The buyer's chosen apartment is unavailable. What comes next?

The buyer has spent several evenings discussing a particular apartment with their family. Then the local team reports that it is no longer available. Sending five unrelated alternatives may look proactive to an agent. To the buyer, it can feel as though the earlier work meant nothing.

A replacement conversation starts by acknowledging the lost option and identifying what the buyer valued in it. The agent's task is to preserve the decision criteria, not simply to keep the sales process moving.

Confirm what "unavailable" means

Ask the responsible team whether the unit is sold, reserved, withdrawn or awaiting a decision. Record the source and the date of the confirmation. Do not describe a transaction as completed when the actual status is a temporary hold.

If there is a waiting-list possibility, ask how it works and what can realistically be promised. Do not imply that the buyer has priority unless that has been explicitly confirmed. Avoid requesting a payment merely to demonstrate interest without clear written terms.

Tell the buyer what is known and what remains open. You do not need to speculate about another purchaser or disclose their details. The relevant fact is the availability of the unit your client was considering.

Recover the reasons behind the choice

Ask which features mattered most. The answer may be a specific outlook, a manageable first payment, a ready-to-use home office or proximity to a relative. Those preferences can be lost when the enquiry is reduced to a budget and bedroom count.

Distinguish requirements from compromises the buyer accepted. A client may have tolerated a smaller kitchen because the selected unit had the right layout elsewhere. Replacing it with another small kitchen but without that advantage is not preserving the original trade-off.

Do not reopen every part of the brief unnecessarily. Review the reasons for the particular choice and any changed circumstances since it was made.

Compare a replacement against the lost option

Use the same fields for both proposals, including unknowns.

Describe the differences before listing advantages. "Same development, different building and later handover" is clearer than "an even better alternative". The buyer decides whether the differences are acceptable.

Let the buyer choose the next route

There are several legitimate outcomes: consider a substitute, wait for confirmed availability, change the brief or pause. Do not present immediate reservation as the only reasonable response to scarcity.

If the buyer wants to expand the search, identify which requirement they are willing to relax. Record that change explicitly so the local team does not interpret a request for alternatives as permission to disregard all earlier constraints.

An agent should also resist creating urgency from an unverified statement that "everything else is almost gone". Ask for an actual validity period and availability confirmation for the replacement being discussed.

Reconfirm the arrangements between agents

If the project or transaction route changes, check whether the cooperation terms also change. Client attribution, agreed tasks and commission conditions should be confirmed for the actual replacement. Do not assume one project's arrangement applies to another.

Use the IBG partner workflow to understand the introduction process and commission questions to clarify the commercial side. Creating an account is a way to explore the process, not an obligation to accept the next available unit.

Sources and scope

IBG Property editorial recommendations for handling a changed shortlist. This guide does not confirm any project's availability, reservation priority or commission entitlement. Public programme reference: IBG agent process.