I think to myself  if she was able to scheme a realtor to find a place then try to skip out then what would she be capable of with us?!  

Its honestly by definition a Ponzi scheme in its truest form. 

In recent years, a real estate Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Brian Dozier and Arda Hagopian shocked Southern California, leaving behind a trail of devastated investors and shattered dreams.

I was thinking painting it fire engine red (my walls are taupe, baseboard trim white, and floors oak stained walnut) and thought of painting the tongue and groove behind it white (or the taupe) as well, but not 100% sure on color scheme, as i want the FP to be the focal, and not have too many colors going on. the living room is decorated with tan/chocolate, hints of red etc....

Ponzi scheme

I just have seen a bunch of people get burned with a little JV agreement with a split profit scheme with a mom and pop contractor (under $25M of work per year).A lot of these pickup truck contractors are one week away from dipping into savings and screwing their remote partner over.

This sounds more like a Ponzi Scheme than a syndication!  

I would add be careful of newer crowdfunding sites as several are going bust and a couple have been closed down as they were straight up Ponzi schemes.

There are ponzi schemes out there, but an asset is an asset. 

There is other stuff like wholesaling and all the get rich quick schemes but 99% of people flop out on those.