Is Online Sports Betting Legal in Texas? [2021 Update]

Could I make an online game, for example Tic-Tac-Toe, where both players each put $1 into the pot and the winner gets $1.99, and I take $0.01? Is this legal? It is considered online gambling? Asking for the state of Texas.

I've noticed a bunch of underage streamers doing 1v1 'wagers' where they get viewers to donate then 1v1 them on Fortnite, if the person loses they keep the dono, if they person wins the streamer will refund double their dono. How is this not gambling? How is it legal for underage kids to be doing this?

I just learned that you can bet pro wrestling outcomes.
Because this is scripted, how is this possibly legal? Isn't this more likely than any other form of betting to be affected by insider trading? A relative of a WWE writer could make a fortune.
For similar reasons, wouldn't the favorites always win? Because they would be situated as favorites based on inside knowledge?

My partner and I are in the very initial stages of building a cryptocurrency-based wager game. We both live in NJ and the company will operate here.
The game is this --- We have built a large physical prize wheel. Once a week, players will be able to buy 1 virtual key to participate, with a hard cap of 500 keys (per week). The game has specific rules and various rounds, but the premise is that every week someone will be taking home 99.5% of the money wagered. The game will be live streamed online. It is totally a game of chance with no skill involved, but there is no house wager or house edge.

1. If our players buy a virtual asset first and then use that to place a bet is there any legal issue? For example, it costs 0.005 Ethereum to buy a key, and then one key = ability to be a part of the wheel game that week. They are technically wagering the virtual asset that they purchased, not the Ethereum. (not true)
2. If there is no house edge whatsoever, is it illegal to take a % (let's say 0.5%) as a service fee? If so, what is the legality without the fee?

Thank you in advance.
EDIT: Thank you to those who provided specific and helpful advice. We understand the regulations regarding lotteries and games of chance and the legality of wagering virtual assets. We learned a lot and appreciate all your time.

EDIT: RIP MY INBOX! Clarification at the bottom.
You often read posts by women lamenting their experiences of sexism in the workplace, be it missed advancement opportunities or the constant feeling of being scrutinized, of having to do better than is expected of their male peers to qualify. And then you get guys doubting that it's true and it pisses me off because I know exactly what it's like.
I'm a young male psychologist. Almost all my collegues both in this workplace and my previous two, and in the field in general, are women, most of them middle aged. I've never had a male boss.
And it is SO clear that anything to do with emotions or relationships or healthcare has become (or maybe always was?) a female-dominated field.
Up until very recently I was the lowest-paid psychologist in our office. Less qualified women with less experience and fewer years of employment in the field were being paid higher than me.
I constantly have to defend my methods and my choices. It is totally normal that patients sometimes want to switch therapists, hey, I even encourage it. Whatever's best for them. I have patients switch away from me at roughly the same rate as my coworkers. But for some reason, I'm the only person that gets called up to the boss to explain myself when this happens. Even though one of my coworkers (kudos to her for standing up for me!) explained to our boss (who has no mental health background) that patients switching is totally normal, I STILL get it thrown in my face in every yearly performance review.
It is never accepted as fact that I know how to do my job, I constantly have to prove myself. My female coworkers can work half as hard and receive twice the recognition, even the new hires it is just assumed from day one that they know what they are doing.
And idea presented at a meeting is scrutinized from every angle when I say it, accepted at face value when a woman says it.
If we are having a therapists' conference to discuss clients we need help with, and I give a response, the other therapists just keep asking the group until one of the women agrees with what I said or gives the same advice worded differently.
But fuck all of them, I will be free soon. If everything works out I will be going to a trade school this fall, this field I'm in just isn't worth it. After that I can just show up as an HVAC tech at any customer's house and nobody will ever question my competence based solely on my sex ever again.
Clarifications
First up, thanks for all the support guys, you've been great. I should add that I wrote this earlier in the day when I had just had a major "fuck this" moment after a female customer (rep of a large employer that pays for their staff to see us, sort of how workplace insurance works in the US) had called specifically to question my credentials and competence, based on one single patient having complained, something I can guarantee never has happened to any of my female coworkers, and never will. And I had to sit there and politely swallow her baseless criticism and smooth things over for the sake of customer relations. Never experienced anything like that and I hope I never will again either. I'll respond to some of the common answers ideas here:

• Open my own practice: as it were, this is a historically bad time for that. My country has universal healthcare, and many new corporate actors have entered that market so that large companies with hundreds of therapists can now make contracts with the government and accept patients who pay nothing out of pocket. Private practices cannot get such contracts for legal reasons I won't bore you with here. The number of private practices is declining as they go out of business since hell, why pay when you can get it for free just by waiting a month or three? I'm simplyfying here but that's the gist of it.
  
• To those saying "change jobs": I have, this pattern has been consisten in all three clinics I've worked in. Three is not a huge number, but I'd rather not wager my wellbeing on it just being poor luck so far.
  
• To those saying my coworkers are not (only) sexist, but it is a question of workplace bullying or gaslighting: I really don't think so. For all their faults and how they treat me, they are ordinary, normal and actually mostly nice people. This is not some conspiracy against me. They are just blind to their biases and don't realize how shitty their behavior is. I also know from experience that when you call women out on their sexist bullshit, they react just about as well as men who are called out on their sexist bullshit, which is to say, generally not well at all.
  
• Is the whole HVAC thing a joke? No, it honestly isn't. I've been considering changing careers for several years, and the things mentioned in this post are only part of the reason. And I do still believe I have a valuable contribution to make to the clinical field, and I do like working with patients, and my hope is to somehow do both therapy and HVAC part time, I'll figure something out. I like working with my hands and solving technical problems, I'll be fine. And even though it will certainly be a loss in financial terms, it appears that psychologists and HVAC techs are closer to each other here than they are in the USA.
  

I tried to make it easy to skip around if you just want to see the financials or estimates. Just scroll to them if you don't care what the company is or their sectocompetition/management. TL;DR at bottom with final thoughts.
Introduction
“FuboTV ($FUBO) is an American streaming television service that focuses primarily on channels that distribute live sports, including NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and international soccer, plus news, network television series and movies.
Launched on January 1, 2015 as a soccer streaming service, FuboTV changed to an all-sports service in 2017 and then to a virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) model. As a vMVPD, FuboTV still calls itself sports-first but its expanded channel lineup targets cord cutters, offering a selection of major cable channels and OTT-originated features that can be streamed through smart TVs, mobile and tablets and the web. The service is available in the United States, Canada and Spain as of 2018."
From their home page:
They are the only competitors in their space of digital sports broadcasting, offer 4K streaming and upscaling of live sports, cloud DVR capability ranging from 250 or 1000 hours on standard plans, and is available on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TVs, Xbox One, Android TV, Android Smart TVs, and Android/iOS smartphones and tablets, with plans ranging from $24.99/month to $79.99/month (not including add-ons).
They have also recently acquired one company and have made plans to acquire another to allow for in-house sports betting. They have stated in a press release that they plan to release a sportsbook before the end of the year. This will push them into a broader spectrum outside of only TV and sports streaming, and into the sports betting sector along with DraftKings ($DKNG), FanDuel ($PDYPY), and Penn National Gaming ($PENN).
Plans and Add-ons
FuboTV offers three standardized plans as of February 8, 2021: the Family plan is priced at $64.99/month (normally $75.97/month), Elite at $79.99/month (normally $100.95/month), and Latino Quarterly at $24.99/month, along with offering additional add-ons. Each plan offers a range of channels, cloud DVR capabilities (which allows fast-forwarding through commercials), and casting to multiple devices simultaneously. Only the Elite plan does not offer a 7-day free trial (Channels page).
The Family plan includes 117 channels (mostly news and entertainment with roughly 40 that offer sports, including ESPN), up to 250 hours of DVR space, and casting to 3 devices at once. The quarterly prepaid includes a free upgrade to 1000 hours of DVR space and 5 casting devices at home with 3 on the go (Channels page).
The Elite plan includes 164 channels (includes an additional “47 entertainment channels”), up to 1000 hours of DVR space, and casting to 5 devices at home with 3 on the go. This plan does not offer a quarterly prepaid (Channels page).
The Latino Quarterly plan includes 250 hours of DVR space and can be streamed on up to 3 devices at once, but only has 32 channels. This plan needs to be prepaid every 3 months for a total charge of $74.97 and does not offer a monthly service (Channels page).
Upgrades include additional DVR space--1000 hours for an additional $6.99/month for the Family and Latino Quarterly--and increased device casting--an additional 2 devices at home with 3 on the go for another $9.99/month for the Family and Latino Quarterly plans. You can also add a variety of channels and sports packages (the Latino Quarterly has fewer channel add-ons compared to the Family and Elite plans, which both have the same channel varieties). Sports Plus with NFL RedZone is an additional $10.99/month, but includes all professional and college sports broadcasting services for football, basketball, baseball, hockey, tennis, fighting, etc. (Channels page).
Fubo has recently removed its former Standard plan, which included only 65 channels, up to 2 casting devices, and only 30 hours of DVR support for $60/month.
Financials and Growth
Fubo has yet to file an annual report as they have gone public in October of 2020, but they have filed a 10-Q for Q3 2020. All numbers in thousands.
Assets-
Between December 31, 2019 and September of 2020, assets have increased from $368,225 to $799,313 (a 117% increase) . Total current assets increased from $17,973 to $58,016, but accounts receivable decreased from $8,904 to $6,975--this may be attributed to the increase in prepaid subscriptions which increased from $1,445 to $12,177 which shows strong customer satisfaction and retention.
Liabilities-
Liabilities have increased from $145,049 to $290,376 (a 100% increase). The largest contributors to their liabilities are “Due to related parties” increasing from $665 to $85,847, “Warrant liabilities” increasing from $24 to $28,085, and “Accounts payable” from $36,373 to $61,679. Long-term borrowings have decreased from $43,982 to $25,905.
Revenues-
Subscription revenues increased by $53,433, totaling $92,945 for the year. Total revenues including advertisements and licensing have increased by $61,202, totaling $112,669 for the year and an increase of 47% YOY. Q4 revenue is estimated to be between $94,000 and $98,000 which would be a 77-84% increase YOY.
Expenses-
Subscriber related expenses total $114,315 for the year. Total expenses have totaled $500,249 for the year.
Subscribers-
Ended Q3 with 455,000 paid subscribers, a YOY increase of 58%, and plans to end 2020 with over 545,000, an increase of 72% YOY.
Competition
Its closest competitors are Hulu + Live TV (owned by Disney ($DIS)), YouTube TV (owned by Alphabet ($GOOG)), and Sling TV (owned by Dish Network ($DISH)).
Hulu + Live TV

• Includes league networks
• 50 hours of free DVR (200 hours for $9.99/month)
• More than 74 channels
• Unskippable ads on DVR without upgrade to 200 hours
• 2 streams at a time
• $64.99/month
• Can add ESPN+ and Disney+ for an additional $7/month

YouTube TV

• Includes league networks
• Unlimited DVR storage
• More than 85 channels plus YouTube Red Originals
• 3 streams at a time
• Sports Plus package for an additional $10.99/month
• NBA LeaguePass for an additional $40/month or $119.99 annually
• Starting at $64.99/month

Sling TV Blue

• Includes league networks
• DVR up to 50 hours (200 hours for $5/month)
• More than 45 channels
• 3 streams at a time
• Sports Extra package for an additional $11/month
• Starting $35/month
• Can be combined with Sling TV Orange for a total of $50/month

Sling TV Orange

• Includes league networks
• DVR up to 50 hours (200 hours for $5/month)
• More than 30 channels
• 1 stream at a time
• Sports Extra package for an additional $11/month
• Starting at $35/month
• Can be combined with Sling TV Blue for a total of $50/month

The vMVPD Sector
Cord-cutting has become increasingly popular over the last few years with consumers dropping traditional cable and satellite networks in favor of streaming services--such as Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, etc.--and vMVPD services.
In 2019 alone, 6.3 million people cut their cable connection, totaling 39.3 million. In a survey of what they might miss most from cable networks, 52% said they don’t miss anything, 23% missed live events on TV, 22% missed news, and 19% missed live sports. Although not all of those that miss aspects of cable will pay for another subscription service, the sentiment exists for a sports-focused platform that offers other large networks as well.
Another report by Parks Associates reveals that 17% of vMVPD subscribers switched from traditional TV within the last twelve months. In the same report, a survey conducted on current broadband households determined that 43% were “likely to switch to a… vMVPD within the next 12 months." The potential growth exists for the live digital broadcasting space, although it is slowing down.
With the spread of COVID and quarantines, people have been spending more time at home. When things open and quarantines end, that will be the true test for these providers as people will spend less time watching TV.
The Sports Betting Sector
Legal sports betting has taken a huge leap in recent years with the introduction of online sports betting; the ability to place wagers from anywhere at any time and have instant gratification has boomed with its slow legalization. This sector has a forecasted value of $150 billion with other competitors already having a completed project and vast market share. In 2019, DraftKings ($DKNG) and FanDuel (PDYPY) controlled 83% of the market share.
FuboTV plans to join into this space with its own sportsbook. Their recent acquisition of Balto Sports in December of 2020, whose business was in simulating fantasy sports games, is Fubo’s first step into sports wagering. They plan to create a free-to-play gaming system alongside online sports wagering.
Their next planned acquisition, which was announced in January of 2021, will be to acquire Vigtory, a sports betting and interactive gaming company. According to BusinessWire, they plan to utilize Vigtory’s “sportsbook platform and digital gaming assets, and its consumer-driven betting technology, to develop a frictionless betting experience for fubo’s customers."
These recent acquisitions set Fubo up to create an all-in-one viewing and betting experience, which could add new customers to their subscriber list and seal them into online wagering.
It has been over two years since the Supreme Court has denied the federal ban on sports betting, which would have made online betting illegal in all of the United States. Currently, more than two dozen states have legalized sports betting, but most have only legalized in-person betting. More states may be willing to legalize to take advantage of the increased revenues and taxes associated with gambling and online wagering. As of 2020, six additional states plan to legalize some form of betting, although some are only allowing in-person. There are an additional 14 states that are considering the notion to allow legal gambling, whether in-person, online, or tribal.
Management and Investors
David Gandler - CEO / Director / Co-Founder
Appointed as CEO and director in April of 2020. Prior to Fubo, Gandler had a 15 year career in marketing and advertising in local broadcast and cable TV within both general and Hispanic markets at companies such as Time Warner, Telemundo, and Scripps Networks Interactive.
Alberto Horihuela - CMO / Co-founder
In charge of marketing, Horihuela was head of Latin America for SVOD service DramaFever.
Simone Nardi - CFO
Nardi has worked as SVP and CFO of Scripps Networks Interactive where he was responsible for the finance and strategic planning for the company’s international business. Was also a key player in refinancing TVN S.A.’s billion dollar debt.
Large Investors

• Islet Management, LP with 5,108124 shares
• Morgan Stanley with 3,317,333 shares
• FMR LLC with 1,262,907 shares
• BlackRock Inc. with 956,678 shares
• Merger with FaceBank for $100 million revolving credit

Analysts and Estimates
Average analyst ratings put Fubo at a Buy to Strong Buy rating with an average price target of $45.50 with a high of $60 and a low of $30. EPS estimates are estimated to be -5.23 for 2020 and -1.64 for 2021.
Currently has a short float of about 75%, but the short volume has been holding at roughly 15-20% over the last month and has drastically declined from its October short volume of over 50%.
Originally valued at $700 million less than a year ago, a current valuation of $3.19 billion is respectable for this company and is on par for its current performance.
Risks

• Marketing fails and Fubo is never known as a household name, so consumers stick with other more known providers
• Their sportsbook fails and becomes dead weight and wasted money
• Subscriber count and streaming drops as quarantine lifts, reducing revenues while maintaining expenses
• Consumers opt for cheaper options
• People paying for the sports package cancel when the season is over, creating a boom and bust cycle if not managed correctly

Final Thoughts / TL;DR
With its drastic growth over the last year (400% in the last 4 months), support from FaceBank and well-known investors, and plans to join the sports betting sector, FuboTV has potential to become a household name and grow well beyond its current valuation by combining both sports broadcasting and online sports betting into one convenient place. Although unlikely to overthrow any of the current forces, it can become the best live sports broadcaster that people can turn to when they cut cable but want to keep live sports. It has many hurdles to overcome (creating their sportsbook, better marketing, increasing subscriber count, etc.) before it is any real competition to its already established competition.
At a $3.19 billion market cap and very high (75%) short interest, it will be very difficult to realize consistent growth, but it is on par for a company with almost $100 million in revenue.
My Position
25 shares at $47.30
​
Edit: edited final thoughts/TL;DR
Please provide feedback! First time actually researching and compiling information for a company and not just reading about them on here. Also, please ask questions to clear up any confusion; it was kinda hard to put everything together neatly, so I might have accidentally left stuff out or oveunder explained some things.

Hello fellow autists,
Just a pre-cursor, this is my first post of any kind on WSB. I would occasionally peruse the forum but was obviously drawn here from the GME craze and love every part of it.
Score Media and Gaming, listed on the TSX as SCR and in the US as TSCRF.
These guys have nothing but positive news coming in the next 12 months and has the ability to at least double in the next half year, if not sooner. These guys are foraying into the sports betting market and are the only players that have a fully intuitive and integrated sports scores/stats application on the market.
So what are the positives/catalysts for Score Media:
- Expansion with the help/investment of Penn Gaming to expand sportsbook in the US. Keep in mind, Penn is the same company that invested in Barstool. The Score is already approved in New Jersey, Indiana and Colorado, with Iowa right around the corner, and Michigan up next.
- Sports betting in Canada is a 14 Billion dollar market. Single wagering is currently illegal, however, there is unity across the aisle between all political parties to amend the criminal code and make single wagering legal. There are currently two bills in play. C-13 and C-218. C-13 second reading is currently delayed, while C-218 is scheduled for the House of Commons on February 24th. Like most countries, they have currently spent a ton of money propping up their respective economies due to COVID-19. It is highly unlikely the Canadian government rejects this massive taxable revenue stream when it needs it the most
- Leader in sports applications for time spent on the app on a monthly basis, beating out heavy hitters like TSN, ESPN, Bleacher Report....literally every other sports media application
- Only major player with an already existing sports news/fantasy application with seamless sportsbook integration. No hopping back and forth, you can wager through the sports app as if you were on the sportsbook
- They are the biggest E-sports media player with over 1 million subscribers on YouTube and that lead is growing
- They are pushing to get listed on the NYSE in the very near future to further growth and investment opportunities.
The only real hinderance that could potentially stop the run of this company is if the Canadian government fails to amend the current laws for single game wagering, which in the current economical climate, I find extremely unlikely. ESPECIALLY with support from all political parties including the Conservatives, New Democratic Party, Bloc Quebecois and most Liberal MP's.
Even in the event that this for some reason failed to pass, it still has access to an enormous US market with the backing of Penn.
I love this stock boys and girls!
​
EDIT 1: Currently with 2500 shares. Started at 1.71 and have been steadily buying dips, now at 1.91 cost average
Sources and Links:
Bill C-218 and Canadian Market: https://financialpost.com/telecom/everything-has-changed-canadian-companies-looking-to-cash-in-as-sports-betting-legalization-spreads
https://www.radionl.com/2021/02/04/bclc-advocating-for-ottawa-to-legalize-single-event-sport-betting/
ScoreBet integration: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201112005877/en/Introducing-BET-SECTION-A-New-Dedicated-Home-for-Betting-on-theScore-App
Penn investment and US plans: https://www.thestar.com/business/2021/01/16/the-faceoff-score-media-vs-draftkings-the-well-known-canadian-online-gaming-site-is-bracing-for-competition-from-its-larger-us-peer-but-its-high-brand-recognition-across-canada-gives-it-home-ice.html
Canadian position compared to rivals and US listing plans: https://www.casino.org/news/thescore-ceo-says-company-in-pole-position-for-canadian-sports-betting/
​

Why you should go mega long PENN and DKNG:
So PENN owns barstool and sportsbooks, DKNG has daily fantasy and sports betting, and I think there are multiple reasons why buying calls would be good. The runup to the Superbowl, the increase in popularity of gambling/sports betting, and states will continue to legalize sportsbetting.
First off, the Superbowl is coming up on February 7th. You all know you are going to bet massive amounts this year with all your tendies. Mahomes and Brady is a huge draw. There is going to be record sports betting on the Superbowl which is going to signal massive growth for these companies.
Second, we've all become rich this year and have money to blow. We are the key demographic for sports gambling. Without a doubt we are going to see record inflows into sportsbetting in the future. It has the potential to be a trillion dollar industry.
Third, US states are dying for money right now. Cuomo has said he wants to legalize sports betting in NY to help raise revenue. That is a huge market and would be huge for PENN and DKNG. (https://www.barrons.com/articles/draftkings-penn-national-jump-on-news-that-cuomo-supports-making-online-sports-betting-legal-51609984632?mod=article_inline). Here's a Cuomo quote from this article:
"New York has the potential to be the largest sports wagering market in the United States, and by legalizing online sports betting we aim to keep millions of dollars in revenue here at home, which will only strengthen our ability to rebuild from the [Covid-19] crisis.”
I mean it is a no brainer for these states to legalize sports betting for raising revenue. No reason why other states wouldn't feel the same way as NY.
Everyone has become gambling degens now with the GME short squeeze. We need our fix. Sportsbetting is going to have massive growth. The tailwind of the Superbowl and states legalizing are going to cause these stocks to moon.
PENN Feb 12 160c
DKNG Feb 26 80c
Edit: I really aped into these. ARKW added DKNG. Cathie Wood ty for the tendies!
Edit: Ty for the gold!

Welcome to LetsBet!

Edit: adding 🚀🚀🚀🏠📈🌕
Edit: Cathie Wood has a ton of this in ARK ETFs already
I’m a Realtor in one of the test markets for Opendoor (Charlotte) and I firmly believe that this company is going to go far. They are going to completely disrupt and revitalize the real estate industry.
A bit of background about me and my credentials for writing this Due Diligence: I have been a licensee since early 2013. My husband is real estate closing attorney . His office handles 300+ real estate closings per month with 4 offices and 18-20 full-time employees.
My husband was not always a real estate closing attorney. Back in 2010 – 2015, his main bread and butter was handling foreclosure defense. He represented people who were facing foreclosure and helped them avoid it by delaying the process through the court system, helping them apply for and obtain loan modifications or negotiating short sales with their lender. Back then, the market was still recovering from the 2008 crash and there were a lot of people who were upside down in their houses. They simply couldn’t sell them and move on. They owed way more money than houses were selling for and had to convince the bank to allow them to sell the house. The fed bailed out the banks by allowing short sales and taking a lesser payoff than what was originally lent out, but the process for getting them to agree to do so on an individual level was long, complicated and very difficult. As a Realtor, I assisted with this many times and listed dozens of short sales. During the markets in 2008-2014, this was a huge majority of houses. Around 2015, the scales tipped back and the market, for the most part, was nearly recovered. Currently, there are no short sales. VERY rare, if so.
Currently, the market in Charlotte is such that inventory cannot keep up with the demand. I talked to a Realtor yesterday who was in the middle of a bidding war with 53 other offers on the table. It is common for most houses to get 20+ offers within hours of listing. It’s an absolute bloodbath out there.
To say that I understand this industry is an understatement. I know it in and out, up and down, left and right. I eat, sleep and dream in real estate and have for a long time.
iBuying is going to shift the entire landscape of how real estate is purchased. I am seeing it happen here now, in real time. So, let me explain…
Realtors have always been the vehicle of connecting buyers and sellers to one another in the process of buying or selling a home. They hold the coveted keys to the castle. This current age of free data and knowledge with the internet has slowly started to shift that power away from them over the past 20 years. The Association of Realtors has done an excellent job of protecting the industry over the past 2 decades, but technology is getting to the point where they won’t be able to continue to do this in the way they have in the past.
Only Realtors have access to MLS, however MLS shares that data with online listing websites like Zillow and Realtor.com. Those websites then attract buyers in the market looking at property, they capture the data and then sell the data to the Realtors as leads. It’s ironic, but Realtors have funded the vehicles that will be the end of their industry eventually.
Every property listed on the MLS is usually listed with a Supra iBox that houses the keys for the house for showings. Only Realtors are allowed to hold the keys to these Supra boxes and everytime they are opened, that data is captured and stored. Opendoor has created their own system for lockboxes and showings. They have their own lockboxes. And anyone can download the app to their phone and access the Opendoor properties. Without a Realtor.
In most situations, sellers list their home while they are still living in the property. They have to because until recently, there were only retail buyers who bought them and sellers needed the proceeds from their sale to buy their next house. Sellers listed their house and dealt with the headaches of showings and repairs, negotiations and strict timelines for closings. Sellers went to closing in a moving truck and so did buyers. Everything relied on perfect timing for everything to happen. Lots of drama and massive potential for any one thing to go wrong that sends the entire house of cards tumbling. Delayed lender, appraisal, yada yada yada.
You take a lot of Xanax in this industry….
Enter Opendoor. A company that pulls the power of the transaction away from the coveted few, and puts it right into the consumers’ hands. On both the buyer and seller sides. You see, they have the capital to do this. They have the money to purchase the house without the headache of the buyer’s side and their drama. Seller calls the shots on when closing happens. Seller doesn’t have to deal with showings. Seller doesn’t have to deal with fixing up their house or repair negotiations. Seller doesn’t have to hear about the buyer’s demands. Seller doesn’t have to rely on the buyer’s lender’s drama. Seller doesn’t have to deal with Realtors. Seller doesn’t have to pay commission. (Oftentimes 6%). Seller is in control. Seller has total power of the transaction. Opendoor makes it easy.
Money is merely a measurement of stored time and energy. People underestimate how valuable that is. Opendoor provides value in saving both for the seller. They eliminate the stress and uncertainly of the unknown.
Opendoor owns the house after closing. They then ready the property to list for sale. They have entire departments devoted to this and marketers on staff who understand exactly what sells a house the quickest. They optimize the house with the knowledge they have.
Then they list it. Except they don’t use one of those mysterious Supra boxes to house the keys to the house that only Realtors have access to. They use their own lockboxes. And they give the power of the showings to the consumer (Buyer) directly. No agent required. The buyer can download their app and access any of their properties, on their schedule. No working around some Realtor’s schedule. The buyer has the power to steer the ship in their own home buying process.
When buyer is ready to make an offer, they can fill it out directly on the Opendoor website. The form is so easy to understand that a child could navigate it. The form fills in the contract and meets the specific legal requirements for each state. In the past, this was where Realtors could valuable. The contracts were so hard to understand, the regular consumer couldn’t manage them without help. Opendoor makes it possible to. Kinda like Turbo Tax with taxes. Similar in that regard.
Additionally, Opendoor offers the buyers discounts for making offers to them directly.
Opendoor: “ If you buy with Opendoor and finance with Opendoor Home loans (ODHL), you can save up to 1% of your home price via a combination of an ODHL lender credit and either a seller credit at closing (If buying directly) or a commission refund (If working with an Opendoor agent). Amounts vary.”
And yes, Opendoor has their own in-house mortgage company to finance your home as well.
Opendoor: “ Finance with Opendoor Home Loans and get up to $1,000 credit at closing”
Now is the time where I recommend you move over to Opendoor.com and spend 5 minutes browsing their website directly. You will quickly see how easy the interface is to navigate. Yes, even for the retards on this sub.
In a few years, legislation will catch up and it will start allowing eNotary services on closing documents. Covid is the vehicle for pushing this through. Notes, Deed of Trusts, even deeds will legally be signed electronically. Eventually, even the closing will be able to happen all online. Opendoor says they will handle this part through their app too.
The real estate iBuying ecommerce market is going to EXPLODE with Millennials and Zoomers and even some Gen X coming into the market. As a Millennial myself, I don’t like or want to deal with other people. We grew up behind the screen and we simple don’t know or understand the social skills it takes to communicate face to face. Not only that, we don’t want to. It’s a waste of time. We want to control everything and we want instant gratification.
Currently Opendoor is only active in 20 markets in the US. They plan to scale to 100 markets within a year. In the Charlotte market I work in, I have seen the closing attorney who handles the Opendoor closings (NOT my husband) scale from 1 employee to over 100 employees within 2 years.
Comment from an Opendoor employee on my original post: casrox
I have some insight. Former employee. Basically the way opendoor works is by buying houses for less than market price and creating a floating inventory of product(houses) they they actual place in a holding subsidiary. Some of these houses are in hot markets so flip relatively easily, some are in colder markets so the price will be lower and it will take longer to sell. All these factors + condition of house and title issues come into play when they buy a house or sell a house at a certain price. They use a proprietary algorithm so don't know all the specifics as I wasn't a programmer and never messed with that. They make their money from a combination of closing fees, title work fees and profit off their house flipping. A sellebuyer can also bring their own realtor in, but will end up paying both opendoor fee and realtor fee. A lot of times they are able to make pretty decent profit on hot market houses that cover the losses they might suffer on a property they are having a hard time selling or that ends up being a complete wash due to unforseen circumstances(a house that had a murder happen in it and company was never informed for instance). They have well informed title teams with full curative and escrow staff in house due to their acquisition of title company named osnational. They were doing so much prior to acquisition that osnational created subsidiary companies that's exclusively worked on title and closings for opendoor. Due to this they are able to complete title work extremely fast and in some cases 24-48hr closings were not out of the question. They make money in other ways as well, such as doing outside contract title work for other companies and having a mortgage company built into business(opendoor mortgage) to increase the number of fingers they have in the proverbial pie. I never saw the numbers, as I was just a cog in the machine, but I can tell you the output/transactions increased month over month for many months prior to my leaving. The only real risk they run is of housing market does cool and they are stuck with too much inventory(just like of car market cooled and carving had too many cars and no buyers). With interest rates low tho they also get a steady income stream from refinances so not sure how big of a hit they would take if the cool off only lasted a couple months. I still do same job, just for another company, and will say the whole housing industry(buying/selling transactions) is booming. So much so that at the company I work for now, we are understaffed and 60hr+ weeks are not uncommon in order to keep up with massive volume. Opendoor flips primarily low-mid price range houses - which I assume is because it lowers the risk in case cool off period happens. The place I currently work does real high end boutique place(1.5mil-3mil is average price range) and we are slammed so I can assume pretty easily that opendoor is even more slammed. Finally, opendoor is also increasing to more and more markets. Since I left they have expanded to a handful of markets I know about and I'm sure others that they haven't disclosed publicly yet. Anyway, thanks for coming to my Ted talk.
wHat AbOuT tHe CrAsH cOmInG! wE aRe In A bUbBlE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As someone who was in the industry during the recovery during the 2008 crash and who helped people avoid foreclosure firsthand, I can explain to you how what we see happening now is NOTHING like what we saw happen then.
The catalyst for the 2008 crash was the teaser ARM (Adjustable rate mortgage) rates that people were given for their mortgages. These rates fluctuated as such a volatile rate, that homeowners found themselves in situations where they could not pay their mortgage within a few years of buying. They did not understand the implications of the ARM loans when they signed on at a teaser, discounted interest rate and did not realize how drastically their mortgage payments would change once those rates adjusted.
The majority of home owners now are at a 2-5% FIXED, 30 year interest rate. Their mortgage payments are about 50% less than what the going rental rate is (at least in my market). People are literally saving thousands of dollars by owning their homes vs. renting. It’s cheaper.
Additionally, the 2008 crash happened because people were able to get mortgages by stating their income. There was no underwriting process that verified anything. They called them NINJA loans- No Income, No Job, No Asaets. This simply can't happen anymore are at any point after the 08 crash. Lenders verify income, debt and credit 3 times during underwriting now, even the day of closing.
Sidenote: I bought a foreclosure and the prior owner took out 3 cash out refis in 2007 within the same week. He didn't tell the lenders about one another at all. There was NO underwriting process that would have caught this at the time. The guy took all the cash and used it to buy a horse ranch in the same city. He never made a payment to any of the 3 lenders and knew it would go to foreclosure. He didn't care because he won. He beat the system, and you know what? He got away with it. Because he was one of thousands just like him who did the exact same thing and the banks realized it would be cheaper to eat it than fight it through the court systems and try to collect against most people who had no assets. This was 2008. This will never be possible again.
wHaT AbOuT tHe PaNdEmIc and tHe ImPeNdInG FoReClOsUrEs????
As someone who works in this industry, I am seeing firsthand that every lender is pushing the unpaid mortgage payments on the backend of the notes. This will allow people to avoid paying large lump sums up front.
Additionally, NO ONE IS UNDERWATER in their houses right now. So if, for some reason, a lender were to demand payment, the seller could simply sell and walk away. I haven’t seen a single lender do this. Not one.
tHiS iS lIKe CARVANA, bUt ReAl EsTaTe iS rIsKiEr.
No, owning real estate is no riskier than owning cars.
Cars are a depreciating asset.
Real estate is an appreciating asset.
95% of millionaires are made with owning real estate, myself included.
Many people see real estate as a safer store of value than even gold or other goods. Definitely safer than having it sit in the bank.
Of course there are exceptions to everything. People are able to sell their house after owning it for 30 years and make retirement level money. People retire off their equity. You can't sell your daily driver after using it for 10 years and make the equivalent rate of return. Appreciating vs depreciating. Of course exceptions exist like Condos in RE and rare classic cars. But for the most part, in 99% situations, real estate gains value while personal property loses it. This is economics 101.
Comment: If I knew I was selling my property for less then fair market value, potentially tens of thousands of dollars, I’d suck it up and hire an agent.
My Response:
Everyone has their different requirements, desires and wants. Many have different ones. Grandma afraid of Covid and doesn't want showings? No Problemo! No Realtor interview process or dealing with them in the house either? Yes please! Closing happens on my watch at my desired time without crazy buyers in a moving truck barking up my ass? Sign me up! I control the entire transaction myself without relying on a Realtor to do it for me? Sold.
Some people don't care about a few thousand bucks if they know that the time, energy and stress was less. Those things have value too.
People don't realize that Money is merely a storage of value for work/time/energy.
Retail buyers require 10x the headache and energy. You may end up making $2k more on paper, but you've lost it all (and more) by the end of the transaction with the time and energy you had to spend to get there.
tHiS iS tHe UbEr Of HoUsEs:
No, it’s not. Uber has zero assets. They don’t own a single car.
They have nothing but their systems and software.
Opendoor actually holds tangible assets unlike companies that literally own nothing like DoorDash, Airbnb, etc.
Sidenote: I would wager that it's VERY likely that they eventually create a property management interface on their app that connects landlords with tenants for a fee and handles the Property Management side of things. This is an obvious next play. I can't confirm this, but it's just what I would be implementing of this were my company.
Okay, I think I’m going to wrap this up. I’m sure Ill think of more stuff and will add to it later but I have to get some work done.
My position: 14 contracts, calls shorts and leaps. 1000 shares.

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As of February 5, 2021 the myanmar military (tatmadaw) has cut off internet and power to many locations within the country. Attempting to silence the voices of the people and their democracy. Democracy that we take for granted in many countries.
Right now the Myanmar military is becoming North Korea, their last overtaking of government was in 1962. They became a dictatorship country for 26 years until the people fought for their right for democracy with bloodshed. Democracy that they shouldn't have had to fight for in the first place because they obtained it legally in 1948. Yet, even though they are a democracy on paper, the military has been controlling the people with fear and threatening their very freedom.
Right now it's happening all over again. With covid spreading around the world, the only means of safe protesting against a military was through social media and their military knew this. The people of myanmar are silenced, they are scared and not only fear for their lives but also their childrens lives and future. There is no telling what the military will do to take back power. This is the same military that was accused of genocide in 2017 and let off due to terrorism claims.
This needs international intervention immediately. This is the only way to stop either side from losing more lives.
How many people you believe read this? I'd wager not too many, only you managed to read it up to here. That's why you have to carry this torch, it must not start and end with me. It has to continue, there are 54 million people in myanmar and about 80% of them wants democracy. However, all of them are silenced due to fear from the military and banning of social media. You must spread the word, it's the only way for international intervention. I need your help because I cant do it alone. We have to be their voice. You have to be their voice.