The conversation an Adelaide agent chose to have led to a $10,000 settlement surprise

An Adelaide first-home buyer who had rebuilt her life after fleeing domestic violence received an extraordinary surprise at settlement, after one real estate agent decided her story was worth sharing with the sellers.

Property transactions are usually measured in contracts, conditions, deposits and settlement dates.

But occasionally, what happens between those milestones is a reminder of just how human the business of real estate can be.

A young single mother purchasing her first home in Adelaide was handed a $10,000 cheque by the property's vendors when she collected the keys at settlement, after they learned about the circumstances that had brought her to the property.

According to Domain, the buyer had fled domestic violence and worked to rebuild her life while saving a $35,000 deposit for a home of her own.

Her identity has remained private.

The connection began with Ray White Norwood agent Linda Clemente, who was handling the sale of the inner-Adelaide property.

After learning more about the buyer's circumstances during the transaction, Clemente made the decision to tell the vendors about the person preparing to purchase their home.

That conversation changed what followed.

Before settlement, the sellers offered to leave furniture in the property for the buyer.

Then, when settlement arrived and she collected the keys to her new home, there was another surprise waiting.

The vendors presented her with a cheque for $10,000.

It was an extraordinary act of generosity, but it also began with something much smaller: an agent deciding that the people on either side of a transaction should know a little more about one another.

More than negotiating a transaction

Agents sit in an unusual position during a property sale.

They know why a vendor is leaving.

They often learn why a buyer desperately wants a particular property.

They see the nerves before an auction, the disappointment of unsuccessful offers, the financial pressure behind negotiations and, sometimes, the personal circumstances that never appear on a contract.

Most of those stories quite rightly remain private.

But with sensitivity and appropriate discretion, there are moments when understanding the person on the other side of the transaction can change the tone of the entire experience.

In this case, it did.

Clemente did not create the generosity shown by the vendors.

What she did was create the connection that allowed it to happen.

For an industry that spends enormous amounts of time discussing technology, automation, databases, lead generation and artificial intelligence, it is also a useful reminder of something far harder to automate.

Trust.

The strongest agents are often the people who understand that a buyer is not simply an enquiry and a vendor is not simply a listing.

They are people making what may be one of the biggest financial and emotional decisions of their lives.

The outcome in Adelaide was exceptional. A $10,000 gift at settlement is certainly not something anyone should expect from a property transaction.

But the principle behind it is far more transferable.

Listen carefully.

Understand the people involved.

Know when a conversation is appropriate.

And never underestimate the difference an agent can make simply by treating both sides of a transaction as people first.

Sometimes the most important conversation in a property sale has nothing to do with price.