The private pay range is what I see around Seattle, and the state does not publish one. Medicaid rates are published by DSHS and set by the care level each resident is given.

The cost side is mostly people, because someone must be awake and responsible around the clock. Then add the mortgage, insurance, food, supplies, the $450 per bed yearly license fee, and the months before the home is full.

Extra payments from Medicaid residents. The state's daily rate pays for the room, meals, personal care and everything in the care plan. You may not ask a Medicaid resident or their family to pay extra for any of it. The state calls an extra payment supplementation. It is allowed only for things the rate does not cover, and only under a written policy that you give every applicant and resident before you ask. If every bedroom in the home is private, you cannot charge more for a private bedroom. A feature that only some rooms have, such as a private bathroom, can carry a charge. Record who paid, what for and how much, and tell the resident's case manager. Your attorney or consultant can write the policy, and I can help you find one. Only take payments that are in it.

My site has a calculator that does the arithmetic on your own numbers: could you run one here.

Level 1: verbal. A lender tells you on the phone that you should qualify. Nobody has looked at your papers. A seller gives this very little weight.

Level 2: pre-approval. A lender has looked at your income, savings and credit and writes you a letter. The first check is often by software. It is better than nothing, and the seller still cannot be sure the loan will close.

Level 3: fully underwritten. A person called an underwriter has gone through your whole file before you make an offer. This is the strongest level, because most of the lender's work is already done.

Why it matters for an adult family home. Lenders see few of these. A pre-approval from a lender who has never seen one is worth very little. Ask two questions: have you closed an adult family home, and can you underwrite me before I offer?

Start early, even if you are only looking. A home that is right for you may not wait while a lender catches up. If you are new to the U.S. credit system, tell your lender at the start.

Me. I handle the house: finding it, checking it against the state's rules, touring it, writing the offer and getting you to closing. I can also help you find and buy the business inside an operating home. I keep your attorney, lender and consultant working from the same plan and the same dates, so you are not carrying messages between them.

I am a licensed broker. Your attorney, accountant, lender and licensing consultant each give the advice that only they are licensed to give, and I bring the right ones to you. If you already have someone you trust, I work with them too. The choice is always yours.

DSHS reviews your application once your business is set up and its numbers are in order. The names must match exactly everywhere, and your attorney or accountant can set that up with you. The home's license comes from DSHS alone, so you do not need anything from the Department of Licensing.

The ones that are listed are on my adult family homes for sale page, which is the search Zillow cannot run. The three tags are shown above.

The ones that are not listed are why I send the Monday list. Send me an address from anywhere you found it, and I will tell you what it would take.

Where the homes are. King County has 1,818, Snohomish 1,185 and Pierce 1,080. A county with few homes is not automatically a better business.

Step 9

What the house must have

I check the house with you, and the city checks it too. The state measures the house, not only the business. A listing that says four bedrooms and two baths tells you almost nothing. Four things decide whether a house works. You can check each one with a tape measure.

Many residents arrive after a fall, and their families want to know it will not happen again. That is why I look for a flat house first.

The city's sign-off. State law says an adult family home is a residential use, allowed in every residential or commercial zone, single-family included. For a conversion, the local building official must mark the state's building checklist PASSED before DSHS accepts your application. What that takes depends on the city. If the house has septic or a well, the local health authority must approve it for an adult family home.

One phone call before you offer. Tell the permit office the address and that you plan a licensed adult family home there. Ask what they will require and what it costs. A house that cannot pass, or needs five figures of work to pass, is the worst result. The call is free.

Four more things to check on the tour. Every bedroom needs a window that works as an escape, and a high sill cannot be fixed with a step or a platform. Ask how many people the septic system is approved for. Ask whether the house is on public water and sewer, because DSHS asks for papers on both. If the house is in an HOA or has covenants, ask your attorney to read them before you offer. Zoning law and private rules are two different things. Write all four on the sheet.

Tour with a tape measure and the sheet at the back of this guide. Fill in the numbers while you stand in the house. By the third house they blur together.

One toilet for every five people, and your own household counts.

The business is a separate agreement. It covers the name, phone number, website, furniture and goodwill. Your attorney writes or reviews it. I can help with the business side: finding the home, weighing the price and terms with you, negotiating, and keeping both agreements on the same dates.

What does not come with it. The license. You qualify on your own and apply for your own. The Medicaid contract ends with the seller's license, and you sign your own.

The seller's 60 days. The seller must give written notice 60 days before the change, to DSHS and to every resident or their representative. DSHS says a defective notice is its most common reason for sending these applications back. So ask for it early.

Residents are part of what you buy. If two residents move out during the notice, you are buying something different from what you agreed. Ask your attorney to tie the price to how many residents live there at closing, or to give you a way out.

Check the home's record yourself. DSHS's locator shows three years of inspections and enforcement actions for every licensed home. A plan of correction is routine. Fines, license conditions and a stop placement are not. A stop placement means the home cannot admit residents.

Who asks for what. I ask the seller for the house papers: the building approval and floor plan, septic and well approvals, and the license history. I can also help you ask for the business papers, such as the residents list, payroll, rates and the tax status letter, and your attorney reviews them.

The seller stays the licensee until your license is issued. Everything in the home is still their responsibility. A sale is not a reason to move any resident.

On an adult family home, terms count for more. A seller running a home cannot afford a deal that falls apart in month two. A clean, well-financed offer with a believable license plan is worth more than a higher number from someone who has not started their hours.

Washington contracts favor buyers by default. You usually have protections, called contingencies, that let you leave the deal. In a competitive sale some buyers give one up to look stronger. That helps the seller and closes your way out. If you then do not close on time, you can lose your earnest money. Here are the protections I look at.

A license contingency. On an operating home, the deal should depend on DSHS granting you a license by a set date. It should say what happens if the license is late. Set the closing after the license and after the seller's 60-day notice, not before.

Inspection. Keep it. Add a sewer scope or a septic inspection, and a measured floor plan. On a conversion, the building official's walkthrough only works for a house that needs no changes. If work is needed, it comes after you own the house, and DSHS will not accept your application until the checklist is passed.

Financing. Keep it. Be fully underwritten before you write the offer, by a lender who has closed an adult family home before.

Appraisal. If the house appraises below your price, the gap can fall on you. Ask your lender about it early, and ask me what similar homes have sold for.

Both agreements together. Ask your attorney to link the house agreement and the business agreement, so that if one fails, both fail and your earnest money comes back.

Wire fraud. I will never email you wire instructions. If an email that looks like it comes from me or from escrow asks you to wire money, call escrow on a number you already have and confirm by voice before you send anything.

The DSHS inspection comes before anyone moves in. After DSHS accepts your application, a licensor emails you to set a date. The house, the systems and the papers must all be ready first. On the day, the licensor checks your training and background checks, your water and sewer papers, your logs and a sample resident file, and walks the home with you. You leave with a written list of anything that is not met.

If something is not met, you fix it and ask in writing for a follow-up visit. DSHS may take missing papers by email, or check some fixes by video. If you still do not meet the rules after a second follow-up, DSHS can send the file to a department review for a decision. The one-year clock keeps running. If you need more time, ask DSHS for it in writing before the year ends.

The home's own paperwork. DSHS reads your policies as well as your papers. Before any resident is admitted, the home must give them the written notice of rights and services, with the charges, and keep a signed copy. If you will take extra payments from Medicaid residents, you also need the written policy from step 4. The sample resident file needs a place for each item DSHS lists, such as the assessment, the care plan and an inventory of belongings. Your consultant or attorney writes these, and I can help you find a good one. Do not copy another home's. Ask who will write them before you offer.

Insurance first. Two policies must be in force before your first resident, or within ten working days of the license, whichever comes first: general or business liability, and professional liability. Each must be at least $500,000 for each occurrence and $1,000,000 in all, with the State of Washington and DSHS named as additional insureds.

The TB test comes after the license. The home must have a system so that every provider and staff member is tested within three days of starting work. DSHS's page for new providers lists the TB test as due within three days of the home being licensed.

The first resident. Nobody moves in before the license. Post the license in a common area. You then appear on the state's list.

After you are licensed, DSHS inspects at least every 18 months, and about every 15 on average. A home with no citations in its last three inspections, and no written violations from complaints, can go up to two years. DSHS may also visit without notice at any time.

Be easy to find. A family searching after a hospital discharge needs a website, a map listing and a phone number that answers. My family's home sat with empty beds until it existed online. The week it did, a daughter found it, toured and moved her father in.

Buy for year three. A standard license is six beds. After 24 months licensed, with 12 of them at six residents and two clean full inspections, you can apply for seven or eight. Whether the house can get there was decided the day you bought it.

There is no rush. Buy now, or in a year. Start with me now, so your hours, your training and your lender are ready when the right house comes up.

How I am paid. My fee is 2.5% of the purchase price of the house, and the seller usually pays it.

Your attorney can read the agreement before you sign, and you read every line yourself. If you ever want out, you can cancel any day, for any reason.

When you are ready, tell me, and I will send you the agreement. If you are not sure yet, send me an address, and I will tell you what it would take.