FSBO with two identical offers: strategies?

Sorry, should be "what we paid" (can one edit here?)

Pre-approved is vastly inferior to cash -- especially if they expect a mortgage contingency, putting the risk on you.

Tell the brokers that you have two highly qualified offers, one cash and one not, and you're looking for best offers within 24 hours. Don't show your cards.

Alan is absolutely right. You can't trust pre-approvals at all, it's a gamble. They need to offer much more than the cash people to win. Also, along with that higher offer, insist that they forego the mortgage contingency clause, especially since this is a house and not a condo or co-op. If they have confidence in their financing, they'll agree to it. If they can't finance after all you at least can get some damages. But if it were me--the cash people win.

Only twist - I wouldn't tell the all-cash people that the other offer has a financing contingency. Otherwise, no way they are coming up.

Only twist - I wouldn't tell the all-cash people that the other offer has a financing contingency. Otherwise, no way they are coming up.

These are all great, thanks so much. We had an accepted offer before, but fell apart after inspections two weeks before closing (they got cold feet about owning a country house -- didn't know mice live in the country!), hoping to avoid that again.

If your market value is down since 2007, sounds like you own somewhere in that great
wasteland which extends from the northern border of the Bronx up to Canada