That, combined with you saying you have poor credit and minimal cash on hand, makes your planned approach an uphill slog. 

What is the best approach to protecting both parties when partnering with an investor for a fix and flip. my thought was to purchase the property under my newly formed LLC.

It just adds a hurdle that with the right approach you can maneuver around it and prepare for it.

This was a better approach for me to limit my liability with only a handful of investment properties, probably different for a larger invenstor.

Naturally as I am not a realtor, I cannot estimate a properties value, but I would like to do (in some way) is estimate its relative value.With this approach I am thinking I can bring facts to the table when I find a place I like and want to negotiate on price (which I will leave for another post).

If you solely approach wholesaling with the mindset of, "What would someone pay me versus what can I pay for it?"

Sounds like you're getting the necessary "reps" in each week to further refine your approach. 

This approach takes commonly available materials, just installed or constructed differently, to create a solution usable to all or as many people possible.

In the case of getting a partner, I have no idea how to approach the conversation of cosigning my deal.

I initially thought about a 15 year to pay off the loan faster, but have been told that's the wrong approach- Would you recommend buying under an LLC?