There were so many take-aways from last weekend’s bully offer experience that I had three different blog ideas.
I wrote an entire blog for today, basically bitching and moaning about the phone calls I had received on this property, how annoyed I was, how uninformed agents were, etc. Then, as I often do, I sat back and read the entire post, but I concluded that I sound like a jerk. Does the public really want to hear an agent complain? Is there anything they can gain from that?
Probably not.
So while the phone calls, the conversations, and the bottom-of-the-barrel experiences might make for some interesting nuggets, I think for now I’ll shelve most of that, and take a different approach.
The issues I had after Sunday’s experience were twofold:
1) Agents can be lazy, petty, irresponsible, thankless, and never accept any responsibility for their own shortcomings.
2) Agents have no idea how to price real estate.
Much of the dialogue based on point #2 results from point #1, and in lieu of kvetching about industry colleagues for ten minutes, and 2,000 words, I figured I would go to the source of the issue: pricing.
I was called in to appraise a property back in October for a prospective seller who was weighing her options, and who had spoken to several agents.
I put together a Comparative Market Analysis for her, and when I say that I put together a CMA, I don’t mean that I simply printed all the recent sales in her building, stapled them, and then said, “I think your condo is worth $600,000.”
Those of you that have met me, and had me through your home, have received a booklet of information about myself, my team, my brokerage, my business philosophies, my selling techniques, my marketing, and of course – a valuation of your home.
I am not a rocket-scientist or a Harvard graduate, but I am obsessed with Microsoft Excel, and have been since I discovered it in 1998. Combined with my OCD and ADD, I will literally make spreadsheets about anything and nothing at the same time, all day long.
So when it comes to pricing real estate, I don’t simply print listings, or use a pre-formatted evaluation tool that exists on Stratus MLS, but rather I go to my own numbers.
The condo I was called in to appraise was a 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom unit, with parking and locker, but with a very rare and unique private garden terrace. This terrace was about 300 square feet, but provided zero view whatsoever, as there were trees that rose about 20-feet at the edge of the building wall.
In all my CMA’s, I take the viewpoint that the task at hand is to make other houses or condos exactly like the subject.
If you have identical 3-bed, 3-bath houses – same lot size, same layout, same finishes (this is theoretical), same everything, except the comparable sale has a private driveway, and the subject property has a mutual driveway, then you’re simply subtracting the difference in value for that drop-off from ‘private’ to ‘mutual’ from the comparable sale, and adjusting for time, and voila! You have your price.
Again, not rocket-science here.
For the subject condo, I looked at all units in the building, which I don’t ordinarily do. But the largest sale was 1,189 square feet, and the subject condo was 755 square feet, so it wasn’t completely out of whack. Typically, if I’m looking at a 540 square foot 1-bedroom unit, I won’t look at any sales for 2-bedrooms over 1,000 square feet, as I feel that skews the data.
I only looked at properties sold in 2018 – there were 19 in total.
The first adjustment I made was for the second bathroom, which my unit didn’t have.
The second adjustment I made was for parking, which my unit had.
The third adjustment was for locker, which doesn’t really add tangible value for most condos, but is worth including to show that you’ve done your homework.
Then I made an adjustment for the exposure, as this unit faced north, and that’s the least-favourable view. The subjectivity here runs amok, as south, southeast, southwest, west, east, et al can make for very different values.
I made another small adjustment for the floor level, which I disagree with when developers use this to gauge another $2,000 per floor from the 30th to the 40th, when that doesn’t really add any more marginal utility, but in the case of the subject condo, there are spectacular views, and then miserable ones.
There’s also an adjustment for the condition of the property, ie. the finishes, in a condo.
Then came the terrace, and this is where the biggest adjustment, and most subjectivity came.
I valued that terrace at $70,000, which is to say that if the same unit had zero outdoor space, not even a Juliette balcony, it’s simply worth $70,000 less.
I adjusted for all the units, some of which had no outdoor space, some that had a Juliette, some that had a small balcony, and some that had a medium-sized terrace.
Then lastly, I adjusted for time, based on the average condo price in the 416.
I downloaded all the floor plans for these 19 comparable sales, and obtained the square footage for each (most agents won’t do this, as it can cost $5.00 for each unit, through MPAC, to obtain an accurate report).
The average price per square foot, unadjusted, for the 19 sales was $726.
The average price per square foot, adjusted, based on the notes above, was $802.
The unit was 755 square feet, which puts the value over $605,000.
I then told the seller that my target would be $630,000, because, to be blunt, I was looking at average sale prices, and there’s nothing average about how I sell real estate. That is the one adjustment I didn’t make in the spreadsheet, because I prefer to obtain the true “value” of the unit, and then look at how we can obtain a premium if we work together.
So did we list at $630,000 then?
No. We didn’t.
We listed at $499,900.
Now many of you will note that I often criticize agents for “rampant under listing,” so this might seem hypocritical to say the least.
But my criticism often has more to do with the scale of the under-listing, ie. a $2,000,000 house at $999,900, and more importantly, my criticism takes into account the response from both buyers and agents, who waste time, and have no idea what they’re doing.
That is exactly what I’m talking about today!
The reality is, I don’t like taking $600,000 condos and listing them at $499,900. But in some cases, I do it because I know it’s in the seller’s best interest.
Keep in mind, I don’t employ this strategy for every listing. For a $600,000 condo, there are a variety of prices at which I might list it. For example:
1) $499,900 – Massively under-price to attract buyers and agents who have no clue what they’re doing, so that agents that do know what they’re doing, will have to view the unit with 2-3 other groups, and then say, “Wow, this place is really going to sell!” This also aims to solicit the bully offer, based on a buyer that wants to get the jump on all the competition.
2) $529,900 – A slightly-less obnoxious version of #1, and the way we might price most of the time. You’re more likely to end up going to offer night here than receive a bully offer.
3) $549,900 – A typical “under list” number, but in some cases, it’s just not enough. This is often a half-measure, and I don’t believe in half-measures. I’d rather over-list than do this.
4) $599,900 – For a slow building or area, with little activity, where you don’t want to rock the boat. Get in, get out, count your blessings.
5) $629,900 – Over-price, and try to fool the market. This works when there are very few comparables, or it’s a unique property, and/or the buyer pool (and agents) won’t know what it’s worth. I’ve had great success with this strategy, for both houses and condos. If 2017 was the year of under-listing, then I felt 2018 was the year of over-listing. Most of my listings, for which there were no offer dates, were over-listed, and they all sold.
So, now that many of you are turned off by “the games that Realtors play,” try to remember that life is not warm and fuzzy, and let’s move on.
Having listed at $499,900, the response was nuts, right off the bat.
I only had three showings booked the first day, but eighteen the second day. I always tell my sellers, “The second day is the busiest, as this is when buyers have already received the listing from their agent, or seen it online, and thus the agent then goes to book.”
By Sunday, I’d had over 50 showings booked, and the unit basically had a revolving door.
So this is all well and good for the seller, but where do you, the reader, start to take interest in this?
Where does the “cart before the horse” metaphor play out?
And what about all of this “bottom-barrel” talk?
Well, the bully offer I received was for $665,000. Suffice it to say, the seller decided to forego the scheduled Tuesday offer night, and work with the offer in hand.
I paged every single agent who had shown the property, and then went a step further and emailed them all as well.
The phone calls, the conversations, the stupidity – that’s a topic for another day, if I feel immature enough to put it on white paper.
But it’s the actions and decisions of the agents and buyers that followed, that absolutely makes my head spin.
If you’re a buyer, with even an average amount of market knowledge, you know that when a bully offer is registered on a property and the listing agent and seller decide to “work with it,” and forego the offer night, that it’s a pretty good offer, right?
Good.
But what do you say to those buyers and the agents, that can’t get this far in the process?
Listed at $499,900, and telling agents, “We have received a pre-emptive offer that is to our liking, so much so, in fact, that we are willing to forego the scheduled offer night on Tuesday, and work with the offer this evening,” don’t you think the agents, and buyers, would read between the lines?
If that’s the case, then how in the world did I end up with an offer for $525,000?
And another offer of $510,000.
And another offer of $499,900.
ALL THREE WITH CONDITIONS!
Now I’m not one to pick a fight, but right now, I’m going to.
Because if any of you dare tell me that “because you priced the property at $499,900, it’s completely reasonable to offer $510,000,” then I’m sorry, but you’re dead wrong.
I know we have a habit in society in 2018 of not only placating the lowest-common denominator, but also often reducing ourselves to that level as well, but to allow agents and buyers, who have not done their homework, to get off the hook is simply wrong.
One agent offered $550,000 and when the unit was sold firm, with a cheque in hand, I told her we got $665,000. She said, “That’s insane! I had a max of $550,000 all the way.” I asked her how she arrived at that valuation, and she said, “Well, it’s ten percent over list.”
Really?
That is how we’re valuing properties now?
When I was a bar-back at a nightclub in 1998, part of my job was to count the bottles of beer at the end of every night. Another kid working there used count the empties that were collected, and then subtract from how many bottles the cabinet held. His count was always off, sometimes way off.
There’s no substitute for the job at hand: counting the number of beer bottles in the cabinet.
By the same token, you can’t simply add a random percentage to a list price, to arrive at value.
Instead, you know what Realtors are supposed to do?
THEIR GODDAM JOB!
There have been nineteen sales in this building in 2018! How easy is it for an agent, on behalf of a buyer client, to look them up?
A 1-bed-plus-den sold two weeks ago for $570,000.
How does an agent then tell her client to bid on a 2-bed, 1-bath, for $525,000, $510,000, or $499,900?
There are about 25,000 licensed Realtors running around ou t there with absolutely no idea what they’re doing. It’s absolutely maddening, and not to sound sappy, but it’s quite sad.
This is a very difficult real estate market, and buyers have all kinds of choice as to who they choose, if anybody, to represent their interests.
So when I have a $600,000 – $630,000 condo listing, that sells for $665,000, and I receive offers for $510,000 et al, I get frustrated.
Looking at comparable sales is not difficult.
Putting together a Comparative Market Analysis is not rocket-science.
The actions of these agents on Sunday are merely one notch below staring at a clock, and then asking the person next to you what time it is.
I just can’t figure out whether these agents are the cart, or the horse…
A Grant
at 7:15 am
I totally understand your frustrations. I can only imagine how annoying it would be.
That being said, your entire strategy revolved around attracting agents who have no clue what they are doing, in an effort solicit significant interest in the property, thereby enticing a bully offer.
And it worked! You attracted a sufficient number of useful idiots who thought, for whatever reason, they had a shot at the property. That being said, now that you’ve attracted them, can you really turn around and complain that you have to deal with them?
I know I’m coming off as snarky. It’s not my intent. But if you didn’t want to deal with these “professionals”, you had four other options from which to choose. But like a good realtor, you chose the option that secured the highest price for your clients. An option that is dependent on securing the interest of some of those 25,000 professional idiots.
Ed
at 8:46 am
I have to agree.
You have mentioned many times that it adds value to have as many offers as possible on offer night as this will help bid up the price.
And many of those offers will be considerably lower than the actual sale price, these offers are coming from the ill informed agents and their buyer clients. So it a nutshell they provide value in helping bid up the price but the downside is you have to deal with these agents.
The only difference here is that there was a bully offer with which you could work with.
So in the end. Great for your seller and you did your part in securing the highest possible sale price. But you can’t turn around any complain about having to deal with the uninformed, you lured them in.
David Fleming
at 9:30 am
@ A Grant & Ed
Totally agree, gents.
I suppose it’s a double-edged sword. I just wish that more agents were informed, and/or the buyers and sellers who use their services were actually aware of the poor representation they’re getting.
And the part I left about about this story, was that every agent that had no idea what he/she was doing, took it out on me. Phone calls, emails, texts – nasty, and at times, threatening. You’re walking down the street with your eyes closed, and shoelaces untied, and then you trip – and you blame the sidewalk.
A Grant
at 11:42 am
Hi David,
I get it, and the nasty/threatening emails are certainly uncalled for. But say RECO suddenly implemented a testing process or standards which would see a significant reduction and/or elimination of these 25,000 uninformed agents. Annual evaluations. A five year sales quota. Mandatory training requirements. An IQ test. Whatever.
Be honest, forgetting your general dislike for increased regulations for a moment, if such a magic bullet were to be developed, would you want to use it? Granted, it would make your job easier, but truth be told, I don’t think you’d want to lose Option 1.
And as Libertarian noted below, the entire Toronto real estate market, with its general reliance on multiple bids, is somewhat predicated on the existence of a significant number of poor quality agents. So even if RECO were to come up with a solution, they certainly wouldn’t implement it either.
David Fleming
at 11:49 am
@ A Grant
I would be in favour of anything that would strengthen the agent pool, no question about it.
The issue is: buyers want ‘choice.’ They want access to different business models. So when an agent from a well-known discount, cash-back brokerage calls me on this listing, doesn’t even know what a “bully offer” is, and tells me that his client is pre-approved for $450,000, and wants to know if this would “take the cake,” this is what a percentage of the general public wants in an agent.
We can’t eliminate stupidity, because some of the public wants it. They don’t see the stupidity, of course. They feel they’re getting ahead, because the agent gives them $3,000 upon closing, but of course, they have to buy before they close, and they’ll never buy via that agent.
A Grant
at 12:06 pm
@ David,
I’m genuinely curious – if you ruled RECO for a day, what rules/changes would you put in place to strengthen the agent pool? A subject for the next blog post perhaps?
That said, even if you eliminated all sub-par agents, competition for listings being what it is, I’m not sure you’d see the elimination of the various business models you listed below. Just less stupidity.
Hopefully.
That said, no one’s ever lost money overestimating the stupidity of the general public.
Housing Bear
at 12:12 pm
Getting rid of the hacks wouldn’t get rid of the buyers they represent. Maybe the good agents wouldn’t be able to generate the same bidding wars on a single property (debatable), but they would get way more business, which I am sure would offset this.
Instead of 17 no chance offers and 3 real ones, maybe you just get 5 or 6 real ones. In a sellers market you still get your bidding war.
Libertarian
at 4:32 pm
There’s nothing wrong with a bidding war. Of course they happen. What I wonder is whether the final selling price would end up being the same.
My guess is that it would be way lower because there those 5 or 6 real ones would be relatively close, so even if there is a round two and someone goes up by $10K, that’s a lot less than $50K or $100K, which happens because there’s 20 offers.
Sucks for the seller, but I think we as a society are better off if everybody isn’t in debt to their eyeballs.
Libertarian
at 10:38 am
I agree with what all three of you have written.
One of the things that I take from it is that this explains why there are frustrated buyers (and even some existing homeowners) out there complaining about prices getting out of hand. One the one hand, all the bulls talk about supply and demand leading to higher prices (no more land coming, Toronto is a global city, lots of IT companies coming to Toronto, etc., etc.). But then we have stories like this where industry professionals admit that most agents out there are dumb as rocks; however, they serve the purpose of inflating the selling price by purporting to be serious buyers. This causes bully offers to go through the roof. Bingo bango bongo, there’s a new standard. A condo that was selling at $726/sq. foot is now selling for $880/sq. foot. The investors love that, but do we honestly believe this is sustainable?
Joel
at 10:32 am
Do you think that people make these offers out of spite? Annoyed with the way you listed the property they want to waste your time?
I understand some people need to learn the hard way by losing out on a few offers and not every agent can fire their clients as they need to make ends meet themselves. Perhaps getting blown out of the water on an offer or two is the way they learn and agents grossly under listing are the ones who open themselves up to these offers.
Derek
at 11:49 am
I say this a lot, but again, great post. These anecdotes are super. I agree with Joel, having lived through it–if the agents are not educating the buyer client about realistic chances on a given property, then the client is stuck learning through a succession of failures. I imagine the learning curve varies. I also agree with the other posters who noted David’s specific strategy to “attract buyers and agents who have no clue what they’re doing”. Seems like it worked out in the end! Out of curiosity, what was the amount of the 2nd place offer David?
Housing Bear
at 11:43 am
Question about direction of view on pricing in regards to east vs west. Does one side generally tend to warrant a higher premium all else being equal, or is it more dependent on where it is located in the city? Generally speaking, I would prefer to have the sun shinning in my unit in the afternoon/ evening rather than the morning (West over east), but if I was going to live in the west end of the city, I may prefer to have a view of the skyline (east over west). Appreciate a lot more can go into this than the variables above, quality of view being one of them, but just curious if one side tends to attract a higher premium on average than the other. (more buildings in west end could skew this in favor of the east for example).
K
at 12:00 pm
Let’s just call it as it is. The whole Real Estate sales profession is based on the lowest common denominator. Minimum amount of regulation, training and accountability. Minimum amount of responsibility. Minimum amount of work.
Does it really take 10% more work to sell a condo that is priced 10% more? Why doesn’t every listing have staging (not the “add a shitty pillow from Home Sense kind”), drone footage and a fully produced video, website, etc.? Nope, the bare minimum for the maximum (“sorry, 2.5% is the standard, I can’t change it”).
Does anyone really get into RE as their first option? Or is it something that fall into after other things don’t work out? What kid wants to grow up to be a Realtor? How many agents are in RE as a second career?
Any agent that thinks they are so much better than everyone else should check themselves. If your pricing model was so amazing, would you guarantee a selling price to a client? Would you take an over/under compensation based on your estimate of value? End of the day, is there any difference is pricing a $700K typical condo at $499 or $529 or $1? Every listing is some variation of pricing as low as possible to get the best possible price, irrelevant of value and convincing the seller to take it and run (or if the seller holds out, they have “unreal expectations/are emotional”).
If everyone was so smart, would underpricing even work? If the powers that be didn’t try so hard to kill sold price info, wouldn’t people be better educated and not under offer?
End of the day, RE professionals and agents are the problem, not the solution. Can’t wait for the Uber/AirBnb/Apple of RE to come in and put the whole industry out of its misery. The whole thing is broken from info and research to listings to sales, to open houses, to marketing and financing.
Housing Bear
at 12:35 pm
Maybe this is an example of the kettle calling out the pot, I do come on here to talk crap about the market and to my good old friend appraiser, but a lot of what you just said is nonsense.
Like with everything, (have you ever employed someone?), there are competent people and deadbeats. Booms and manias attract the masses , so yes a lot of amateurs have been jumping on the RE agent bandwagon, and yes some of them take advantage of peoples emotions to pump the market up further. No different than any mania though, look at some of the crowd getting involved with crypto and cannabis as an example. Same can be said for a bunch of the recent RE investors, and do it yourself bankers.
When the market is in a normal state, no one is calling out the agents because they work hard for what they do, and have no guarantee or consistency on what they earn. Can definitely be a rewarding career if you like working with average couples and individuals (not for me), and like being able to run your own schedule. Believe it or not, I have bought and sold properties before, and my agents have provided a great service to me.
More transparency in the market could help, but this would not make us immune to housing bubbles or “affordability issues”. There are many examples of markets where prices are freely accessible, that have gone through exactly what we are. People also use agents in those markets. Also remember, anyone who buys eventually sells and any policy that disadvantages you as a buyer helps you later on.
Condodweller
at 12:31 am
“Also remember, anyone who buys eventually sells and any policy that disadvantages you as a buyer helps you later on.” This is what I have said several times. It’s a zero-sum game. I’m on record saying that I would make buyer’s pay their own agents. This would also help with crazy bids as buyers would be less likely to overbid by a huge amount if it resulted in a direct additional cost.
Derek
at 4:18 pm
Any steel left on that axe you’re grinding?
CHT
at 8:50 pm
@K not sure how many real estate transactions you’ve been through in your life but you definitely seem uninformed about the industry. I’m sure that if you’d do a little research you would find out that all of your “minimum amount of” statements are wrong. Minimum regulation? How about crappy regulation? IMO it’s not the amount of education and training that is the issue – it’s the quality. Also minimum compared to? Your profession? Plumbing? Landscaping? Anyways.
Why doesn’t every place have staging? Read the above article again, the answer is there.
While you may like or dislike David, like or dislike his approach, etc. there is one thing you can’t deny: he is knowledgeable and experienced. By experience I don’t necessarily mean number of years in the business but number of transactions, exposure to problems, etc. While he’s not better than everyone he’s better than the majority of TREB agents.
Yes there is a difference in pricing a 700k condo at 499/529/1. Read the article above!
And sold prices have been available for a long time to the ones who were savy enough, they’re available now to anyone. But to uninformed, naive and ignorant folks like yourself they’re not of too much help.
Professional Shanker
at 11:27 am
My only reservation with calling any RE agent who is under the age of 40 “experienced” is because they lack the “experience” of transacting in a bear/slower market – late 80s through the 90s. The next decade will be a different animal for RE agents which I expect David will thrive in!
K
at 2:10 pm
I’ve bought 3 times, sold twice. Not talking in Burlington either. Most recently purchased a mid town house for just under $2M. All times (representing my side) with “professional”, “top” agents. With more experience than David. From Bosely in fact.
@CHT what have you bought/sold recently? Did you use David?
I’ve never dealt with David and have nothing personal with him. I follow RE, but am not involved in the industry, so have no personal axe to grind or issue per se.
I just think the whole system is broken.
Minimum regulation with respect to the (maybe) slap on the wrists agents get for doing things straight up illegal, if even caught/reported.
Minimum training with respect to what it takes to be a RE agent. Why do you think there are so many crappy agents who do 0 or 1 deal a year. It’s easy to get “qualified”. I’m pretty sure that ya, it’s much harder to be a licensed plumber or electrician than a realtor… (I’m neither).
Why is that that some listings get full service and others get fuller service (better staging, marketing, etc.) if commission is the same? Have you seen the level or marketing some agents are doing now such as Brott Hadden where they fully stage every single property, full video and dedicated website and spend tons on social media advertising? (no connection to BH, BTW). Makes David’s listings look like that Markham VRO guy with camera phone pics.
I could care less if bidding wars happen or not (last buy was a bidding war with 3 offers, we got it even though was not the top offer). I’m not feeling sorry for anyone. I’m just saying that in my experience agents and the industry can be very selective on “success” (can we please get rid of those “sold for 120% over ask” signs when properties are priced well below market value?). Quick to take credit for a quick sale and call the buyer greedy for a stagnant listing.
I’ll ask again- would anyone (David) or otherwise put their money where their mouth is and be compensated based on actual performance? Set target sell price and time on market and then get commission based on meeting the target? I highly doubt it. On one hand, the realtor “has all the knowledge and experience” …on the other- “sorry I can’t control the market/buyer”… Nope. No Guarantees. Usually it’s list low, and take the highest offer than comes in. Done. Repeat.
Bud Fox
at 10:40 pm
Real estate agents. For those who couldn’t make it as stockbrokers.
Tom
at 2:26 pm
What do you think about those excessively high bidders?
Have THEY done their homework thoroughly?
Or have they used sales tactics on their clients to close the deal and move on?
Ed
at 5:24 pm
I think it is a very good possibility that some are great sales people and they win the bid by getting their client too emotionally involved.
Paully
at 8:35 pm
I think that a clever RE sales person might even encourage a client to bid low and get blown out of the water on a few offer nights. That will amp up the client’s emotions and stress and frustration and ultimately cause the client to come back with a truly stupid-huge offer to “finally win one!” The agent cashes a much bigger commission cheque and the market price continues to swell for the next potential deal.
Libertarian
at 10:13 am
Exactly!
The vast majority of agents don’t do this, but I’m sure there are a few bad apples out there who go looking for a huge paycheque when they have some bills to pay. The biggest issue with this is not the douchebag agent, but the impact it has on the market in that it resets the market price. It’s a game of dominoes…higher price leads to an even higher price that leads to another higher price and so on. Great for agents, sellers, investors, but I don’t think it benefits us as a society.
Jennifer
at 12:56 pm
One of my friend’s was saying that their agent says they are buying future value in the sense that dont worry about the price now, it’s obviously not worth that now, but it will be worth that in the future. That’s how people get tricked. This is supposedly a good agent. We can also thank them for the disaster this has caused to the market.
poy
at 12:26 pm
We bought a 1 bed condo in vancouver 3 years ago for 315k. the following year it was worth about 380k. we underlisted at 299k. lots of people came over the weekend. had 10 offers, 9 of the offers were in the 280-340k range. 1 buyer stepped up and offered 400k no subject. couldnt believe it.
fast forward to today, that condo is likely worth over 500k. OH WELL lol you win some, you lose some.
Jennifer
at 12:58 pm
this is why open bidding process is needed. He maybe could have gotten it at $380,000, which is what you thought it was worth and what you probably would’ve been happy with
Condodweller
at 2:49 pm
$20k over “fair value” is not even that much. I think when it comes to houses over 1.5 mil it wouldn’t be surprising to find winning bids north of $100k above the 2nd bid. David says he loves numbers; even if this isn’t tracked I’m sure he could tell us what the largest gap was on his listings and roughly what the average gap is.
Tiniest Violin
at 11:28 pm
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. And a commission of ~16k, of course, which should be enough for most people to stop complaining about the unfair and silly world we live in…