"Can't get financing" for an offer doesn't necessarily mean no financing. A bank won't loan 1.1x (or whatever the offer is) for a property appraised for 1x, so an offer without a financing contingency means the buyer has to cough up .1x in cash to make up the difference.

It means the deal is more likely to close and not get held up by financing, and the seller might pick it over a slightly higher offer that does have a contingency.

Well, they get to keep the down payment. That smoothes out a lot of frustrations due to the delays associated with starting over.