Could some one explain sweat equity.

[Steven J.]

I've heard the term sweat equity plenty of times before and I understand it very basically as working your butt off in exchange for discount on the price of the home. But, I really don't understand how a deal is written up and negotiated under these terms. For example, if I bring up the value of a home $20k by putting my time into fixing it up how do I then secure the deal? I've raised the property value 20k and how do I secure the rest of the property?