Compare Landis and Open Listings

For Sellers

No Service
0
No Rates
Landis does not offer home listing services to consumers.

For Sellers

Not Applicable
0
No Rates
Open Listings does not offer listing services to consumers.

For Buyers

Rent-to-Own
Varies
Rent and Fees
Landis does not provide real estate services to home sellers. Instead, this company buys a home, rents it, and later offers to sell it to the tenant. The total cost of Landis program is impossible to estimate in advance. Landis revenue come from rent, origination fees, and a 3% increase between the price of the home when Landis buys it and the price it sells it to the tenant after a year.

For Buyers

Buyer’s Savings
50%
Commission Rebate
When Open Listings represents buyers, it contributes 50% of its total Buyer's Agent Commission (2.5%-3%) as a way to financially compete for buyer’s business. Home buyers do not pay any taxes on the amount, the refund amount is always tax-free.
Question: What is the difference between Landis and Open Listings?
Answer: Landis is a rent-to-own program that does not provide real estate services while Open Listings is a buyer’s real estate agent and a referral fee network
Compare Landis and Open Listings for home buying and selling. HomeOpenly is an impartial and an open resource focused on trending real estate services, portals and start-ups.

First published: 01 September 2019
Last updated: 25 April 2021

Buying with Landis

Landis is a rent-to-own program that purchases the home and then rents it out to you as a tenant. Landis claims to operate a one-year program for the tenants to buy the property once they can afford a down payment. A common complaint with all rent-to-own programs is an inability of the tenant to secure a loan in time to purchase the property, at which point the tenant is either forced to walk away with a loss or continues to rent.

Landis may sometimes suggest that a customer reach out to someone (e.g. a lender) who can help them, but the company doesn’t make money from it, and only gives the info to the customer, not the customer's info to anyone else. Landis does not receive any referral fees from third parties (such as lenders, real estate brokers, etc.) and keenly guards customers' information. This is a refreshing approach that adds value to consumers. Landis states that: "companies at our stage don't have any incentive to charge hidden fees: growth and customer experience simply matter much more than revenue."

Landis Pricing

Landis revenue comes from the price of rent and a 3% increase between the price of the home when Landis buys it and the price it sells it to the tenant after a year.

Landis is silent on what happens in a situation when the price of the home drops before the tenant can buy it, or if the mortgage rates increase during the tenancy period. When consumers use Landis, they are unable to take advantage of a buyer’s commission rebate from a real estate agent because the company is the one actually buying the home.

Landis states that it receives "no rebates or commissions from agents, we pay agents their full commission, as though they were working with the customer."

When it comes to the cost of rent Landis says that "we're very upfront with our users that during the 12 months of the program, we are more expensive than owning, or even renting. That's because we need our customers to put money to the side for their down payment … our only revenue is market rent and 3% appreciation at the end of the year. The economics work out because we're in areas where average rents are high."

Listing Services

  • This Service Does Not Represent Sellers

Buyer's Agent Services

  • This Service Does Not Represent Buyers

Landis Editor's Review:

Landis program purchases the home and rents it to the tenant with an option to buy. Landis reviews full financial, credit, and work history of each potential tenant. Those few applicants who pass the screening may select a home within the allowed amount Landis sets. A tenant pays rent, a portion of which becomes a down payment to eventually buy the home. After a year, if the tenant decides to move out, Landis deducts half of the down payment amount saved, as an added fee. When purchasing a house from Landis, a tenant must and pay closing costs of the sale.

Landis has only enough cash on hand (structured as debt) to place offers against a handful of properties. This is why the company likely rejects the majority of applications as a way to reduce risk. It is safe to assume that only a very small number of applications with Landis are approved.

According to the company, "lenders send us customers that want to buy a home but can't close on a loan. It could be due to a low credit score, insufficient down payment, a recent bankruptcy, self-employment, or some other reason."

To secure a mortgage on competitive terms is a primary and the best option to buy a home. Yes, the down payment is difficult, but adding Landis to the mix doesn't solve the overall affordability. Landis claims that owning a home is always cheaper than renting it, but Landis is a landlord.

There is nothing to substantiate that renting a home from Landis is less expensive to own it during that same time frame. There is also nothing to suggest that Landis is offering reduced rent to the tenant at any given time. Buying a property is a risk, and Landis must account for this risk with added fees. The true costs of this rent-to-buy program are incredibly difficult to estimate by anyone other than Landis, and these costs are absolutely real.

Buyers are unlikely to receive a buyer's rebate from a real estate agent when buying with Landis program.

Buying a home is one of the most important transactions in people's lives, especially the first home. By adding Landis rent-to-own proposition, buyers are subjecting their transaction to the additional 3% appreciation fees, paying rent, and a possible loss of half of the down payment amount if moving out.

Landis receives a neutral editor's score because of several factors. When asked, the company declined to disclose its application volume and applicant success rates. Lack of this information makes it difficult to estimate the “weight” of overall operations and the returns the company is required to make against the total number of participants.

An undisputed positive is that the company doesn’t make money from referrals, making their claims to hold consumers’ best interest viable.

Landis claims that owning in the long term is cheaper than renting, especially in the markets where it operates. However, there is no clear evidence money is saved and there is no evidence that consumers who choose the Landis model end up with a higher chance of purchasing the home.

Landis states: “We completely agree that a mortgage is better. That's why we coach all our customers to do what they need to get a mortgage. It's the whole point of the company. We work with those who simply can't get a mortgage (because of credit score, down payment, etc.) and we coach them to fix what prevents them from getting one. As soon as they can get one, they graduate from the program.”

We find no solid evidence that Landis offers home buyers tangible savings as part of their rent-to-own program, but at the same time, some home buyers may decide for themselves that the program is worth the added fees.

HomeOpenly editorial staff remains overall neutral on the subject: we can neither recommend Landis nor suggest that buyers refrain from using the program.

Where does Landis operate?

Landis currently operates in select areas across Select markets in Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee..

Buying and Selling with Open Listings

WARNING: Unlawful Kickbacks, Broker-to-Broker Collusion, False Marketing, Wire Fraud, Price Fixing.

Open Listings is a broker-to-broker collusion scheme, where "partner agents" unlawfully agree to pay massive kickbacks to receive your information and engage in market allocation, consumer allocation, false advertising, unlawful kickbacks, wire fraud, and price-fixing practices in violation of, inter alia, 18 U.S.C. § 1346, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, 15 U.S.C. § 1, 15 U.S.C. § 45, 12 U.S.C. § 2607, 12 C.F.R. § 1024.14. As a consumer, you will always significantly overpay for Realtor commissions subject to hidden kickbacks and pay-to-play steering promoted in this scheme.

United States federal antitrust laws prohibit consumer allocation and blanket referral agreements between real estate companies.

Be smart; do not allow your information to be "sold as a lead" to a double-dealing Realtor in exchange for massive commission kickbacks paid from your future home sale, or your future home purchase.


A multi-state broker rebates buyer part of the commission it receives. In some cases, Open Listings acts as an Internet referral service where it sets rebates for independent real estate brokers that do not work for Open Listings directly.

Open Listings Pricing

Open Listings offers home buyers a 50% commission rebate. Open Listings also requires a $5,000 minimum commission. Minimum commission requirement negates refund for homes priced under 150,000 USD.

Listing Services

  • This Service Does Not Represent Sellers

Buyer's Agent Services

  • Find the Property
  • Accept and Deliver All Offers and Counteroffers
  • Recommend Other Professionals
  • Attend Inspection Services
  • Schedule Private Showings
  • Negotiate Needed Repairs
  • Closing Duties

Open Listings Editor's Review:

In some cases, Open Listings represents clients directly. However, Open Listings Referral Network (Partner Agents) is a referral process that connects buyers with third-party real estate agents in exchange for an undisclosed commission split or a referral fee.

A Partner Agent who is employed by, or works with their own brokerage gets referred by Open Listings at their own discretion, as a blind match. Open Listings keeps referral fee amount hidden and does not disclose the split amount it receives from real estate agents who operate under their own license – this practice is highly deceptive and is designed to deceive consumers into thinking that Open Listings is the brokerage they are actually working with.

By engaging with Open Listings consumers authorize them to share personal information and home search history with any Partner Agent, regardless if a consumer wants to work with an Open Listings agent directly.

When shopping for a Real Estate Agent, the price alone is not as important as being able to make an informed choice about representation. Open Listings Referral Network is a poor choice for Real Estate Agents and consumers due to lack of transparency.

Open Listings’ operations as a referral network result in an inefficiency known as reverse competition and possible price fixing. Such practice may result in a lower quality of service or higher commissions.

Once Open Listings refers a customer to a Partner Agent, that agent, not Open Listings, represents the customer from the initial meeting through closing. Open Listings dictates that Partner Agent rebates 50% of their commission in order to receive a referral, while Open Listings takes a commission cut after the transaction is complete.

In the United States, all independent brokerage fees are always negotiable and each real estate agent establishes its own policy for a fee structure, amount of commissions, and issuing rebates to consumers.

Price fixing is prohibited by antitrust legislation. To fix, control, recommend, suggest or maintain commission rates, rebates, and fees for other agents' services is an improper practice.

Open Listings does not represent home sellers, but the company was acquired in 2018 by a direct home cash buyer: Opendoor.

Opendoor does not represent home sellers either, it is a real estate investor who buys homes from consumers and resells them at a profit; this practice is known as house-flipping.

When working with Open Listings, consumers may be pressured to use Opendoor by their Open Listings real estate agent. There is absolutely no requirement for anyone using Open Listings when buying a home to sell their home to an Opendoor.

As buyer’s agent Open Listings’ job is to represent consumers when making a purchase of a new home, it should not advise consumers on their existing home listing, unless a separate listing agreement exists.

Real estate agents are required by law to place their client’s interest before their own. Consumers are encouraged to read our full review for Opendoor before using the house-flipping service.

Where does Open Listings operate?

Open Listings currently operates in select areas across California, Washington, Texas, and Illinois..