Community Highlights: Meet Zach Haptonstall of Rise48 Equity

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zach Haptonstall.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born and raised in Phoenix, and I had no background in real estate. I grew up in a lower middle-class family and just focused on progressing through school and my early career.

In 2018, I met our two co-founders, Bikran Sandhu and Robert Szewczyk, and together we started Rise48 Equity with the goal of raising capital from investors to buy apartment communities and help people achieve financial freedom through real estate.

It was a long grind in the beginning, we made no money for the first three years as we were building the company from the ground up. But we stayed committed, and once we started gaining traction, we reinvested everything back into the business to build a strong foundation. That allowed us to hire great people, offer competitive benefits, and create real infrastructure to support long-term growth.

Fast forward to today, it’s been about seven years since we first started. We launched our own property management company, Rise48 Communities, and our own construction arm, Rise48 Construction. We now have over 300 full-time W2 employees across Arizona, Texas, and North Carolina.

To date, we’ve acquired over 60 apartment communities totaling more than 11,500 units, completed over $2.5 billion in total transactions, and currently manage more than $2 billion in assets under management across our markets.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
When we first started Rise48 Equity, we were working around the clock trying to get the business off the ground. For the first three years, we made no money, everything we did was about building trust with investors, finding the right opportunities, and proving our track record.

There were a lot of sacrifices early on — long hours, financial risk, and constant pressure to keep things moving forward even when it felt like we were hitting walls. We didn’t have outside funding or a big corporate safety net, so every dollar we earned went right back into the company to keep growing.

One of the biggest challenges was scaling responsibly once we started to see success. Hiring the right people, creating processes, and maintaining a strong culture while expanding into new markets like Texas and North Carolina all required a lot of focus and discipline.

But through all of it, those challenges really shaped who we are as a company. They forced us to stay disciplined, humble, and focused on the long-term mission — helping our investors achieve financial freedom while building a company that provides real career growth for our team.

We’ve been impressed with Rise48 Equity, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Rise48 Equity is a multifamily investment group headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, with offices in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. We help people achieve financial freedom through apartment investing by raising capital from investors and acquiring, managing, and renovating institutional-quality multifamily communities.

What makes Rise48 unique is that we’re a fully integrated company. We manage every part of the process in-house through our property management company, Rise48 Communities, and our construction company, Rise48 Construction. This allows us to control quality, streamline communication, and ensure that we’re delivering strong performance and long-term value for both our investors and residents.

Since 2018, we’ve acquired over 60 apartment communities totaling more than 11,500 units, completed $2.5 billion+ in total transactions, and currently manage over $2 billion in assets under management across our markets.

Beyond the numbers, what really sets us apart is our culture and core values. We’re Hungry for Growth, constantly pushing ourselves and our team to improve every day. We operate with a Team Before Me mentality — we win together and celebrate our success as one. We have a Relentless Attack Mode mindset, meaning we don’t back down from challenges, and we’re Not Afraid to Fail when it comes to trying new ideas and taking risks. We value Results Over Politics — our team is recognized for performance, not titles or experience.

We’re proud of the culture we’ve built and the impact we’ve made. We’ve grown from just three co-founders to over 300 full-time employees in just seven years, and we’ve built a company that truly empowers both our investors and our team members to grow and succeed.

At the end of the day, Rise48 Equity is about creating opportunities — for our investors, our residents, and our people. That’s what drives us every single day.

What are your plans for the future?
Looking ahead, our focus is on continued growth and scale. We’re expanding our footprint in our existing markets while also exploring new ones that align with our long-term investment strategy. Internally, we’re focused on strengthening our operations and continuing to build out our teams, enhance our infrastructure, and improve efficiency across all divisions.

Our goal is to keep scaling responsibly while maintaining the culture and performance standards that got us here. We’re excited about the future and confident that the next few years will bring even greater opportunities for our investors, residents, and team members.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rise48equity.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rise48equity/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/rise48equity/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rise48equity
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0MykmVKnoZVU7cVFPwvcjA/featured