Andrew Saunders picked an auspicious time to found what bills itself as the only locally owned residential real estate brokerage in the Hamptons. Saunders & Associates launched in October 2008, a mere few weeks after the collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered a worldwide recession that also brought the Hamptons housing market to a virtual standstill.

Saunders company has since ridden the areas recovery, growing its number of brokers and deals brokeredand opening a 5,200-square-foot East Hampton office in February 2015. The firm was involved in more than 40 percent of the deals from Southampton, where it has its headquarters, to Montauk from January 2014 through mid-December of that year.

Saunders worked for a dozen years as a developer before launching the brokerage. He specialized in building Hamptons estates that retailed for between $3 million and $20 milliongood training for selling the same.  -TA