The Expert Podcast

You have some type of conflict or dispute going on with somebody it might be major might be minor It could be a friend relative coworker, spouse who knows, but we're going to talk about disputes and conflicts and. How to get out of one if you're backed into a corner. And some news about how some high profile people are doing this You can copy. Of course, we're going to talk about electric vehicles. there's a major crisis in that market And also something we don't talk about here a lot.

But we're familiar with is commercial insurance business insurance. There are some major companies pulling. Insurance policies from companies And that could affect you as a consumer. Of course your business owner can affect you there as well. And last we're going to talk about the.

home construction industry What dangers might be lurking in the background for general contractors and building that might affect the real estate market But first as promised we're going to talk about conflicts. And with. conflicts. You're going to find that in any. Particular point in your life.

You're going to have some level of discomfort on happiness, maybe

You know sleepless nights because you have a dispute going on with somebody maybe the other person doesn't know about it Maybe you're just pent up beef with them…

maybe it's something major Maybe it's a lawsuit or pending lawsuit litigation Maybe it's a divorce Maybe it's an employment dispute, a family turmoil. This is something we're going to talk about here specifically. you would think that families don't have conflicts because they're on the same page. Some of the biggest conflicts we see. Come within families family members fighting It could be maybe a probate Somebody died in there People are fighting over the money.

It may be a divorce Maybe it's a child visitation thing. Maybe it just having an internal conflict about a difficult decision. Just hearing that first 10 or 15 seconds of this video. I'll bet you're imagining some conflict that you're having and it's making you cringe It's making you tense up. It's making you feel pain that you have to deal with this You just want to live your life You just want to be happy and like sail through life and not have to worry about what's going on with this other person.

Is it going to be a problem Are you going to win Are you going to lose? So you don't have to get into details but in the comments below put some. Reactions to what comes up when you think about conflict…

The most common people that you might be fighting with our spouse relationship partner, coworker neighbors A lot of times neighbors are sources of conflict because you'd live right near each other And whether the dog's barking or the kid leaves their toys in your yard or. maybe their fences and ugly color who knows there's many neighbor problems that comes up Maybe there's too much. coming from. Their visitors to their house. Any of this sound familiar…

it could be in an employment scenario Could be your boss could be a coworker Maybe if you are a boss maybe it's one of your employees It just tough to deal with…

What are the most common things that conflicts are about? A lot of times they're about money. Right We all fight about money. Who deserves it? Who's supposed to get it supposed to get a race.

Taking too much, not fair settlement is lopsided. The distribution. Should be different. Sometimes the conflict is about trust You thought that somebody was going to do something. And they didn't.

You thought you can count on them, but you didn't. They promised to do one thing, did something else? These trust conflicts could be very. Informal just maybe a family member was supposed to give you a ride and they didn't, or it could be very formal like a contract. With a beer…

You agreed in a contract to do something They didn't live up to the contract. Maybe it was a promise that was made. That wasn't fulfilled. These disagreements. Start out small but they escalate and they fester and they kind of eat away at you over time You worry about it Can't sleep at night…

So what do you do? You don't want to just give up and let the other side when that's not fair, right. You don't want to chest. Let them do something that's unreasonable. But on the other hand you may not like conflict you might avoid conflict.

So what do you do You just kind of pretend that doesn't exist Stick your head in the sand and. The other person basically gets away with it. There's another option You don't have to do either one of those things You don't have to fight them. But you also don't have to just surrender either…

You want to conquer that dispute either by winning or dissolving it and dissolving it doesn't mean walking away from it It doesn't mean. surrendering white flag. Right…

Normally the reason that conflicts escalate and don't worry we're going to talk about EVs and housing market and this insurance crisis that you really want to know about We'll get to that. And some of it's related to conflict…

The biggest reason is. Pride. Either yours or the other person. Right You're too proud to…

Say, you're sorry or you're too proud to tell the other person that they should be sorry. Maybe you're too proud to ask for. The compensation you're supposed to get. You feel like they're supposed to give it to me I shouldn't have to ask that ever come to your head. Do you ever think I shouldn't have to ask.

If that's a familiar. Phrase…

Let us know just like this. I shouldn't have to ask does that. Seem reasonable to you. If somebody promised something you shouldn't have to ask for it again. Very famous line in the godfather…

The consiglieri. Tom Hagan goes to see. The movie producer asked for a favor and he says no he says anything else you can ask for anything else? And I'm Hagen says…

Got father never asked for another favor once he's rejected in the first one. So you don't want to ask for something. If you've already been rejected…

So how do you escape this Well, In many ways you have to deescalate it They have to take the pride in in the vengeance out of the equation. You probably have pride in vengeance whether you know it or not the other person does…

Right. They're out to get you. They don't want to seem like they're weak They don't want to seem like they're giving up neither do you for that matter. So how do you. Dissolve that.

well you can either do it through diplomacy just between the two of you and say well, you know, this isn't really good but I'm willing to do this a lot of times if you give an inch the whole thing will integrate You'll go away. In most cases the actual conflict underneath all this is actually not that much. Two people might think that this far apart, but 80% of the. Dispute is really already in agreement You just don't know it because you you're blinded by not being able to talk to one another…

So many times what you can do is. Open your eyes. Get rid of the. The hate or the. Vengeance that you had towards the other person It just kind of see it like what really is going on here What's the objective thing.

Ideally if it's a big enough case or a big enough issue. You get a third party to step in You get a unbiased what's called neutral party. It could be a mediator could be a friend It could be formal not formal. How. and why does this work Well let's look at a couple of examples First of all, here is big news from the celebrity gossip columns It's from TMZ, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie could not be more iconic celebrities gossip celebrities.

They had a winery dispute. And they settled it out of court. How did they do that Well, They have all kinds of filings and this long long winery battle…

But they finally agreed that they want to do it out of court and…they want to do mediation, settle their dispute. This is the winery Look at this French vineyard Chateau. Right. They've agreed to mediation as a means. They've been locked in this battle for years.

I guarantee you you watch the news this story came out when. 7 27…

Today today. You watch the news and you see how it gets resolved. 'cause I can guarantee you that most. of the dispute over this winery. What it is I don't even really care what it is.

It's already agreed to but they have just such dug in their heels line in the sand that they can't see each other. Whoever the mediator is we'll just step in. And find all the things they already agree on. And there'll be a neutral third party Won't be somebody trying to get over on the other person that this mediator is going to be equally. Trying to assist both parties It'll get resolved that fast guaranteed…

So this is a big deal This is a multimillion dollar high celebrity case. What about a case that maybe hits. More closer to home. What about. Something like family.

Here is adult children navigating caregiver issue So this is a scenario where, you know you and your siblings have different ideas about how your elder parents should be taken care of Should they go in a nursing home Should they have home care? Should they. Have one of the children take care of them. And everybody has different ideas Look. Everybody in our family has different priorities different motivations different lives.

And so how to deal with the parents is a tough one. Right. Are there any services you recommend that can help families resolve? All elder parent care. Forgiving problems.

It takes your father diagnosed with Alzheimer's, arguing about how to handle his needs. Right…

Answer. Higher and eldercare mediator…

It's very straightforward. This is something where a family…can resolve this conflict and it's going to be good for everybody First of all, the parents are going to get. The care that they need rather than just sitting back and watching the kids fight over it going back and forth. The second thing is it'll keep from this dispute. Fracturing the family look.

These children have lived together. As a family and. Until they were in their teens 10 15 years. They have existed as a family unit for at least. 20 years if they're old enough to have…

Parents that are elder They're going to be in their thirties or forties at least So that's how long this family has been together. Do you want to have it all go away over some fight over how to do something that like people are trying to do the right thing They're trying to give. The care to their parents and. It's not going well. So you don't want to have this escalate to where it becomes a permanent.

Can't go back Can't say you can't unsay the words…

Permanent. Fracture of the family. You don't want to go the rest of your life. Not. Being friends with your siblings…

Third party can help because if you just try to do it between yourself…

You're going to have difference of opinion You're going to have different priorities A third party can help sort through those. So there's one example at a very high level…

Brad Pitt. Angelina Jolie and one at a low level just a regular everyday family. You probably have something in between or maybe something not even that serious Maybe you have a neighbor. Who. Just won't stop.

You know, putting our coffee grounds in the garden and this between your two yards. Maybe you have a coworker. That won't stop putting incense in the break room, something stupid like that…

A lot of times if you approach it directly and they don't…

Respond or they don't fix the problem. Now it escalate Now you're going to be mad You're not going to know how to fix it You're not going to have the tools to navigate it. And now you're going to be passive aggressive, be mean to the person And it's going to create a toxic environment or at least. A. unpleasant environment.

So you don't have to hire a formal professional mediator. You can get a third party maybe another coworker another neighbor to say Hey what can we do about this Right. I noticed this how can we handle that You can get a third-party that's not…that high level of it, of a thing So. Make a long story short I'll bet. I'm predicting the future.

That everybody listening to this right now on whatever channel YouTube rumble. Facebook Twitter all of our channels It's distributed everywhere. Can I can think of at least one, probably more than one conflict dispute in your life. That you wished didn't exist if you wish it didn't exist, make it go away. Don't let it fester Don't let it build up because all it's going to do is get worse.

And all those weeks months, maybe years that go by with that conflict still hanging out there, just going to eat away at you And it's going to take away from you living life So…

You some of these tools and you can check out our website which just took it off the screen tell a mediator to help. navigate. From that…

So. Like we always say it's a broken record, but it's a thing EVs…

Our pile. up on dealer's lots. Piling up on dealers a lot, despite massive taxpayer subsidies. But we saw a deal the other day where. A.

New Jeep Wrangler. New Jeep Wrangler had a sticker price of like 60,000 some odd dollars This is a hybrid Evie Call it four X Z Wrangler. We saw a deal that came by email. And. They're taking this Wrangler $60,000 and they have a dealer discount of like five of a $5,000.

They have a factory discount of like $2,500 and they federal tax saving that the dealer the factory has got to take right off the bat When you buy it you don't have to wait for your tax return of $7,500. You're talking almost $15,000 off the bat of 60,000 that puts it in the mid forties. And that's less than what a used one would cost. So there are people that are trading in used Jeeps getting a new one for like no money out of pocket. You have to structure the financing a certain way.

And. They're still not selling them. How much are they backing up? Well, there are 92,000 EVs currently sitting on dealer's lots. That's a 342% increase from a year ago…

That's a big deal…

That is a huge huge deal…

It's…

It's something you don't hear about a lot. It's a 92 day supply three month worth of EVs twice The industry average. Piling up on dealers locks. Why is that Well, It may be perception It may be that. Consumers…

Don't really see. The value benefit for them to buy an Evie…

I'll bet you have an opinion about that. If you do. I'm sure but he wants to hear it. I bet it's a strong opinion. We either love him or hate him.

Nobody's in between On EVs…

Maybe someday there'll be selling like hotcakes Maybe they'll be fine off a lot right now though. They are not flying off the locks…

So that's a very serious consideration. Two. Think about when you're looking at the car market. What is also. Flying off the lots Well, It has to do with guess what?

Real estate. And the thing with real estate…

His new homes That's the big story. This story seems like it's about housing shortage. Right And it is it talks about how, you know people they're not in their houses to go around and people are homeless and, you know that's that's a thing we read about all the time Renters don't have enough money to. Pay the bills, right…

But…

The, the news from this that's buried more than halfway down…

Is…

There's housing stock problems, national shortage of builders, rising materials costs and stagnant incomes. So but this is the takeaway national shortage of builders and rising materials costs…

It's going to take a long time to undo decades of under building. National shortage of builders and underbuilding put those two things together What does that tell you? Right now today there's a national shortage of builders We'll talk about that. For the last decades there has been underbuilding. What does that mean That means we're already short homes right now where there's a shortage of homes that are built.

And there's also a current shortage of builders…

What that means is the shortage of homes isn't going to change anytime soon. Right You don't magically create. All these new building companies How do we know this Well guess what We are one you see in the link below a secure builders we are a licensed general contractor We're in the building industry. We see what's going on in the industry. First of all there's not a lot of building companies out there.

As there used to be. There's some large national builders KB…

GL homes, all the national building companies they're out there…

But there's also. A segment of new home building and remodeling and additions that comes from smaller regional builders…

And the problem with that is the regional builders…

Have the same problem as a national builders. Employees…

There are. Most places in the country that even if you are a builder and you want to build a new house for somebody, you can't get employees to go the house framers roofers. Insulation…

Electrical contractors plumbing contractors excavation companies. You can't get employees to work in any of those trades…

And if you can't get the workers you can't do the work. And some parts of the country, many of those trades are paying 50 $60 an hour…

And they still can't get help. They maybe get somebody shows up a day or two and then they disappear…

Or they're unreliable…

50 $60 an hour. You can make a couple thousand a week. Easily as a builder as or as a laborer for a builder. If you are reliable. If you show up for work nine to five.

Do a good job. Not causing trouble and you can make a couple grand a week…

As a builder easily if not more in some places…

Because there's nobody out there. So that national shortage of builder is still an issue. And decades of underbuilding is like a built up pent up. Deficiency of homes. Is that causing homelessness out of the mouth That's the biggest reason for homelessness It may be.

But it is a reason for the fact that housing prices are up because. First of all nobody wants to sell their old house because they are holding on clinging to that low interest rate…

New homes. Can't build them fast enough. There's already a backlog There's already a shortage has already a, Kind of a waiting list for new homes. In most areas and new homes you can't just spool up that fast You have to get permits You have to do. site work.

And it doesn't happen automatically does happen instantly So what are you seeing in your area Do you see new homes going up? Are they gone up as fast as they used to be…

Last subject this is a big deal…

This is a very very big deal…

In. California California is always the Canary in the coal mine Isn't it They're always the first one that sees this…

Liberty mutual major company You see the commercials Liberty Liberty Liberty right. Is halting business owner's policy It's called a bop This is owner's policy. And they're halting them in California. Current policies will not be renewed after December. So if you're in a business owner look it's are more than halfway through the year.

If your policy is going to be up. You're done in six months…

Discontinue its business owner policies in California I'm sure it's not the only place you're going to do it. Regularly assess our position in every market to ensure we're delivering competitive innovating product What does that mean? It means it's not worth it…

Why wouldn't you just sell them? Well because you have to be able to have enough money from the incoming. Premium payments to pay out claims. And if your premium payments aren't enough to pay our claims because the claims are too high. Well, you can't just keep selling policies and you might say well why not raise the premiums Well, there's a couple problems with that.

First of all if the premiums are too high the customer's not going to buy it. And you might say well what did they have to buy insurance Well they might have to but there's another problem…

The California. Insurance commissioner has to approve your rate increases And if they don't approve it you can't increase the rates…

Which means you're not going to have money to pay premiums. Which means. You have to get out of the market. Even if you want it to stay in the market. If the California insurance commissioner.

Looks at your books and says you don't have enough money to pay claims. You have to shut down They'll shut you down anyway So they're doing this in advance. Insurance company will no longer offer. Business. Not as policy called a bop.

We're not be renewing its current book of business…

But the bop is the most common type of…pre formed policy…

Cool. If you are an insurance agent, this creates a problem. If you sell Liberty mutual. What else are you going to sell Well, Here's the story about an independent brokerage. Is trying to still stay alive through a consolidation.

A lot of insurance. Companies are merging with other companies…

This company is still rapidly growing. The big. factor for them top talent. Right. 20% growth is because employee growth broadens opportunities for clients.

They have 500 new clients just last year…

Playing on offense making vigorous effort to bring first rate talent That's the key is talent. So you have to have a picture of the people That's the most important part of insurance is having great people in your agency…

So that's what's happening in insurance? Last thing is Chubb major insurance company…talking about AI We talk about AI on this channel…

He's Priddy. a claims and underwriting impact for AI…

He shared how the insurance company is looking to AI, and set out that despite breathless rhetoric, the emergent technology will will take time to have an impact…

AI is not going to magically transform insurance It's going to take years. You're investing in it. Investigating it. But…

It's going to. Take time because you don't want to throw insurance underwriting. Into AI and then find out later that the AI was wrong. Yeah it's already been wrong about many things. So they may use it for automation They may use it for, maybe claims.

Filing, but to do it for underwriting. That could be a recipe for disaster. Again this has kind of advanced stuff with insurance, but it does trickle down and affect you because. For employment and insurance agencies. It could be the AI.

Takes over jobs. Four. policy. Pricing. The algorithm.

Could pricing's too high or too low and that could affect coverages…

So whether or not you're in insurance or not. Keep an eye on these developments. I look, Liberty mutual pulling out a commercial. How are you going to get insurance If you're a small business…

As always. Tell us what you'd like to hear about…

We'd like to use your feedback to put these things in place Part of the reason we talked about mediation earlier as we had some of our viewers tell us that they've seen our stories about mediation and they want to find out how to deal with conflict…

How to deal with. You know potential…

Difficulties. And disputes in your life give you a little sneak peek. We have a…

New business model coming out. We'll put a link in the comments for getting some therapeutic assistance for conflict, not just mediation but helping you work through it…

But your comments below. Check out our channels. Facebook. Twitter. YouTube.

Tick tock even. As much as we hate that we're still doing tech doc. And we'll see.