I can only hope it works out as well for me as this deal did you for! 

He doesn't want to deal with tenants, so he gives me one of the units for free in exchange for me to deal with them, and to help him land this first property so he doesn't have to apply as much effort towards this deal. 

My question (I'm new to this and just trying to get creative) is lets say there is a deal here (whatever the numbers say)... is it legal for me to sign a contract to get equitable rights to the property.  

I entered the business of DIY landlording suffering under the delusion that understanding the tax advantages of owning investment properties wasn't really all that important for me starting out right from the start.

You don't' need to only ask investors, everyone who owns a home has work done on it at some point.Once you have an idea of what your project will cost you, based on your newly formed list, you can break it down by trade or keep it as one large scope.

If so, what sponsor and EIN would I indicate on the plan's 5500EZ form, if the sponsoring s-corp was dissolved?

A small unsecured credit line from the bank is crucial for me .

for me and my family!

I was using smart move online form which gets the background on criminal, credit and income information from the tenant.

This is the first property for a newly formed family partnership.We have a 33% LLC in Texas used for SFRs.