Hidden Gems: Meet Jake Heller of AI for CRE Collective

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Heller.

Hi Jake, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m a third-generation real estate developer. Growing up, real estate was the family business.

After spending years on the development and operations side – working across 6,000+ units – I started noticing a gap. Everyone was talking about AI, but nobody was translating it into practical workflows that actually worked for CRE professionals. The tools existed. The use cases didn’t.

So in August 2025, I launched the AI for CRE Collective – a professional enablement platform for commercial real estate operators, brokers, investors, and developers who want to use AI in their actual day-to-day work.

We’ve grown to 700+ members and do over 1M social media impressions per month in under a year. We publish a weekly newsletter, run live sessions, and maintain a database of 650+ AI tools vetted specifically for CRE use cases.

The mission is simple: I test every AI tool and workflow so CRE professionals don’t have to figure it out alone.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not smooth. The biggest challenge has been that this category doesn’t really exist yet. There’s no playbook for “AI education for commercial real estate professionals.” I had to figure out what people actually needed – not what they said they needed – by running live sessions, testing tools myself, and watching where members got stuck.

Early on, I built too much content and not enough structure. People would join and not know where to start. Fixing onboarding and creating clear role-based paths took months of iteration.

The other challenge is credibility. CRE is a relationship-driven industry built on trust. Getting serious operators and institutional people to engage with AI – and to trust that the workflows actually hold up under real deal pressure – required proving it repeatedly, not just talking about it.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The AI for CRE Collective is a professional enablement platform for commercial real estate operators, brokers, investors, and developers who want to use AI in their actual work.

What sets us apart: I’m a third-generation developer who tests every tool and workflow on real CRE tasks before recommending anything. We’re not a generic AI course. Everything is built for the specific workflows CRE professionals do every day – underwriting, market research, lease analysis, investor reporting, deal sourcing.

We’re most known for being the most practical, operator-tested resource in the space. 650+ members. 95%+ retention. A database of 650+ AI tools vetted for CRE use cases. Weekly live sessions. Done-for-you workflows organized by role.

What I’m most proud of: we built something people actually stay in and use – not just sign up for.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
Traveling to South Africa where my mom and her parents our from with our whole family.

Pricing:

• Basic tier membership: $49/mo
• Basic tier membership: $279/yr
• Premium tier membership: $199/mo
• Premium tier membership: $1,499/yr

Contact Info:

• Website: https://aiforcrecollective.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aiforcre/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakeheller1/
• Twitter: https://x.com/JakehellerAI
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@aiforcrecollective