Smith arrives at the Bellingham-based unicorn with over two decades of industry experience, most recently serving as COO and President at Better.com. During his tenure there, he oversaw a 2.5x increase in both revenue and funded loan volume since early 2024. His previous leadership roles include stints as CEO of Mission Loans and President of Direct Lending at loanDepot.

For PLACE, the appointment is a strategic push to tighten the connection between real estate agents and lenders. By embedding Envoy’s national infrastructure and loan officers into its existing services—which already span title, escrow, and transaction coordination—the company hopes to remove the traditional friction points that often plague home financing. Ben Kinney, co-founder and CEO of PLACE, noted that the integration is designed to make mortgage lending as transparent as the rest of the property transaction.