Thursday, October 1, 2026
• Malverne listing agent Joseph DeVito operates White House Home, integrating residential real estate services with interior, landscape and masonry design.
• Roughly 90 percent of DeVito’s business involves seller representation in Malverne, where local relationships and market reputation influence home sales.
• In generational home sales, he advises longtime homeowners to evaluate timing, logistics and financial readiness before listing their property.
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Joseph DeVito, a Malverne-based listing agent and owner of White House Home, approaches real estate differently than many in the industry.
In addition to representing sellers in the village where he lives, DeVito also operates a design centered business that includes interior, landscape and masonry design services, a combination he describes as a “360-degree” approach to helping clients buy and sell homes.
“The real estate, the landscape, the masonry and the interior and exterior design, are essentially vertically integrated and they all feed off of each other,” DeVito said.
About 90 percent of his real estate business involves representing sellers, most of whom come from what he calls his “sphere of influence.” In a small village like Malverne, where neighbors closely follow local sales, he said reputation and relationships matter.
DeVito owns White House Home, a design consultation business located in a 120-year-old cottage storefront in the center of town that he lovingly restored and renovated roughly a decade ago.
What began as a luxury tableware, gift, lighting and home accessories shop gradually expanded as clients sought broader advice about their homes.
That evolution, he said, now informs how he evaluates properties for buyers and prepares homes for market.
“The uniqueness of what I offer as a real estate agent is, again, the 360-degree service level,” he said.
His integrated approach was recently on display with a historic brick Colonial that’s under contract in Malverne. The five-bedroom home situated on more than 18,000 square feet of property is an unusually large property for Malverne.
The house had been in the same family for generations, and DeVito listed it publicly after prior attempts to sell it as a private exclusive listing were paused when the owners decided they were not ready.
In cases like that, DeVito said the process is often less about price and more about readiness.
He said many sellers tend to focus first on listing the property, then later confront larger questions: Where will they go? How will they coordinate buying and selling? How will they manage decades of belongings?
“There’s this sort of tipping point and balance that happens,” he said of longtime homeowners. “Sometimes you do get these false starts.”
“What I like to do with people is not make them feel pressured to list their home, to help them get a perspective on the full picture,” he said. “I really want them to have 360-degree comfort in what is going to happen in the coming months.”
In some situations, he advises clients to consider an interim move rather than trying to sell and buy simultaneously if the pressure becomes overwhelming.
“When someone is leaving a home they’ve been in for decades, that’s not just a transaction,” he said. “It’s a life moment.”
DeVito said his background in design shapes how he guides buyers evaluating older homes. Rather than immediately recommending updates, he said he has learned to observe first.
“Listen and watch and then respond,” DeVito said.
He recalled showing a property that he initially viewed as difficult to market due to unconventional finishes. A prospective buyer, however, saw something entirely different.
“My cats are going to love this,” the buyer said upon seeing a heavily carpeted basement, he recalled.
The experience reinforced his view that value is often personal and that not every home needs to be reinvented.
When he takes on a listing, DeVito said he follows a defined timeline. Homes are typically photographed early in the week, entered into the multiple listing service with professional images, and then shown by scheduled appointments grouped within a specific time window.
By concentrating by-appointment showings into a defined period rather than holding a traditional open house, he said he is able to manage interest in a way that keeps the process organized for both sellers and buyers.
Many of his listings, he said, go into contract within about 14 days of being publicly listed.
He attributes that consistency to preparation — making sure a property is positioned correctly from the outset rather than adjusting after it hits the market.
Real estate site: https://www.elliman.com/agent/joseph-devito/1027704
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josephdevito/?hl=af
White House Home Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ilovewhitehousehome/
