Services · Seniors
Senior Real Estate Services
Selling the family home is rarely just a transaction. For seniors and their families it is a life decision with legal, tax and care implications.
Real Estate Plan works with trusted Life Care Counselors, real estate advisors and our attorney network to guide older homeowners and their families through the whole picture — not just the sale price. We move at your pace, explain every option, and coordinate the professionals so families are not left assembling the plan themselves.
What’s included
- Estate planning coordinated with wills, trusts and beneficiary decisions
- Real estate tax planning, including capital gains and step-up basis guidance
- Downsizing plans, including sorting, donating and moving coordination
- Upgrading or relocating to single-level, low-maintenance or warmer-climate homes
- Assisted living and continuing care counseling through Life Care Counselors
- Reverse mortgage counseling, payoff and foreclosure alternatives
- Handicap-accessible modifications and aging-in-place renovations
- Coordination with family members, executors and powers of attorney
For Seniors
Unhurried guidance, one trusted point of contact, and a plan that considers care, taxes and family — not just the listing.
For Families & Executors
Clear coordination between the attorney, the care advisors and the sale, so nothing is missed during a difficult time.
Counseling services are provided through trusted Life Care Counselors and our Real Estate Advisors & Attorney Network.
Background
Why this matters
Selling the family home is rarely just a transaction for an older homeowner. It sits at the intersection of health, care, taxes, inheritance and the memories attached to a house someone may have lived in for forty years. Handled badly — rushed, or treated as a simple listing — it can cost a family significant money in avoidable capital gains, a mishandled reverse mortgage payoff, or a sale that closes before care arrangements are actually in place.
Real Estate Plan coordinates senior transactions with trusted Life Care Counselors, real estate advisors and our attorney network so families are not left assembling that plan themselves. We work on estate planning alongside wills, trusts and beneficiary decisions; real estate tax planning including capital gains exposure and step-up in basis; downsizing plans with sorting, donation and moving coordination; upgrading or relocating to single-level, low-maintenance or warmer-climate homes; assisted living and continuing care counseling; reverse mortgage counseling, payoff and foreclosure alternatives; and handicap-accessible modifications and aging-in-place renovations performed by our own construction crews. We move at the homeowner’s pace, explain every option in plain language, and keep adult children, executors and powers of attorney coordinated throughout.
How It Works
Our process, step by step
- Listen firstWe start with the family’s situation and timeline, not the listing. Care arrangements often drive the real deadline.
- Assemble the teamLife Care Counselors, our attorney network and real estate advisors are coordinated so families are not managing separate professionals.
- Plan the tax and estate sideCapital gains exposure, step-up in basis and beneficiary decisions are reviewed before the home is sold, not after.
- Prepare the home at your paceSorting, downsizing and repairs handled by our concierge and construction teams, on a schedule that respects the person moving.
- Sell and settleThe sale is coordinated with the move, the care placement and any reverse mortgage payoff.
Long Island has one of the higher concentrations of long-tenured older homeowners in the country, many holding decades of appreciation in a single asset. That makes the tax and estate side of a sale unusually consequential here.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
When is the right time to sell the family home?
It depends far more on care needs, tax position and family circumstances than on the market. We will give you an honest read on all of it, including when waiting is the better choice.
What is a step-up in basis?
When property passes to heirs, its cost basis is generally reset to the value at the date of death, which can substantially reduce capital gains tax on a later sale. Whether a home is sold before or after that event can matter a great deal, and it is worth reviewing with an attorney or tax advisor.
Can you make a home accessible instead of selling?
Yes. Our construction crews perform handicap-accessible modifications and aging-in-place renovations for families who decide staying is the better option.
Any Situation
Selling a house is rarely only about the house
People call us in the middle of something — a death, a divorce, a deadline, a diagnosis. We work quietly, we do not judge, and we do not need to know more than what affects the transaction. The Real Estate Plan team is available to help facilitate and customize Your Real Estate Plan.
Inherited property and probate
An executor settling an estate, often from another state, with siblings to coordinate and a house full of a lifetime of belongings.
Foreclosure and mortgage default
Homeowners behind on payments who want to protect their equity and their credit before the calendar runs out.
Divorce and separation
Two parties who need a clean, fast, unarguable number and a date they can both plan around.
Tired landlords
Owners with problem tenants, unpaid rent, code violations, or a rental that stopped being worth the aggravation years ago.
Relocation on a deadline
A job that starts in six weeks in another state, and a house that cannot be left to sit on the market.
Financial hardship
Medical bills, job loss, judgments or liens, where certainty matters more than squeezing out the last percent.
Reverse mortgage payoff
Heirs facing a short repayment window who need the property sold before the lender forecloses.
Downsizing and senior moves
A family coordinating a sale around assisted living or a move closer to children, at a pace that respects the person moving.
Every Community We Serve
From Montauk to Manhattan — all of Long Island & New York City
We list and sell homes across every city, town, village and neighborhood in Suffolk, Nassau, Queens, Kings, New York and Bronx counties.
Suffolk County
Amagansett, Amityville, Babylon, Bay Shore, Bayport, Bellport, Blue Point, Bohemia, Brentwood, Bridgehampton, Brightwaters, Center Moriches, Centereach, Centerport, Central Islip, Cold Spring Harbor, Commack, Copiague, Coram, Cutchogue, Deer Park, Dix Hills, East Hampton, East Islip, East Northport, East Patchogue, East Setauket, Eastport, Elwood, Farmingville, Fort Salonga, Great River, Greenlawn, Greenport, Hampton Bays, Hauppauge, Head of the Harbor, Holbrook, Holtsville, Huntington, Huntington Station, Islandia, Islip, Kings Park, Lake Grove, Lake Ronkonkoma, Lindenhurst, Lloyd Harbor, Manorville, Mastic, Mastic Beach, Mattituck, Medford, Melville, Middle Island, Miller Place, Montauk, Mount Sinai, Nesconset, Nissequogue, North Babylon, Northport, Oakdale, Ocean Beach, Old Field, Patchogue, Poquott, Port Jefferson, Port Jefferson Station, Quogue, Ridge, Riverhead, Rocky Point, Ronkonkoma, Sag Harbor, Sagaponack, Sayville, Selden, Shelter Island, Shirley, Shoreham, Smithtown, Sound Beach, Southampton, Southold, St. James, Stony Brook, Wading River, Water Mill, West Babylon, West Islip, Westhampton, Westhampton Beach, Wyandanch, Yaphank
Nassau County
Albertson, Atlantic Beach, Baldwin, Bayville, Bellmore, Bethpage, Brookville, Carle Place, Cedarhurst, East Meadow, East Norwich, East Rockaway, Elmont, Farmingdale, Floral Park, Franklin Square, Freeport, Garden City, Glen Cove, Glen Head, Great Neck, Hempstead, Hewlett, Hicksville, Island Park, Jericho, Kings Point, Lawrence, Levittown, Lido Beach, Locust Valley, Long Beach, Lynbrook, Malverne, Manhasset, Massapequa, Massapequa Park, Merrick, Mineola, Muttontown, New Hyde Park, Oceanside, Old Brookville, Old Westbury, Oyster Bay, Plainview, Point Lookout, Port Washington, Rockville Centre, Roslyn, Sands Point, Sea Cliff, Seaford, Syosset, Uniondale, Valley Stream, Wantagh, West Hempstead, Westbury, Williston Park, Woodbury, Woodmere
Queens County
Astoria, Bayside, Bellerose, Briarwood, College Point, Corona, Douglaston, East Elmhurst, Elmhurst, Far Rockaway, Flushing, Forest Hills, Fresh Meadows, Glendale, Glen Oaks, Hollis, Howard Beach, Jackson Heights, Jamaica, Jamaica Estates, Kew Gardens, Little Neck, Long Island City, Maspeth, Middle Village, Oakland Gardens, Ozone Park, Queens Village, Rego Park, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood, Rockaway Beach, Rosedale, St. Albans, Springfield Gardens, Sunnyside, Whitestone, Woodhaven, Woodside
Kings County — Brooklyn
Bay Ridge, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bensonhurst, Boerum Hill, Borough Park, Brighton Beach, Brooklyn Heights, Bushwick, Canarsie, Carroll Gardens, Clinton Hill, Cobble Hill, Coney Island, Crown Heights, DUMBO, Dyker Heights, East New York, Flatbush, Fort Greene, Gowanus, Gravesend, Greenpoint, Kensington, Marine Park, Midwood, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Red Hook, Sheepshead Bay, Sunset Park, Williamsburg, Windsor Terrace
New York County — Manhattan
Battery Park City, Chelsea, Chinatown, East Harlem, East Village, Financial District, Flatiron, Gramercy, Greenwich Village, Hamilton Heights, Harlem, Hell’s Kitchen, Hudson Yards, Inwood, Kips Bay, Lenox Hill, Lincoln Square, Little Italy, Lower East Side, Midtown, Morningside Heights, Murray Hill, NoHo, NoLita, SoHo, Tribeca, Turtle Bay, Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Washington Heights, West Village, Yorkville
Bronx County
Baychester, Bedford Park, Belmont, Castle Hill, City Island, Concourse, Co-op City, Country Club, Eastchester, Fordham, Highbridge, Hunts Point, Kingsbridge, Melrose, Morris Park, Morrisania, Mott Haven, Norwood, Parkchester, Pelham Bay, Pelham Gardens, Riverdale, Soundview, Spuyten Duyvil, Throggs Neck, Tremont, University Heights, Wakefield, Williamsbridge, Woodlawn
We Guarantee To Help Homeowners Net More Money