I thought it would be a gesture of goodwill and would help me get a set of eyes on the property on a regular basis. 

I have had tenants text me "Merry Christmas" which is a nice gesture, but annoying.

In my younger years, it was difficult to see the systematic subtleties that overall lead to discrimination.Now that I have quite a bit of experience and have overcome quite a bit , there are even more very subtle gestures or reactions that I may find out later.ANYWAY.....

Demands of stand/clap in formation/do a nonsense hand gesture are sales techniques. 

The EMD is not only to provide consideration for the contract but it's also the safety net for the seller if a buyer fails to perform, so it's also a good faith gesture.

I doubt if I asked my neighbor's to occassionally use the road that they would object (once I could explain what I want to do, in hand gestures and simple language).

That gesture almost always relaxed the seller and the apprehension largely disappeared.

You went above and beyond with a full refund, you probably would have been fine with a smaller gesture.

The gesture of hiring a student for this role is commendable, but in my experience not practical.  

Our business model is to have long-term, well-vetted tenants in our properties and monkeying around with security deposits is a bad-faith gesture beloved by fools who can never quite grasp that the rental business is by definition largely a people business.