Market making is much closer to how we at Opendoor think of it internally. Flippers buy distressed assets at a huge discount and plow money into renovations and repairs. Not really our business.
It strikes me that maybe the best analogy for your financial model is old-school 19th-century shipping (as in; the reason London is London, more or less)? You're taking a trading risk on illiquid goods but your holding times are reasonably short (certainly under a year, presumably much less than that in hot markets).
What a cool business. Congratulations.
Thanks, if you're ever in the Bay Area you're welcome to come by for lunch and learn more! I'm jd@opendoor.com
Interesting history tidbit about London. Do you have a reference/book about it?
Holy fuck this comment is LOL. Never change hacker news