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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 26 May 2025 C O V E R S T O R Y STAYING NIMBLE IN A SHIFTING MARKET With a focus on single-family rentals and a fully integrated investment platform, Ninety9 Capital Founder and CEO Alex Hemani discusses how disciplined strategy, operational control, and vertical integration have helped the firm thrive amid an unpredictable real estate landscape. B y DAV I D W H A R T O N I n a real estate market defined by rising costs, squeezed margins, and unpredictable economic shifts, Alex Hemani is betting on focus and flexibility. As the Founder and CEO of Ninety9 Capital, Hemani has spent nearly two decades refining a model built around value-add afford- able housing real estate. But in today's environment, it's not just about the asset class—it's about control. Hemani's Ninety9 Capital is a Dallas-based real estate investment firm that manages funds supported by verti- cally integrated companies specializing in real estate acquisitions, value-add construction, property management, title, and brokerage. A successful serial entrepreneur, Hemani previously built and sold companies within the financial and travel industries before pivoting into the real estate investment space more than two decades ago. With a career spanning more than two decades, Alex has become a respect- ed leader in the real estate industry, known for his innovative approach to property investment and management. His expertise in identifying high-poten- tial real estate opportunities and commitment to long-term value creation have earned him a reputation for delivering consistent returns to his investors. Over the years, he has success- fully executed nearly $1 billion in real estate transactions with many projects' annualized returns surpassing 50%. In this conversation with Mortgage- Point, Hemani explains why vertical in- tegration is critical for boosting investor returns, how his team is approaching distressed multifamily opportunities, and why the hype about office conver- sions may not be all it's cracked up to be. Q: How has your company's vertically integrated structure allowed you to deliver returns during volatile periods? Hemani: I'm going to rewind to the non-vertical structure first. When you look at the 2010s, a lot of the private equity firms were more of a three- or four-man team, and they outsourced everything. You had a team, and you outsourced the acquisitions to some brokerage; you outsourced construction to some construction company. For management, you outsourced the prop- erty management to some third-party property management company in those days, because there was so much margin, or things were being sold at a very discounted price. You could get away with that kind of stuff. Today, the market has changed. If you are not vertically integrated, what ends up happening is, you don't have control of the returns for your investors. For example, let's just let's just stick to construction for a second. If you budgeted "I'm going to spend X amount in construction or value add," D A V I D W H A R T O N , Editor-in-Chief of MortgagePoint, has 20 years' experience in journalism, having worked for the Five Star Institute since 2017. Wharton has an extensive and diversified portfolio of freelance material, with published con- tributions in both online and print media publications. He can be reached at David. Wharton@thefivestar.com. S P E C I A L F O C U S Real Estate Investment