Why is my agent telling me that nothing is available?

Please note:   It is never OK to refuse service to someone because they are a member of a protected class.   Please refer to the fair housing notice found at the top and bottom of this website.   This article presumes that an earnest search has been done, but nothing is coming up on the database despite an honest effort to find a place for the client. 

There are times when many great places are out on the market, but they're simply not found as a result of poor communication between the agent and the customer or client.  It is my belief that this problem is pretty easy to remedy, presuming that the agent knows how to use his or her search tools. 

Here's the solution:
When looking for an apartment be very clear about dealmakers and dealbreakers.

It's important to to parse the "musts" and "would be nices" especially if you don't have an unlimited budget. 
The reason is because on one hand you need to be clear what you're looking for, otherwise you might waste time viewing apartments that waste your and the agent's time.   On the other hand, the agent might give you a "nothing available" reply when the only reason is that one of your amenity choices kept otherwise great apartments from showing up on the search.

Here's an example.  My current place is pet friendly.   It also has a refridgerator with an ice machine, and the bathroom has a bidet.  

The agent messed up really bad.   The landlord claimed he never said it was OK to advertise the place as pet friendly.  That was the agents error. 

In addition, the fridge with the ice machine was a huge bonus.   We weren't specifically looking for an apartment with an ice machine, but it definitely caught our eye.

As for the bidet, we didn't even know what it was at first, but later came to love it.

In the end, a major dispute was avoided when our pets were agreed to.    That would have been a dealbreaker and would have resulted in huge problems as I literally uber'd across an entire State to see an apartment that had been advertised as Pet Friendly. 

Now what would have happened if the place was correctly advertised as NO PETS?     We would not have viewed it.

What if it was advertised as no-ice maker, no bidet?     It wouldn't have made a difference in our decision to view, but would have been a factor weighed in if we viewed other comparable apartments.

What if we searched for an apartment in the price range we were that had to be pet friendly and have a fridge with an ice maker and a butt hose and had to be located in the exact same neighborhood.     We'd probaby still be looking today!

The moral of the story:   Communication is key and be careful.  In my experience as a consumer, agents usually get price, size and location right, but often mess up on things that they may not view as important simply because it is not important to them.   Likewise, "nothing is available" may mean that they didn't check which search criteria was the problem then inform you about it.  

Let's try this out together....