How much money do I need to open a care home in a leased house in Texas?

At a $4,000 monthly rent: about $8,000 covers first month plus a typical one-month deposit (business-use leases sometimes ask for two months). Add the real government fees: $306.56 first-year Houston boarding home permit package, or the HHSC license at $300 plus $15 per bed for Type A/B. An optional done-for-you launch build is available at $3,500 for an unlicensed home (adult foster care or a Houston boarding home) or $5,000 for a licensed Type A or Type B assisted living facility. Furniture, insurance, and any required fire hardware are extra and get bid per house.

Can I open a care home without buying a house?

Yes. Leasing is a common path: you need a landlord who permits licensed care use, first month plus deposit, and your category paperwork. At 3 or fewer unrelated residents Texas requires no assisted living license at all; 4 or more residents with personal care requires an HHSC Type A or Type B license held by you as the operator, not the landlord.

What are the government fees to open a care home in Texas?

For a licensed Type A or Type B assisted living facility: $300 plus $15 per bed to HHSC for a three-year license, plus your local fire marshal inspection fee (set by your city). For a Houston boarding home: $306.56 the first year ($81 permit, $33.56 admin, $192 inspection), then $81 per year. Adult foster care at 1 to 3 residents has no license fee; HHSC enrollment background checks run about $38 to $40 per adult in the household (DFPS fingerprint-check fee tiers).

For operators · free calculator

You lease the house. I build the license package and the back office.

For the operator who wants in without buying a house. The question I get in Houston every week is what it actually costs to open, so start there, not with what it might pay. Tell the calculator the monthly rent you can carry and which kind of home you want to run, and it stacks your whole move-in and launch cost, line by line, with the real government fees, on one screen. What your home will earn after that, I will not pretend to know. It turns on your beds, your rates, and how full you keep them. What I can promise is my half: $3,500 for the unlicensed paths, $5,000 for a licensed Type A or B, and that covers the licensing package plus the AI that runs sales, marketing, billing, hiring, and compliance once you open.

Show me my launch number ↓

Your core move-in and launch number

Monthly rent you can spend

The lease payment you are comfortable carrying while you fill beds.

What kind of home?

Not sure which one you are? The fire safety guide explains all six categories in plain language.

Your core move-in and launch number, about

$11,806.56

Boarding Home (Houston) · rent $4,000 per month

Line by line

First month of rent$4,000

Security deposit (typically one month, set by your landlord; business-use leases sometimes ask for two)$4,000

Optional, included in this total: AI Operations Blueprint (unlicensed tier), the done-for-you build. The licensing paperwork, the permits, inspection readiness, and the AI that runs sales, marketing, billing, hiring, and compliance once you open. Follow-up is by email; we do not answer your phone or run your calendar. You can do all of it yourself instead, and our free guides show you how.$3,500

Houston boarding home permit, first year ($81 permit + $33.56 admin + $192 inspection)$306.56

Your launch number$11,806.56

How long until residents

The Houston permit processes in 1 to 4 weeks. Our working target is about 90 days from lease to first resident; your timeline depends on the property and your city. Most Texas cities outside Houston require no permit at all; we confirm your exact address.

Where these numbers come from (tap to open)

Government fees: HHSC license $300 + $15 per bed (hhs.texas.gov, sourced); Houston boarding home first year $306.56 (Houston Permitting Center, sourced). AFC background checks are an estimate at about $38 to $40 per adult: the DFPS fee schedule lists $37.75 (household member) and $39.75 (paid employee) fingerprint tiers, and no primary source states which tier AFC enrollment uses, so the total uses $40. Full source log lives on our fire safety page.
Deposit is an estimate: one month is typical for a residential lease, but your landlord sets it. Business-use leases sometimes ask for more.
Not in this total: furniture, food startup, insurance, your city's fire marshal inspection fee, and (Type B) mandatory sprinklers. The Blueprint maps every one of those for your exact address before you spend.
Blueprint prices are the live prices: $3,500 unlicensed tier, $5,000 licensed Type A/B tier, the same two products on our Open Your Home page.

Start the $3,500 build today →

Free · no fee to be matched

Now let us find you the house

We keep a list of Texas homeowners open to leasing to care-home operators. Tell us your budget and your category. If a house fits it, Erika and Vanda introduce you directly. No fee to be on the list, and no promise of a match, only a real introduction when there is a real fit.

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Tell us what you need

Takes 2 minutes. We aim to reply within one business day.

Your name *

Phone *

Email *

City you want

State

Riding along automatically from the calculator: Boarding Home (Houston) at a budget of $4,000/mo.

Timeframe

Ready now goes to the top of Erika and Vanda's list.

Anything else?

Add me to the free email list: one lesson a week on filling and running care homes, plus live licensing and market updates. Unsubscribe with one click, any time.

Goes straight to our inbox and our private match list. No reselling your info, ever (privacy policy). Erika routes and introduces leads only; Vanda Crossley, a licensed Texas real estate agent, handles any actual lease.

Own a home instead?

Run your own numbers on leasing it to a care-home operator, then get on the match list.

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Know your fire safety lane first

Every category's inspection process, costs, and timelines, free and complete.

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Already operating somewhere?

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