Our Team
"Location, location, location."
This short phrase emphasizes the critical importance of the location of a property in commercial real estate. It highlights the idea that the value and success of a commercial property are heavily influenced by its geographic placement, proximity to amenities, accessibility, and surrounding demographics.
"More Than 20 Years of Successful Partnership"
Meet Our Founders
Eric Hamm
CEO, Co-founder
Eric is a locally recognized expert in the field of commercial and residential real estate. After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley in 1995, Eric returned to his hometown, Merced, CA and went to work at The Razzari Auto Centers. He was soon overseeing The Razzari Auto Center’s entire organization as the Managing General Partner of the Dealership Group. In this role, he oversaw the day-to-day operations of one of the largest private employers in Merced County with a multi-million dollar P&L. Under his leadership, Razzari Ford became the fastest growing Ford Dealership in the Western United States.
His devotion to making Merced a great place to live and work led him to leadership roles with several civic and philanthropic organizations. Wanting to make a bigger difference in the community of Merced, in 2018, after 23 years, Eric left The Razzari Auto Centers. Since then, he has owned and operated a real estate brokerage, Next Door Real Estate; been CEO of Real Estate 101, a commercial real estate training company; and successfully purchased and provided ongoing management for several commercial properties he owns personally.
Most recently, he partnered with Michael Leap, a former member of his leadership team at The Razzari Auto Centers to start Redtail Ventures, a commercial real estate investment group focused on value-add commercial real estate. Redtail Ventures goal is to provide above market returns for their investors by purchasing, renovating, and operating value-add commercial real estate throughout the Central Valley.
Michael Leap
COO, Co-founder
With over 25 years of experience in the automotive industry, the first 21 of those years was with Razzari Automotive where he met and worked with Eric Hamm. During that time Michael developed a passion for team building, business development, career path coaching, and delivering excellence in customer service, satisfaction, and retention. In his most recent role as the Fixed Operations Director for a larger automotive group, he oversaw the service, and parts departments of 12 dealerships, managing a team of over 300 employees. He was responsible for increasing profitability, efficiency, and customer loyalty, as well as implementing best practices and standards across the group. In that position, he leveraged his skills in customer retention, dealer operations, and customer satisfaction to achieve consistent growth and improvement in key performance indicators.
Recently Michael has once again teamed up with Eric Hamm to form Redtail Ventures, a commercial real estate investment firm focused on value-add properties in Central California where they will use their combined experience and business skills to not only create value and security for their investors but to also elevate the quality of life in the communities they serve.
Being a fifth-generation Mercedian and having grown up in the small farming community of Le Grand CA, Michael is passionate about improving the quality of life and prosperity in his community through thoughtful economic development.
Key Staff
Sammy Rodrigo
Strategic Marketing, Junior Partner
Sammy, a Northern Colorado native with a Business Marketing degree from Colorado State University, brings 6 years of digital marketing expertise to her role in commercial real estate. Passionate about organization and relationship-building.
Bill Rodrigo
Strategic Relations , Junior Partner
Bill, originally from Peru, resides in Aspen, Colorado. With an Economics degree and post-grad in International Finance, he gained public and private sector experience, fueling his passion for numbers and commercial real estate deal analysis.