Chicago · costs
The license is $1,000. The house is the real number.
If you are an Illinois investor sizing up a house as a senior care business, this is the cost sheet that tells you the truth before you write an offer. A Shared Housing Establishment license is a flat $1,000. That is the cheap part. The conversion, the Cook County property-tax drag, and the sprinkler determination are what decide whether the deal works, and they swing several times over depending on the house. So we do not publish a single all-in figure. Every line below is a sourced range you can hand to a contractor and pressure-test.
Government fees
Shared Housing Establishment license
$1,000 flat
Nonrefundable, 77 Ill. Adm. Code 295.500.
Assisted Living Establishment license
$2,000 + $20 per unit
Nonrefundable.
Illinois LLC (Form LLC-5.5)
$150
Plus a $75 annual report.
IDPH Life Safety plan review
$0 to $30,000
No fee under $100,000 of work; scales with project cost, capped at $30,000. 45-day review clock.
Conversion and build-out (component estimates)
Fire sprinklers (NFPA 13D retrofit)
$2 to $7 per sq ft
About $5,000 to $15,000+ for a 2,500 sq ft home. Retrofit installs run $2-$7/sqft (NFSA and vendor 2025-26 data). Often not required in an existing small home unless evacuation is rated impractical.
Accessible bathroom (each)
$8,000 to $20,000
Roll-in shower, grab bars, widened door. Component estimate; confirm with a contractor.
Ramp and accessible entry
$3,000 to $12,000
Component estimate.
Fire alarm and interconnected detection
$5,000 to $15,000
Depends on the system.
Egress, second exit, hardware, lighting
$5,000 to $20,000+
Scope-dependent.
Architect plans, plan review, permits
$10,000 to $40,000+
Required before licensure.
Ongoing operating costs
Property tax (the Illinois drag)
~2% to 2.5% of value
Cook County effective rate. A $600,000 property can run $12,000 to $25,000 a year. Reclassification to a commercial care use can raise it.
Insurance
$500 to $1,200 per occupied bed / yr
General, professional, and abuse coverage; a small-home package often runs $2,500 to $5,000 a year.
Direct-care labor (CNA)
$17 to $22 per hour
Chicago wages. The 24-hour staffing rule makes labor the dominant operating cost even at 6 beds.
House acquisition (conversion-grade)
$250,000 to $1M+
By submarket: south and west Cook lower, DuPage and Naperville higher. Confirm with a broker.
The honest planning bracket: what to have in cash
Beyond the mortgage down payment, plan for roughly $150,000 to $500,000 or more in cash to convert and license a suburban home, depending on the property’s condition, the sprinkler determination, and the license you choose. That is a planning range to pressure-test, not a quote. If one line surprises you later, it will be the property tax, so put it in your model on day one.
Official cost and fire-safety sources
The fee schedules and the codes that drive your build, verified June 2026.
Sources: 77 Ill. Adm. Code 295.500, IDPH, the Illinois State Fire Marshal, CareScout 2025 Cost of Care, Cook and DuPage County assessor data, and contractor cost references. Component figures are estimates that require a licensed contractor’s confirmation. Verified June 2026. General guidance, not financial advice.