. They offered $330,000 now (paid at closing) + an additional $15,106 later (under ideal circumstances, when the house sells, not guaranteed). I know, based on the number of repairs needed, I’ll likely never see the additional cash. I’ve come to terms with that.

I signed the contract and set closing for July 29. I had to schedule an inspection with Inspectify, OD’s partner, within OD’s 10 day due diligence window. I marked availability for July 5.

Phase 2: The Inspection and Adjusted Offer

July 3: Inspectify contacted me, said they couldn’t secure an inspector for July 5. Asked me to choose additional dates. I chose the 6th and 7th.

July 6: No inspector, no communication from Inspectify.

July 7: Inspectify gave me 3 hours notice before inspector arrived. Then he arrived 15 minutes early.

The inspector was not licensed or bonded in my state! By this point, I had already rearranged my calendar for 3 days to accommodate this inspection. I was over it.

Anyway, I let him proceed and he mostly documented things that I photographed during the self-assessment. Beyond that, he entered the attic to photograph one HVAC and the crawl space to photograph the other. I got the feeling that he wouldn’t have entered those spaces if he didn’t have to get a look at those units. He spent a total of 1.5 hours covering ~3000 square feet, including the garage and part of the yard, so it was by no means an exhaustive inspection.

July 9: I contacted a local government office regarding property info for personal reference. When I gave the lady my address, she laughed and told me that OD had submitted several public records requests for information about my property. She noted that they were very persistent. It seems they do their homework.

July 14: Inspection report was successfully processed (took 7 calendar days). The offer went down by an additional ~$4,800 based on estimated repairs. It’s still a very conservative estimate for repairs overall, in my opinion, and I accepted their adjusted offer.

The new offer was $325,181 cash now + 19,315 later = 344,496 total. The original was $330,000 now + 15,106 later = 345,106 total. Thus, after the post-inspection adjustments, the combined offer was only truly reduced by $610.

I requested an earlier closing date of July 24.

Received a text from OD: “If we get [pending documents from title co] by July 22nd, then we can move closing.“

Phase 3: Closing

July 16: Received earnest money receipt from title company. I believe OD’s standard is $1,250 regardless of the home’s value. Also received lockbox in the mail.

July 23: received text at 10 am that I was set to close the following day and needed to submit closing photos by midnight. Received another text that evening that said we could not close the following day - title company unable to reach HOA.

July 24: HOA denies ever receiving any requests from title company and I believe it. My rep at the title company was lazy. So, I quickly fixed the issue with an email, which my HOA responded to immediately, of course. Received the settlement statement and the “clear to close” that evening. I decided to stick with original closing date (29th).

July 28: Closing photos due by midnight. I was not asked to photograph every space - just dining room, kitchen, family room, primary bed/bath, yard, and garage. They’re running on the honor system here.

July 29, 9:00 am: Met mobile notary to sign documents and provide bank information so I could get paid.

July 29, 9:45 am: Received email from my OD rep that my digital checkout was approved. In the same email, he instructed the title company to release funds and record the deed.

July 29, 5:09 pm: Received email from title company - “Funding was received after today's wire cutoff time. As a result, the outgoing wire will be processed and sent tomorrow morning.”

July 30, 10:30 am: I hadn’t yet received my money so I started sending emails to every contact I had at title company. No response. No money. At 11:30, I looped in every contact I had at OD.

July 30, 1:00 pm: Money received.

TL;DR: Traded $11-30k in equity (TBD) for no showings, no staging, and a guaranteed close. Opendoor's offer was surprisingly fair post-inspection, but their vendors (Inspectify and Title Co) were both a headache. Would do it again.