Large Deposits on Apartments

[Marcus Coleman]

Hey people, 

So, first of all let me say, I'm new to real estate investing and I don't work in the finance or economics fields. So please excuse my ignorance, but I wanted to know what others think about this.

Earlier today I spoke with a friend that's living in and is from S. Korea. She lives in Seoul, and the housing market is insanely expensive there. So, she recently "bought" an apartment in Seoul for $80,000 USD. How it works in S. Korea is, you don't own an apartment, but you pay for it like you own it. She pretty much paid $80,000 USD to live there for 2 years. But here's the kicker, she gets it back at the end of the 2 years!! That blew my mind.

From the sound of it, you'd get a loan from a bank(or pay out of pocket), pay the landlord the $80,000, and live there for 2 years. The landlord makes money off the interest of the $80,000.

Has anyone heard of this system being used in the US? Do you think it's a good idea? She mentioned that landlords are trying to move toward a monthly payment system because interest rates are so low. But wow, if you did more with that money, you could make a killing!