As statisticians, we rarely focus on individual houses, but prefer a large sample size so we can be confident our deductions are sound. However, our wise friend Tom Ruff brought our attention to one particular one-story single-family home in Desert Ridge (Phoenix 85050) with a very interesting history.

Originally built in 1998 by Shea Homes and sold that year for $189,468, it has had 10 owners since that date, its most recent sale being for $707,500 in 2021.

The most interesting sales were the last 4:

1. Purchased by Zillow in 2019 for $512,500
2. Purchased by a new homeowner in 2020 for $453,000
3. Purchased by Opendoor just 7 months later for $778,400
4. Purchased by another new homeowner in 2021 for $707,500

So the first homeowner managed to make a gross profit of $325,400 after owning the home for just 7 months. That's quite some flip.

In contrast, Zillow managed to lose $59500 (12%) on a home they owned for 10 months, while Opendoor managed to lose $70,900 (9%) on a home they owned for 4 months.

I will leave you to draw you own conclusions about this story. If you want to check out the history in more detail, search for parcel 212-32-158 in Monsoon®.

Market incites provided by the Cromford report.