Chris Heller

About Chris Heller

With 35+ years in real estate, I’ve built, led, and scaled businesses at every level—from selling homes to running global organizations.Today, as CRO at PLACE, I focus on one thing: driving revenue by connecting platform, people, and consumer experience into a single, scalable ecosystem. That means aligning strategy, distribution, and monetization across the entire homeownership lifecycle—not just transactions.My career spans frontline production, brokerage leadership, and proptech innovation:#1 agent globally at Keller WilliamsFormer CEO of Keller Williams, where I helped scale the company internationally and drive record productivityBuilt and led the HellerTheHomeSeller team homes sold)CEO of loanDepot’s mellohome, focused on simplifying the consumer home journeyPresident of OJO Labs, helping scale and position the business through its successful exitI’ve spent my career at the intersection of real estate, technology, and capital—building platforms that don’t just grow, but compound.What drives me now is simple:Creating leverage for agents, partners, and consumers by building a connected, end-to-end homeownership experience.Because the future of this industry won’t be won by who does more transactions—It will be won by who owns the relationship.

Experience

1. Advisor

   Lower

   Oct 2025 — Present · Austin, TX, US

   As an advisor to Lower Mortgage and Movoto, I partner with leadership to drive growth, and operational excellence. My work centers on scaling agent productivity, integrating mortgage and home search experiences, and identifying key initiatives that expand consumer reach and partner value.Leveraging decades of experience leading national brokerages and proptech ventures, I provide strategic counsel on business model innovation, partnerships, and performance optimization.

Education

• Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and University of San Diego

  Business/Managerial Economics

  1981 — 1983

• University of San Diego

  Business Economics

  1984 — 1988