Investors and landlords:
most houses cannot be licensed.
We tell you before you buy.
You are not buying a house. You are buying a business that has to pass an inspection. Bedrooms an inch too small, zoning that bars a care use, a two-story layout that blows the egress budget: any one of them kills the deal, and most people find out after they have already made the offer. We check every one of them before you commit, and that part is free. When you are ready to buy, sell, or lease, it goes straight to Erika Crossley and Vanda Crossley, a real estate agent who specializes in care-facility property and works across Texas.
The two mistakes that cost investors the deal
The wrong building and the wrong zoning sink more first-time operators than anything else, and both are avoidable. Read this before you tour a single house. It is free, and there is nothing to sign.
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.
Find your starting line: easiest to hardest
Not sure how big to go? Here is the honest ladder: lowest capital and least friction at the top, ground-up development at the bottom. Most operators prove the market near the top, then 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 lowest-capital way to prove a market before you scale.
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 it really costs to get in
Real 2025–2026 ranges so you can underwrite this before you offer. These are the property and retrofit numbers; the exact government license fees live on each facility-type page. Send your request and we sharpen every line to your actual house.
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
Free Blueprint Document
The Complete Senior Living AI Blueprint
How to read any house as a care home deal: the bed math, the license paths, the real money, and the ten deal-killers. Free, sent to your inbox.
The full guide this whole site is named after. No paywall, no catch.
Send me the Blueprint →Buy · Sell · Lease
Send it straight to the two people who do this.
Fill this out and it lands with Erika Crossley and Vanda Crossley. No call center, no lead broker, nobody 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.