"So the real estate agent told them to put down the 5% ($20,000) and that later, when the condo site is at 95% sold, she will do them a “favour” and resale it to another buyer for $100,000 profit. They signed."

This story from Mike, as told in a post by Garth Turner at greaterfool.ca, 12 Jun 2011 -
“Mike’s buddy was trying to close some condo deals. He works for a development company in hallucinogenic Vancouver, where a private event was held for 40 or 50 clients of a top real estate agent.
“My friend was helping with the admin work for the contracts for that day,” Mike explains. “He mentioned there were two couples that were on the fence to sign. So the real estate agent sat them down and told them to put down the 5% ($20,000) now and that later when the condo site is at 95% sold, she will do them a “favour” and resale it to another buyer for $100,000 profit. She told them they would make a $80,000 profit in one year. They signed.”

400% return in 1 year.
Risk?…
- vreaa