Inhabit by Corcoran

Sometimes the one you’re looking for isn’t on the market. Sometimes you might not even know it exists. That’s when having a buyer’s agent makes all the difference. Here’s what a recent off-market deal by Corcoran Chart House Realty revealed about buying a house that’s not listed.

In a world where everyone’s phone updates real estate listings in real time and push notifications arrive by the minute, a lack of information hardly seems like the biggest problem facing homebuyers. If anything, buyers are often overwhelmed by too much data when starting their search — that’s when human connection saves the day. After all, real estate is first and foremost a relationship business, one where context, timing, and local knowledge matter as much (if not more) as the data.

With the help of Matthew Antonio and Corcoran Chart House Realty, a family recently found — and bought — their Rhode Island summer house in a record-breaking off-market sale, offering a clear example of why buyer’s representation matters.

Be open to discovering new places.

The buyers, who work in New York City and live primarily in New Jersey, had done their research. They’d rented in a few well-known destination towns across Rhode Island, but after deciding they wanted a place to call their own in the Ocean State, they realized they weren’t as familiar with other areas that might be able to meet their criteria.

In their quest for a secluded, waterfront estate, they stumbled upon the YouTube channel of Corcoran Chart House Realty broker-owner Matt Antonio, and his videos highlighting Rhode Island’s East Bay region. Intrigued, the prospective buyers reached out for guidance, expressing an interest and willingness to look beyond the usual spots. “They had grown to really like Rhode Island, and even though they had been vacationing in Narragansett, they felt like maybe buying something somewhere a little quieter would suit them well,” said Antonio.

Local knowledge is an asset beyond measure.

Knowing the market is one thing; knowing the place is another. Rhode Island might be the smallest U.S. state, but with some 400 miles of shoreline pleated and tucked around its many inlets and bays, its waterfront neighborhoods (and attendant personalities), are many. “You might be looking exclusively in Newport and Jamestown because that’s all you know,” said Antonio. “But what if you don’t know that Barrington exists and that it offers something that you might be interested in?”

The East Bay town of Barrington is known to locals one of the region’s most delightful places to live, but it lacked the name-brand recognition to those beyond state lines. After meeting his clients, Antonio thought it might be a place that aligned with their needs.

Certain houses really are singular.

On the first day Antonio drove his clients around Barrington, they passed by 115 Nayatt Road, also known as the Benjamin Aborn Jackson House. The dramatic vista of the historic house backed by the ocean and the sky, with its allée of mature trees leading from the stately brick and wrought-iron gated entrance, instantly drew a gasp of admiration: “The wife of the couple looks down the driveway and said, ‘That’s beautiful. That’s exactly what we’re looking for,’” said Antonio. With few estates from Barrington’s Gilded Age remaining, the c.1913 manse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is truly one-of-a-kind.

Never underestimate the power of a human network.

Though the house wasn’t on the market, there wasn’t really anything else like it, which could have ended with disappointed clients. But Antonio knew the owners and called the next day, asking if there was any possible interest in selling. Fortunately for all parties, the sellers weren’t only receptive to the idea, but the query was unexpectedly well-timed: They had been thinking about downsizing, and now could be their chance.

In this case, timing mattered more than visibility. The record-breaking $8.65M sale — the highest ever for a residential property in Barrington and more than 11x the median home price of $750,500 — was reflective of the buyers’ decision to prioritize what they really valued: waterfront property, privacy, community, and architecture. Staying true to themselves, the clients found in the East Bay an absolute gem that matched their needs while staying in budget.

Some details get lost behind a screen.

“You get notifications for new listings on everybody’s phone now,” says Antonio, “and if stuff is on the market, it’s not particularly hard to know about it and go out and see it.” But being able to create an opportunity for a dream house in a dream location — appearing seemingly out of thin air — shows that there’s an advantage to deep human intelligence for nuanced, individual situations, or in short, every transaction.

It’s this kind of emphasis on serving the client that sits at the core of Antonio’s philosophy. He credits his father, a real estate lawyer, for his belief system: “He was always focused on putting his clients first. Very simply, that is your job as a representative. There is no gray area, it doesn’t matter how much work it takes, how much you’re getting paid, or how expensive the property is. Your responsibility is to represent your clients with everything you’ve got. I come back to that principle often and routinely remind myself of it. It’s a heavy weight to carry at times, because doing it right isn’t always easy but it’s essential.”