Math really is hard.
1M x 4.5 is 4.5M
1M x 3.5 is 3.5M
lol - nope.
4.5M is 450% more than 1M, but it is not a 450% increase from 1M to 4.5M
the fault is not in the math for most people but in the language used to define the equation.
so if we say a price has increased by 50%, to figure out what the price is after the increase you don't simply multiply the price by the increase percentage. if you do that this is what happens:
1M x 50% = 0.5M
and this is clearly not a 50% increase.
in order to find out the price after the increase you need to do two operations. the first is to find out the amount the price will increase by and the second is to add that increase amount to the original amount to get the new price.
increase amount = 1M x 50% = 0.5M
new price = 1M + 0.5M = 1.5M
or in one operation: 1M + (1M x 50%) = 1.5M
so in the case of the property in question:
1M + (1M x 350%) = 1M + 3.5M = 4.5M
We don't know what our limits are, so to start something with the idea of being limited actually ends up limiting us.
Ellen Langer