If he brings his money to the closing table to pay for my deal, will I be taxed as if it is a gift?

I have personally done partnership deals with other investors using their self directed IRA and they now know the power of this gift from the government.

And as a parting gift the house was trashed.  

You can offer her a letter of recommendation (tenants don't normally get this so she'll love it) for her next landlord & maybe even give her a $50 gift card to a moving company.

Sometimes down payments can be "gifted," but you're right, the more leveraged you are overall, the weaker the loan profile is in the eyes of the underwriter.

That can be something like an AMEX or Home Depot gift card.- Make sure you're doing an aggressive open house schedule.  

Can I gift him money to put for a downpayment and still be on the deed/title as co-owner?

Funds received as gifts and used to purchase the property may not be reimbursed with proceeds of the new mortgage loan.

Fed is giving everyone a massive gift now to just wait for 12-18 months. 

I dont know about you, but thats preety easy money. so why not gift or provide 1-2k to a client to sweeten their deal, Imean they did just line your pocket, and save you time. ;-)Anyway, this trategy is based on what works in my market. tweak it and make it work for yours.