Revolutionizing the Appraisal Market

Chris Knight

Chris Knight is Chief Executive Officer of Opteon Global. Since taking on the role of CEO in 2016, Chris has cultivated a growth culture through initiation and support of more than 20 acquisitions throughout the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

In 2021, Chris relocated from Australia to the United States to further grow Opteon USA which provides both appraisal management and staff appraisal services. He is passionate about market disruption through development of great people, process, data software, and technology. By leveraging strategic partnerships, Chris aims to replicate the success Opteon has had in other markets to bring consistent same-day appraisals to the United States.

In addition to being a certified Australian valuer, Chris also has an accounting background and dual master’s degrees in Business Administration and Business Property. On a personal note, Chris is a licensed pilot and golfer.

Lee Trice

Lee Trice founded The Trice Group in 1987. After growing that firm to become the largest appraisal company in the MidAtlantic Region, Lee co-founded Valucentric with Real Valuation Services to replicate that success on a national scale. In 2021, Valucentric was acquired by Opteon to escalate growth around AMC, Appraisal Staff, and PropTech SaaS solutions. Lee was awarded professional designations from the Appraisal Institute and RICS, which is a global and multi-discipline valuation professional organization.

Kevin Groff

Kevin has over 20 years of experience working in Finance with diverse industry experience including biotech, manufacturing and commercial real estate for both private, public, and non-profit companies, most recently with American Premier Builder. He specializes in FP&A, financial modeling, M&A activity, budgeting and forecasting, strategic planning, and driving operational efficiencies. He is focused on bottom line results through building efficient processes and interdepartmental collaboration.

Greg Bernstein

Greg has more than 15 years experience in the real estate industry, and managed multiple companies in the space before founding Value Trend Solutions (VTS) in 2009. Serving as the organization’s Managing Partner, Greg helped to position VTS for long term success which led to an eventual partnership with Opteon in 2018. In his current role, Greg focuses on sustainable financial health, responsible growth, operational excellence, and corporate culture.

Ben Clark

In Ben’s role as US General Counsel, he is responsible for the Company’s American legal & risk functions and manages the US Compliance Department. Ben is a senior corporate lawyer with significant experience as in-house legal counsel with real estate settlement service providers, particularly in the mortgage industry, as Ben served as in-house legal counsel for Platinum Home Mortgage and Guaranteed Rate from 2013 to 2023.  Along the way, Ben has focused on general corporate governance and regulatory compliance, and has significant exposure in mergers & acquisitions, labor & employment law, and corporate litigation. Ben brings a business sense to his legal work, always striving to find a way to support our business initiatives in a manner that safeguards the Company from undue legal or regulatory exposure. 

Heather McLaughlin

In her nearly 15 years in the mortgage industry, Heather has gained significant leadership experience in mortgage lending, risk management, collateral policy, appraisal operations, and innovative valuation product development. Helping to pioneer the modernized appraisal, she is passionate about developing progressive solutions to meet the needs of the future of our industry.  In her current role, Heather focuses on creating efficiencies by utilizing cutting-edge technology and streamlined processes to deliver superior quality reports to help our clients meet the needs of their borrowers.

Michael Floyd

With nearly 30 years of management-level experience in appraisal, appraisal review, appraisal training/instruction, vendor quality control, and AMC/valuation compliance, Michael is a seasoned industry veteran. He was one of the original founding members of StreetLinks Lender Solutions, where he served as Chief Appraiser and Senior Vice President of Compliance for nearly a decade. He continued in that role through the company’s acquisition by Assurant Mortgage Solutions. Most recently, Michael held the position of Chief Appraiser at First Look Appraisals, a national Appraisal Management Company based in Chicago, IL. Opteon looks forward to the expertise and leadership Michael will bring to the team.