Can I flip a house without purchasing the home?

[Ron Hever]

I am new to this but have always been interested in flipping homes and eventually building and selling. I love the creativity involved in rehabbing a home but I have limited funds. My idea is to create a sort of partnership with homeowner. I would invest money into rehabbing their home and then the house would be put on the market for sale. The homeowner would realize a larger profit than they would originally have since the home was fixed up and I would take my share plus the amount that I put into rehabbing the home. I understand that they would have to agree to sell the house of course. 

My question is, is this something that is possible? Any legal issues to consider? Has anyone done or been involved in any situations like this?