Offering the most cash up front is probably the surest way to score your dream house, but other tactics work, too. “Always be preapproved with your mortgage, and match the seller’s closing and moving-in dates,” advises Jim Gillespie, president of Coldwell Banker Real Estate in Parsippany, New Jersey. Then strike any contractual contingencies you can. (If the house is new and you’re confident there are no hidden defects, you might even consider dropping the inspection contingency.) Upping the “earnest money” — 15 or 20 percent down instead of the required 5 or 10 — “tells the seller you’re serious,” Gillespie says. A meeting can seal the deal, says George Ross, author of Trump’s Strategies for Real Estate (John Wiley & Sons, www.amazon.com, $25). “If the seller accepts a face-to-face offer, it may be hard for him to back out,” Ross explains. If you have children, bring them, says Chuck Ferri of Century 21 in Rhinebeck, New York. “I’ve seen sellers get swayed by hearing, ‘Dad, I want that room!’”