Carrefour plays the global real property bubble

Carrefour has decided to take advantage of the real property bubble in France by selling all its lands and buildings to investors, from which the hypermarkets would rent, and buying them back after the collapse.

The linked story takes a little reading between the lines. It wouldn't work as an explicit strategy, of course. Then again, it might be illegal as a secret strategy. I was what-iffing with myself the other day: What if I'd gotten an interest only liar loan in 2001, bought a huge house, let it appreciate until the end of 2005, then tried to flip it? How would the conversation around the sale have gone? "I'm selling because I expect this property to be worth 20 - 25 % as much as it is now in a few years. While I can't not tell you this, I'm hoping you don't think about that too hard."