FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Silicon Valley REALTOR® Seb Frey Contributes to New National Aging-in-Place Housing Book
Compass Broker Associate and Certified Senior Advisor contributes chapter on planning ahead for downsizing, home equity and major later-life transitions
LOS GATOS, Calif., October 2026 — Seb Frey, a Compass Broker Associate in Los Gatos who specializes in working with longtime homeowners and older adults, has contributed a chapter to Aging in Place Conversations: The Housing Edition, a new book in the National Aging in Place Council’s Aging in Place Conversations series.
Frey’s chapter, “Strategic Home Selling for Life Transitions: Building Your Family’s Financial Future,” focuses on a decision millions of older homeowners and their adult children eventually face: what to do with a longtime family home when health, caregiving, downsizing or a move to senior living changes the family’s plans.
Drawing on more than 23 years in Silicon Valley real estate and more than 460 closed transactions, Frey argues that selling a longtime home should not begin with a crisis. Families are better positioned when they start discussing the home, their equity and their future housing needs years before a move becomes necessary.
“Something changes, and everything changes,” Frey said. “A fall, a diagnosis or the death of a spouse can turn a process everyone thought would take years into a matter of weeks. Families who plan early get choices. Families who wait get deadlines.”
The chapter encourages readers to work backward from the life they want next and consider how the equity accumulated in a longtime home may help fund future housing, caregiving and other family priorities.
“You can easily owe $100,000 in taxes on a house you bought for $150,000, and even $1,000,000 or more in high cost areas like where I work in Silicon Valley,” Frey said. “Most people know they have a lot of equity. Very few have done the math on what they’ll actually keep, and nearly every way to shrink that tax bill takes time to set up.”
The chapter also makes the case against major pre-sale renovations. “Spend $50,000 remodeling a kitchen before you sell and you’ll be lucky to get $30,000 of it back,” Frey said. “Don’t try to guess what a buyer will love. Get rid of the things every buyer hates.”
On the family side, Frey writes that disputes among siblings over a parent’s home are rarely about the house itself. “When siblings fight over the house, the argument about price or timing is the symptom, not the disease,” he said.
“Planning for all of this isn’t cold or transactional,” Frey said. “It’s among the most loving thing you can do for your family.”
Aging in Place Conversations: The Housing Edition brings together professionals from across the aging-in-place field to address housing decisions facing older adults and their families, including remaining safely at home, adapting a property and preparing for a future move.
The book is available now on Amazon.
Frey is available for interviews, podcasts and speaking engagements on downsizing, preparing longtime homes for sale, later-life housing transitions and the role home equity can play in those decisions. Journalists and event organizers can find background, bios and more in his media kit.
About Seb Frey
Seb Frey is a Broker Associate with Compass in Los Gatos, California, serving longtime Silicon Valley homeowners, older adults and their families. He has more than 23 years of real estate experience and has closed more than 460 transactions. Frey holds the Seniors Real Estate Specialist® (SRES®), Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)® and Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) designations and hosts the Sixty Plus Uncensored podcast.
Learn more at sebfrey.com.
Media Contact
Seb Frey
Broker Associate, Compass
408-413-3087
[email protected]
sebfrey.com
Media Kit
CA DRE #01369847
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