Chris Elder

Chris Elder is the founder and CEO of Nook, the Philippines' first digital mortgage broker. He launched Nook in 2020 to bring the mortgage-broker model — long standard in markets like Australia, where a majority of home buyers use a broker — to Filipino families, who until then had to apply to banks one at a time and do all the paperwork themselves.

Before Nook, Chris founded Elders Pest Control in Australia and grew it into one of the country's leading pest-control businesses before its acquisition by a European private-equity firm. He is a three-time Telstra Business Awards finalist, a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD), a former board member of Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) Brisbane, and holds degrees in Business (Accounting) and Information Technology.

Under his leadership, Nook has partnered with 20+ Philippine banks and lenders, earned a 5.0-star rating from 116+ Google reviews, and was named Best Mortgage Broker — Philippines at the Pan Finance Business Awards.

Chris's mission for Nook is to help 1,000,000 Filipino families buy their own home — by making the loan the simplest part of the journey, not the hardest.

What Chris writes about

Chris writes and reviews Nook's cornerstone guides on how mortgage broking works in the Philippines, comparing banks, refinancing, and helping first-time buyers and OFWs get approved. His writing draws on running a brokerage that processes real home-loan applications every day.

See how Nook researches and reviews its content on the editorial standards page, or read more about Nook.