Every care home
needs a building.
Here's how to get the right one.
The property you choose decides what you can license, what it costs to convert, and whether the city even lets you open. The know-how below is free. When you're ready to actually buy, sell, or lease — it goes straight to Erika and Vanda Crossley, a Houston-area agent who specializes in care-facility property.
The property side, in plain English
Read this before you tour a single house. It will save you from the two mistakes that sink first-time operators: the wrong building, and the wrong zoning.
The property decides your license — so we match them for you
Texas care licenses have hard physical rules: minimum square footage per resident, bedroom and bathroom ratios, exit and hallway widths, fire-safety construction. A house that works for a 3-resident Adult Foster Care home may fail a 16-bed Type A ALF on day one. Tell us the license you want and we point you at properties that already fit — or ones you can convert affordably. You don’t guess; we match.
Zoning quietly kills more deals than anything — we clear it before you commit
Residential zoning, deed restrictions, and HOA covenants can all block a care home, and most people don’t find out until they’ve already made an offer. We run the zoning, deed, and HOA rules on any address you’re weighing and tell you straight: clear, or not. Smaller homes (3 or fewer residents) usually qualify as a single-family use; larger facilities can need commercial or special-use zoning — and if a variance is needed, we drive that process for you.
Lease vs. buy — we run both, then handle the paperwork
Buying builds equity and gives you full control to renovate for licensure. Leasing lowers your upfront cash and lets you test the business. We run the numbers both ways for your situation — and on a lease, we make sure the use clause lets you legally operate a licensed care home and gives you the right to add the ramps, sprinklers, and grab bars HHSC requires. Many first-time operators lease a proven layout, prove the model, then buy. We set up either path.
What “care-home-ready” actually looks like
This is what we screen for when we shortlist homes for you: single-story (it dodges costly stair and egress rules), wide doorways and hallways for wheelchair clearance, more bathrooms than a normal house, a layout that separates resident rooms from staff and kitchen, parking, and an accessible entrance. A home that already has a sprinkler system, or takes one easily, saves real money. You’ll never tour a place that can’t be licensed — we’ve already checked.
Selling? We price it to the right buyer
If you already own a care home or a property primed to become one, it’s worth more to the right buyer than as a plain house — an existing license, a compliant layout, even census and operating history all add value. We market it to care-home buyers instead of the general listing pool, so you capture that premium instead of leaving it on the table.
Easiest to hardest — find your starting line
Not sure how big to go? Here's the honest ladder, easiest and cheapest to open at the top. Most people start near the top and climb. Tell us where you want to land and we map the property to it.
You live in the home. No facility license, no boarding permit, FHA-protected residential zoning, minimal retrofit. The fastest, cheapest way to open and start earning.
Lodging plus light services, or a 6-bed disability group home that’s protected in single-family zoning. Low build-out, still simple to stand up.
A licensed facility with real revenue. Triggers HHSC physical-plant rules and usually commercial zoning — bigger lift, bigger income (private pay averages ~$5,250/resident/month in Texas).
Construction, contracting, civil engineering, millions in financing. The biggest revenue and the biggest project — we cover that on the Development page.
What the property side really costs
Real 2025–2026 ranges so you can plan. These are property and retrofit numbers — the exact government license fees live on each facility-type page. When you send your request, we sharpen these to your actual home.
Houston / Katy home suited to a 4–8 bed conversion
~$350k–$600k+Median Katy home ~$350k; larger single-story homes run higher
Turn a normal house into a licensable care home
~$15k–$50k+Ramps, accessible bath, grab bars, fire-rated doors, sprinklers
Fire sprinkler retrofit (NFPA 13D)
~$5k–$15k+Less if the home already has one — we screen for that
Accessible bathroom remodel
~$3k–$25kCurbless shower, ADA toilet, grab bars, non-slip floor
Wheelchair ramp
~$1,700–$5,000Per entrance
Revenue per resident (private pay AL, TX)
~$5,250/moMemory care adds roughly 10–30% on top
Buy · Sell · Lease
Send it straight to the people who do this.
Fill this out and it goes directly to Erika and Vanda Crossley — no call center, no lead broker, no reselling your information. Vanda is a real estate agent who specializes in senior-living and care-facility properties, and she works across Texas.
Buying
We help you find a home that can actually be licensed — and flag zoning and conversion costs before you offer.
Selling
Get your care home or care-ready property in front of the right buyers, priced for what it really is.
Leasing
Find a landlord who will permit a licensed care use and the modifications HHSC requires.
No cost to ask
A conversation about the property side is free. You only ever pay normal real estate costs if and when a deal actually happens.
Goes to Erika + Vanda
Tell us what you need
Takes 2 minutes. We reply within one business day.