As an example, Brown points to a current transaction that came through one of DeFrancis’ lender relationships. As it turns out, Brown knows the owner of the multifamily property. Working together, DeFrancis and Brown were able to get the lender and owner to agree on sale terms.

“A lot of special services lenders are listing deals with brokers—and those deals get marketed to the world,” Brown says. “But there are still a lot of deals out there where lenders and owners don’t want to talk to each other. Even within ownership entities themselves, partners are in disagreement. There are a lot of upset people. If we can get some of the people on the same page it’s to our advantage.”

Cortland Partners is getting much more aggressive on the multifamily front in 2010. The company recently acquired and is renovating Avalon on Montreal apartments in DeKalb County and Northchase Apartments in Dunwoody. The company also announced that the $25 million first phase of construction is underway on West M Apartments in Lake Charles, La.

Alan Wexler, president of Databank, an Atlanta-based commercial real estate research firm, pegs Atlanta’s multifamily market at about 88% occupancy—and heading upwards. The recovery has been spurred, in part, by young adults moving out of their parents’ homes and divorced couples moving into apartments, Wexler tells GlobeSt.com. With the market starting to trend upward, Cortland may be in a prime position to leverage the relationships Brown discussed.

“The market is improving,” Wexler says. “It's going to take another year or two before we get up to a reasonable occupancy rate. The transactions have also started, but most of them lender transactions that involve getting rid of bad product. But little by little, once they understand what the values are, lenders are selling some of the best product.”