Compass Plus

Senior
Transitions.

A senior transition is rarely just a sale. It is the apartment where children were raised. The kitchen where decades of holidays were hosted. The address that has been on every form, every Christmas card, every memory for thirty or forty years.

Selling that home, or coordinating the move that follows, is one of the most consequential moments a family will ever navigate together. The Ruth Reffkin Team is built specifically for these moments.

“ Mission Before Commission. ”
Classic elegant living room reflecting decades of memories
What We Do

A Practice Built for
Later-Life Moves.

Ruth Reffkin is the President and Founder of Compass Plus, the national Compass division dedicated to serving older adults and their families. She holds the Certified Senior Advisor designation. She has guided clients through senior transitions across the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Greenwich Village, TriBeCa, Lenox Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Chelsea, and Beekman Place — across decades and across markets. Susan Hirschorn brings the same patience and the same commitment to every senior client we work with.

What makes these transitions different is rarely the real estate. It is the conversations that happen around it. The adult children who live in three different time zones and have three different opinions about what mom should do. The longtime neighbor who still has questions about the building. The estate attorney who needs paperwork in a particular order. The financial advisor who wants the closing to land in a specific tax year.

Our role is to coordinate all of it — and to give the family room to focus on the parts only they can navigate.

We do not push timelines. We do not pressure decisions. We move at the pace the family needs, and we have the experience to know when that pace needs to shift. Mission Before Commission is not a tagline. It is the operating principle that has anchored Ruth's practice for more than 27 years and informs every senior transition we touch.

How We Work

A Refined
Editorial Process.

Every senior transition is unique. Our process is a structured framework refined over 40+ years, designed to provide absolute clarity and reduce family stress at every stage.

Consultation
Phase 01

The First Conversation

We meet with the family in the home itself. We listen first. Understanding what the home has meant over the decades allows us to determine the right path forward—whether that is a sale, a transition, or specialized advocacy.

Professional Coordination
Phase 02

Expert Coordination

Senior transitions involve a circle of professionals. We coordinate directly with your elder-law attorneys, estate planners, and financial advisors, acting as the central hub for the team you already trust.

Preparing the Home
Phase 03

Preparing the Home

Decades of memories require careful handling. We work with vetted move managers and estate specialists to sort, pack, and prepare the residence with the patience and respect this stage requires.

Strategic Sale
Phase 04

Marketing and Sale

Utilizing Compass Private Exclusives and our deep Manhattan network, we position the property for the strongest outcome while maintaining the family’s privacy and peace of mind throughout the transaction.

After the Closing
Phase 05

After the Closing

Our advocacy does not end at the closing table. We remain an active resource for the next move and beyond, ensuring that the legacy of the home is honored long after the keys have been handed over.

Why This Team

Why This Team for
Senior Transitions.

Senior transitions are where this team's expertise is most concentrated, and the service where what we offer is least replicable elsewhere.

01

Founder of Compass Plus

Ruth is the President and Founder of Compass Plus, the national Compass division built specifically for older adults and their families. No other team in New York operates from that level of program leadership in the senior real estate space. The result is not just a certification — it is a deeper understanding of what these families need, built across years of program-level work.

02

Certified Senior Advisor Designation

Ruth holds the CSA designation from the Society of Certified Senior Advisors. The training is specialized — financial planning for retirement, common health considerations, family system dynamics, the legal landscape around senior care. It changes how we listen in the first conversation and what we anticipate in the conversations that follow.

03

A Vetted Network of Specialists

Senior transitions almost always require help beyond real estate. Over decades, we have built direct relationships with the elder-law attorneys, estate attorneys, financial advisors, geriatric care managers, senior living communities, move managers, and estate sale specialists that these moves depend on. When the family needs an introduction, we have one ready — and the people we refer to are people we know personally and trust.

The Inquiries

Frequently Asked Questions

Ask a Private Question

Now. The single most common regret families share is starting too late — not too early. Even if a move is two or three years out, an early conversation gives us time to plan the transition with care, identify the right professionals, prepare the home gradually rather than under pressure, and structure the timing around tax considerations or financial planning the family is already navigating. Early conversations are free, low-pressure, and frequently the most valuable hour the family will spend.

This is one of the most common dynamics we encounter, and we are experienced at navigating it. Our role is not to take sides. It is to provide accurate market information, honest counsel, and a structure that lets the family work through their decisions with the data they need. Often the disagreement softens once everyone is looking at the same numbers. When it does not, we have the patience to wait — and the experience to know when a decision needs to be made anyway.

Compass Plus is a national initiative within Compass — not a marketing label or an individual specialty. It is a program with leadership, structure, training, and resources dedicated specifically to serving older adults and their families. Ruth is the Founder. The distinction matters because it means we operate inside an institutional framework built for these transitions, not on top of a generalist practice.

We handle the real estate transactions ourselves and we coordinate with trusted partners — move managers, estate sale professionals, contractors, organizers — who handle the rest. The family does not need to assemble a team. We bring one.

We are honest about it. Sometimes pre-sale improvements pay off significantly, and we coordinate them — often using Compass Concierge to front the cost so the family is not out of pocket. Sometimes the right answer is to sell as-is and let the buyer take on the renovation. Ruth's hands-on experience with renovating multiple homes herself means we can be specific about which path makes sense for a particular property.

New York City skyline
Start The Conversation

Let’s Talk About
Your Family’s Next Move.

Whether you are starting to think about a senior transition or already navigating one, we welcome a confidential conversation. There is no obligation. The first conversation often clarifies the path forward — even when the move itself is months or years away.

Click To Schedule Consultation
Phone 516-903-9097
Email ruth.reffkin@compass.com
susan.hirschorn@compass.com
Office 110 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
Hours 8am to 9pm, seven days a week
Compass Real Estate · New York City