Then & Now: Sanders is Nashville’s ‘go-to guy’ for finding apartments

Editor’s Note: The following story appeared in the Aug. 14 issue of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal. “Then & Now” is a profile of a past member of the Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 class.

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Joel Sanders was 23 when the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal touted him as a Forty Under 40 honoree in 2008, a year following his graduation from the University of Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business.

During the summer of his sophomore year, Sanders earned his real estate license and began selling real estate with Allred Properties in Fayetteville while he was a full-time student. The North Little Rock native brokered more than $7 million in residential and investment properties during his last two years at the UA. Just before graduation, he earned his CCIM designation, making him one of the youngest CCIM designees in the country.

Setting his sights on success in the real estate industry, he told the Business Journal, “I want to be the go-to guy for apartments.”

Fifteen years later, that is his reputation as an entrepreneur. He has started three successful companies since 2008, all tied to the multifamily real estate sector.

“I wasn’t smart enough to predict [apartments] would be the darling asset class,” he said. “I was probably dumb enough to know everyone needs a place to live. These things are pretty economical.”

Sanders, 38, cut his teeth in Northwest Arkansas for a few years after college, learning from mentors like commercial real estate veterans Ramsay Ball and Dewitt Smith.

He started his first company in 2009, smack dab during a recession. Trinco Apartment Homes was a turnaround management company that oversaw 4,000 apartment units in three states.

As Sanders turned around and sold those properties and wound down the company, his career path led to Nashville, Tenn., in 2013.

“I wanted to get in a bigger pond, but that was similar to Northwest Arkansas,” he said. “And that characteristic was the people. I’m a big believer that people make an area and not just the real estate, attractions or jobs. It’s the people that want to live there.”

In the past decade, Sanders pioneered the Nashville metro’s apartment-locating industry. In 2016, he launched and bootstrapped Apartment Locators, leading the business to $1.3 million in revenue in two years.

In 2021, he sold his majority interest in the business to out-of-state investors to focus on his next venture — Apartment Insiders.

Prospective renters can begin the process online by answering a short list of questions about the type of apartment they’re looking for. Apartment Insiders will schedule an in-person meeting to further discuss the renter’s needs. Using specialized, intimate knowledge of the Nashville-area apartment market and Apartment Insiders’ proprietary internal property database, a consultant will present clients with the available apartment community options that meet their needs, time frame and budget.

The service is free. Apartment Insiders is paid by the apartment community where the resident leases.

“This is version 2.0 of Apartment Locators,” Sanders explained. “We’ve ramped up our training program to be better than ever. Technology is better. I explain to people that you have the Navy and the Navy Seals. Both are great, but a certain elite level of training and trust goes along with one of those. We know sentiments and why renters choose to live in one place over another. We can see patterns and trends you won’t find in a CoStar report.”

Sanders said the company realized an average of 133% quarter-over-quarter revenue growth during its first year in business. This year, it’s headed toward $1 million, with growth plans for other markets to recreate the concept.

Sanders also applies his experience as an adjunct instructor at Nashville State Community College. He developed the curriculum and taught the first classes for the Amazon-funded RED Academy, a first-of-its-kind real estate development program focused on minority developers through the Urban League of Middle Tennessee.

Sanders graduated from Catholic High School for Boys in 2007 as an All-State jazz guitarist. He still plays occasionally in Nashville’s music scene.

“You feel like you’re really good whenever you are in Arkansas; being in Nashville, you get humbled fast,” he joked. “I’ve played with some acts here, but these guys are so good. And they do it to put food on the table. It’s a hobby for me.”