Devon Witt's Playbook for Turning Difficult Transactions and Tough Agents into Closed Deals

Every seasoned real estate professional carries a mental library of transactions that tested them. The deals that nearly broke them, the clients who pushed every boundary, the agents on the other side who seemed determined to kill a contract rather than close one. Devon Witt, a certified luxury marketing specialist and assistant manager with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty in Ponte Vedra, has built her practice around navigating exactly those situations, and she now coaches newer agents through them from the other side of the desk.

The Phone Call to the Broker That Every Agent Has Made

Devon does not present a polished, trouble-free version of her career when she speaks to newer agents. She talks about the transaction that pushed her to her limit early on, the one that had her calling her broker in tears and questioning whether the work was worth it.

"I called my broker a couple times in tears saying, 'I don't want to do this one anymore. I'm kind of getting beat up here, and I don't want it, it's not worth it to me.'"

The source of that distress was not a complicated contract clause or a financing problem. It was the client, specifically a personality type Devon had not yet developed the tools to manage. Looking back now, she can identify where she might have handled things differently, and that honest reflection is precisely what makes her coaching credible to agents who are going through similar experiences today.

"I don't cry much anymore," Devon said with a measured confidence. "I've kind of gotten over that. I'm a little stronger now, and I manage things better than I did then."

Reframing the Agent on the Other Side

One of the most common frustrations Devon hears from agents she coaches involves the professional on the opposite side of a transaction. The agent who does not return calls promptly, who escalates rather than collaborates, who seems to treat negotiation as personal combat rather than a shared process toward a mutual goal.

Devon's response to that frustration is both practical and philosophically grounded. She insists on reframing the other agent not as an adversary but as a teammate with a shared purpose.

"I look at the agent on the other side as my teammate in this. We have to get along. The reason we are in existence is to bring a buyer and a seller together, who sometimes have animosity towards one another for no good reason other than they're on the other side."

That mindset shift changes everything about how a negotiation unfolds. Instead of positioning, Devon looks for ways to give each party a sense of being heard. She recognizes that some people simply need a win, and her job is to find a structure that provides that win without damaging the other side's position beyond what is acceptable.

The Phone Call Before the Offer

One of Devon's most transferable habits involves a step many agents skip entirely: calling the listing agent before submitting an offer to understand what the seller actually needs beyond purchase price.

"Calling the agent, first of all, letting them know, 'Hey, we're gonna be making an offer. Tell me what your seller needs,'" Devon explained. "Does your seller need an extended closing so that they can find a place to live? Tell me what they are looking for, and if there's any way we can make that happen, I will."

This single conversation can prevent weeks of back-and-forth and dramatically increase the likelihood that an offer lands well. Devon points to a recent relocation transaction as a case study in what that curiosity can unlock. Her buyer had made a full-price offer on a home and been told the sellers would not accept it because their plans to move into another property had fallen through. Rather than moving on permanently, Devon called back.

"I called the agent back. 'What can we do to make this happen? Would a 90-day close make it work?' And they said, 'Actually, it would.'"

The deal closed. The agents on the other side, Devon noted, were exceptional to work with. The outcome was possible because someone picked up the phone and asked a question that most people assume would have an obvious answer.

When a Seller's Price Lives in a Different Market

Pricing conversations with sellers who have anchored to an aspirational number rather than market data represent one of the most delicate negotiations Devon handles. In a shifting market, the gap between what a seller believes their home is worth and what buyers are prepared to offer can be substantial, and the consequences of launching at the wrong price are severe.

"It's like a scarlet letter," Devon said of a home that sits on the market too long. "It's hard to shake."

Her approach to those conversations centers on data and on identifying the seller's true motivation. Sellers who have a genuine reason to move respond differently to market reality than sellers who are testing the water with no particular urgency. Devon shared an example of a potential listing she declined after the sellers made clear they planned to pull the home from the market in November regardless of results, having listed in July with a price she knew the market would not support.

"My goal is to sell your house quickly. I have no intention of your house being on the market in November. We're gonna price it so that it sells soon." The listing went to another agent. It expired. It came off the market unsold.

Devon does not view that outcome with satisfaction. She views it as confirmation that protecting her clients from wishful pricing, even when it means walking away from a listing, is the most honest service she can offer.

Gut Instinct, Validated

Among the transactions Devon returns to most often when she needs a reminder of why her instincts are worth trusting is the sale of a home in South Jacksonville Beach. The property needed work and required a new roof. The seller had limited resources. The neighborhood left open the possibility that a buyer might tear the structure down entirely, making a roof investment feel like a gamble.

Devon recommended the investment anyway, drawing on her read of the market and what she believed the right buyer would want. The seller followed the advice. The home was improved, presented well, and sold to a buyer who kept the structure and made it beautiful.

"It was the right call," Devon said. "But there are little days where you're like, 'Yeah, this is what I feel like you should do,' but then you do question yourself."

That self-questioning, she has learned, is not a weakness. It is what keeps experienced professionals honest and engaged. The goal is not to eliminate doubt but to build enough of a track record that the doubt no longer has the power to stop you from giving the advice your client actually needs.

What Devon Tells Agents Who Are in the Middle of a Hard Deal Right Now

When a newer agent comes to Devon's office visibly stressed by a transaction that is grinding them down, her first move is not to offer a solution. It is to listen.

"I think half the time you just need somebody to listen to what you're feeling and sort of validate what you're going through," she said. "And then I try to give them some advice, maybe some things that I've worked through, and how to phrase things to people, how to approach a situation."

The practical guidance that follows consistently returns to one principle: being kind to the person on the other side of the transaction is not a soft skill. It is the most strategic tool available. When people feel heard, they are more likely to move. When agents treat each other as adversaries, deals die unnecessarily and both clients pay the price.

For any real estate professional currently in the middle of a transaction that feels impossible, Devon's experience offers a clear frame: the difficulty is rarely about the house. It is almost always about the people, and the fastest path to resolution runs through genuine human connection rather than positional bargaining.