Tennessee is four apartment markets that happen to share a state line, and the right way to sell an apartment building in Tennessee depends on which one you are in. Direct Commercial Acquisitions makes direct cash offers on multifamily properties of 20 units or more in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. We buy as-is, with tenants in place, no listing required, and a typical close of 30 to 90 days. Below is what the current research says about each metro and what an owner should expect from title, transfer taxes, and diligence in Tennessee.
What’s happening in the Tennessee multifamily market
Nashville is the state’s bellwether and the market that overbuilt most aggressively. Matthews’ second-quarter 2026 Nashville report shows trailing-twelve-month completions down more than a quarter from 2024’s peak, units under construction at a fraction of the 2022 high, and second-quarter absorption running well ahead of new deliveries. Effective rents were essentially flat year-over-year, the smallest decline in three years, and Matthews expects rent growth to turn positive by year-end. Vacancy tightened between the first and second quarters. Multi-Housing News has framed the same data as Nashville navigating a transition after its supply surge, and Northmarq reported vacancy holding steady in the first quarter. Transaction volume more than doubled in the second quarter, with per-unit pricing close to its 2022 peak, one of the narrowest gaps of any major U.S. metro.
Memphis is a different animal: a lower-rent, higher-yield market that never had Nashville’s construction boom but has struggled with operational softness. MMG Real Estate Advisors’ 2026 Memphis forecast projected deliveries falling sharply below both 2025 levels and the ten-year average, effective rents stabilizing with slight growth after a negative 2025, and occupancy drifting modestly lower. MMG’s summary was that the market is pointing toward stabilization rather than further deterioration.
East Tennessee sits between the two. Matthews’ second-quarter 2026 Knoxville report showed vacancy climbing above its long-run norm as an elevated pipeline delivers, rents slightly negative year-over-year, and construction starts slowing on cost and supply pressure, while investors kept buying on the strength of the university, Oak Ridge, and health-care employment base. MMG’s 2026 Chattanooga forecast called it an inflection year, with completions falling toward the ten-year average, modest rent growth expected, and occupancy stabilizing as the new pipeline concentrates downtown rather than in the suburbs.
Key metros and what we’re buying there
Nashville. We buy 20- to 200-unit properties across Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, and Sumner counties. The best opportunities we see today are 1970s–2000s garden communities in Antioch, Madison, Hermitage, Murfreesboro, and Smyrna that lost pricing power to the 2023–2025 lease-ups and are now being sold by owners with maturing debt. We also buy small walk-up portfolios in East Nashville and the Nations that fall below the institutional size threshold.
Memphis. Memphis rewards owners who operate well and punishes those who cannot. We buy Class B and C properties across Shelby County, including Hickory Hill, Raleigh, Frayser, Whitehaven, and the Germantown and Bartlett suburbs, and we are comfortable with elevated vacancy, collections problems, and deferred capital that has been pushed off for several years. Memphis pricing on a per-unit basis is among the lowest of the metros we cover, which makes it a place where a direct sale often beats a listing that draws few qualified buyers.
Knoxville. We buy in Knox, Blount, and Sevier counties, including properties near the University of Tennessee campus, along the Kingston Pike and Chapman Highway corridors, and in Maryville and Sevierville. Lease-up competition from new suburban deliveries is the main pressure on older product right now, and that pressure is exactly the situation where we make offers.
Chattanooga. We buy across Hamilton County and into Cleveland and the north Georgia suburbs. Chattanooga’s pipeline is now mostly urban core, so suburban garden properties in Hixson, East Ridge, and Ooltewah face less new competition than they did two years ago.
Other Tennessee markets. We will consider 20-plus-unit properties in Clarksville, Jackson, Johnson City, Kingsport, and Cookeville.
What we buy in Tennessee
Multifamily of 20 units or more is the core of what we do statewide: garden apartments, mid-rise, clustered small buildings sold as a package, and student or workforce housing. We buy with tenants in place, with vacancy, with deferred maintenance, and in estate, partnership, and loan-maturity situations.
We also buy light industrial along the I-40, I-24, and I-65 corridors, retail strip centers and single-tenant buildings, and mixed-use properties in downtown Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga, with no size or price minimum on those three asset types.
Closing and process notes in Tennessee
Tennessee closings can be handled by a title company or a closing attorney; the state does not require an attorney, but title agents and attorneys often work together and many commercial sellers engage counsel to review the contract. Tennessee charges a state transfer tax on the deed, which by custom the buyer pays, along with recording fees; a separate mortgage tax applies to any new loan. Sellers typically pay for the owner’s title policy and for deed preparation. As with every state, these customs are negotiable in the purchase agreement, and you should confirm the split with your title company or attorney.
Deeds are recorded with the county Register of Deeds. Commercial sellers usually convey by special warranty deed. We order an ALTA/NSPS survey, a Phase I environmental report, and a property condition assessment concurrently with title, which typically takes three to five weeks and is the main driver of our 30- to 90-day closing window. Property taxes are billed in the fall for the calendar year and prorated at closing. On the landlord-tenant side, Tennessee’s Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies in the state’s larger counties, including the ones containing Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga, while smaller counties follow common-law rules; industry guides put a typical uncontested nonpayment eviction at roughly four to eight weeks. State law also preempts local rent control. This is context for underwriting, not legal advice; ask your attorney.
The full sequence from first conversation to funding is laid out on our how it works page.
Does DCA buy Memphis apartment buildings with collections and vacancy problems?
Yes. We underwrite Memphis properties from actual collections rather than the rent roll, and we make offers on Class B and C properties with elevated vacancy, delinquency, and deferred capital.
Will a Nashville property that is still fighting lease-up concessions from newer competitors get an offer?
Yes. We buy properties that lost occupancy or pricing power to the 2023–2025 deliveries. We price to in-place income and to the recovery the current research supports, not to a pro forma.
Who pays the Tennessee transfer tax when I sell?
By custom the buyer pays the state transfer tax and recording fees, and the seller pays for the owner’s title policy and deed preparation. The split is negotiable, so confirm with your title company or attorney.
Do you need a broker or a listing to make an offer on a Tennessee apartment building?
No. We buy directly from owners and can underwrite from a rent roll and trailing financials. If a broker or bird dog brings us the property, they are welcome to submit it.
Other markets where we buy apartment buildings
We also buy multifamily in Huntsville, Alabama, North Carolina, and Texas. If your sale is tied to a loan maturity, vacancy or tenant problems, or a partnership dispute, see the complete list of situations we work with.