You haven't really provided enough information for anybody to form a proper response.

Why not form a JV LLC to purchase and hold the property?

For MA I'd use Warren group, or foreclosuresabc.comIf you are looking for the actual auctions so you can purchase at the foreclosure auction, I'd subscribe to each auctioneer website. 

Recently he approached me wanting to form a partnership.

Here are a few ideas on how to hunt down the property owners:Search public records (you'll have to subscribe to a service)Form a relationship with an agent (they have access to this info and can you get the owners)Form a relationship with a title agent and they can get you this info for freeTry http://www.propertyshark.com/You can also visit a local assessor's office to obtain the information in-person:The Assessor's office does not provide owner name information on their website.

Other expenses are going to grow at more than 1% too, so I'd say that assumption is way off.When I see sponsors play games with their pro-formas, I pretty much lose interest right away, because you can't trust much of anything from them. 

What benefit or why would someone selling a house want me as a wholesaler to form a contract JUST for the purpose of having a buyer take it over.

There is no silver bullet (if there were, I guess everyone would be rich) but there are steps you can take to help you make an informed decision.What I recommend is to do at least a 5-year (and preferably a 10-year) pro forma projection of scheduled income, vacancy and credit loss allowance, and operating expenses.

In these situations, some legal advisors have advised their clients to form a separate entity, such as a limited liability company, specifically to hold title to the segregated property in order to more easily qualify for tax-deferred like-kind exchange treatment in the future.If however the Investor or dealer’s intent is to buy, fix up and then sell (“Flip”) the property, then he clearly does not have the intent to hold the property for investment purposes.

Next, build a pro-forma that demonstrates why your offer makes sense, given the property's income stream and the cap rate that other investors are using when they purchase this kind of property.