Summary
In this episode of the Blueprint Tour Season 3, Kenny Shultz and Carter Huddleston conduct a live recording at the CREi Summit in Atlanta with Carson Baird, a commercial real estate broker specializing in industrial properties in Southwest Florida. Carson shares his journey into commercial brokerage, including how he entered the industry just as interest rates began rising in March 2022, forcing him to learn creative deal-making in a challenging market. The conversation explores the intricacies of industrial and flex space development, the importance of local expertise in real estate, and the value of building relationships through LinkedIn. Carson also provides personal insights about balancing a demanding brokerage career with life as a new father of twins, discussing how fatherhood has given him a new perspective and drive. The episode includes a live demonstration of PermitZIP's instant quote tool, showcasing the intersection of engineering services and commercial real estate development.
Keywords
commercial real estate, industrial brokerage, Southwest Florida, flex industrial, interest rates, creative deals, LinkedIn strategy, social media marketing, engineering services, MEP design, entitlements, local expertise, parenthood, work-life balance, instant quotes, shell space, build-out
Takeaways
Entering commercial real estate during challenging market conditions can be a blessing, forcing brokers to develop creative solutions and avoid bad habits
Industrial and flex industrial spaces require specialized knowledge and strong local relationships to navigate successfully
Real estate is fundamentally a local business - out-of-state professionals often encounter major snags without local expertise
Successful brokers act as translators between lenders, investors, tenants, and technical professionals like engineers
LinkedIn content should be 90% value-add and only 10% self-promotion to build meaningful professional connections
Understanding engineering costs and timelines early in the deal process can prevent deals from falling apart later
Sleep deprivation from twin babies creates a new level of motivation - working isn't just for personal gain, but to provide for the family
Sound Bites
"I really sunk my teeth into brokerage the same month that Jerome Powell announced that interest rates are going up in March of 2022. So the money printer got turned off and that's when I showed up."
"I figured out a whole bunch of ways to not do deals."
"There's a reason that real estate is considered a local business, and that means local relationships, local every different municipality has a different code."
"I like to think of us as, you know, like almost psychologists, people that need to be able to communicate and speak a few different languages and get them down into layman's terms."
"My stuff's pretty lighthearted. I'd rather be humorous and approachable than institutional."
"The best piece of content I've ever made was a two sentence dad joke."
"It unlocks a whole different part of me that I wouldn't have known about until I became a father... this isn't for you and like, the golf round, you wanna pay for that car, the vacation. No, it's did put food on the table for your family."
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Live Recording Setup
01:06 Backstory of The Blueprint Tour
01:35 Guest Introduction - Carson Baird
02:09 Entering Brokerage During Rising Interest Rates
03:10 Creative Deal Making in Challenging Markets
04:55 Industrial Real Estate Specialization
05:38 Family Business Background and Career Journey
07:52 Learning from Failed Deals
12:31 Life with Twin Babies
14:10 Sleep Deprivation and Work Performance
16:06 LinkedIn Strategy and Content Creation
17:15 Building Professional Networks on Social Media
19:50 The Psychology of Brokerage
20:22 Live Instant Quote Demonstration
23:57 The Importance of Local Expertise
24:58 Closing Thoughts on Trust and Relationships
Where to Find Carson Baird
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carsoncre/
Where to Find PermitZIP
website: https://www.permitzip.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/permitzip
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/PermitZIP
Where to Find The Blueprint Tour
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theblueprinttour
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theblueprinttour
Kenny (Host): https://twitter.com/blueprinttour
Carter (Host): https://twitter.com/bptcarter
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