In my case, I have to admit the probability of getting the third apartment is not certain at the minute. I know for a fact at least two of the previous apartments I had been booked for have been sold to other people. I know this since my mother has found and actually met them.

However, I am confident I will get my money back and I am definitely going to demand some kind of compensation, say current market value for the apartment plus any legal or other expenses incurred. I don't want to sound smug, but I did consider all these possibilities before buying. Ultimately if you are dealing with a well known agency, they can ill-afford the bad publicity. Some agents are admittedly hard-faced and so completely unscrupulous that they couldn't care less how much bad press they get. I, however, calculated for the bigger and better known agencies, it would not be worth their while to generate such bad press over one or two sales. So far, I am inclined to believe that my agent Gowealthy will do the honourable thing. Let's hope I am right. I hope your agent also behaves correctly with you.