As others have said, the returns may be “lower” than what you might achieve if you put in some sweat equity on your own, but you have to have the ability and desire to put in that sweat equity in the first place.

Based on what I've seen, I think the best option would be to wholesale/bird dog/sweat equity with a seasoned investor in the area.

You might consider finding a property you can put sweat equity in instead of buying something new. 

so then, the 'sweat equity' that you can put into the house is marginalized, right..?

They pay rent, you handle maintenance, and that's it.I wouldn't sweat it too much.

This has taken me longer than expected but I’ve been enjoying the sweat equity and getting my hands dirty.I plan to rent out the top and middle unit once the bathroom and other cosmetic issues are resolved .

Find contacts and sweat equity will be the best way for you to control your risk.

Without sounding like a sales pitch I would love some advice as to how to meet people that are looking to invest and need a sweat equity partner.

worst would be loss of sweat equity, but on case to case only.- Access to marketing and established system (they've been successfully done it for quite some time)- Bottom line: income from my construction company would be greatly improved- IF, and I say IF, I'm good enough, I can still pick up flips and have one of my crews take care of it for me, while managing their projects.  

I didn't mention this but I wanted 0% interest and was hoping the fact that he could get the home for the price he wanted would be sweat enough for him not to charge interest on the loan.