AFH Club · Find a Professional
Find an AFH Professional
Running an Adult Family Home successfully requires a team of specialists who understand the unique intersection of residential real estate, small business operations, and DSHS regulation. This page introduces professionals met with personally, then explains what to look for when choosing each kind of specialist.
Listings here are a courtesy. No one pays to be featured, and Real Property Planning receives nothing if you hire them. The one exception is noted on the broker's listing below.
AFH Club Featured Professionals
Independent professionals who can help your adult family home succeed.
Buy & Sell
Operate
Maintain
Looking for caregivers, or for adult family home work? Post or browse on the free AFH Caregiver Job Board.
What to look for in each kind of professional
Whoever you hire, these are the questions that separate someone who knows adult family homes from someone who does not.
Real Estate Brokers
AFH transactions are unlike standard residential sales. A broker experienced in AFH properties understands DSHS requirements, CHOW procedures, how to value the business component alongside the real estate, and how to coordinate the sale timeline with the licensing process.
What to Look For
Experience with CHOW transactions
Understanding of DSHS licensing timelines
Familiarity with AFH valuation beyond residential comps
Network of AFH-related professionals
Bookkeepers
An AFH is a small business with payroll, resident billing, Medicaid and private-pay receivables, and expenses that have to be tracked for DSHS, lenders, and tax time. A bookkeeper who already works with care homes keeps the books in a shape a buyer, a lender, or a CPA can rely on.
What to Look For
Experience with adult family homes or other licensed care businesses
Payroll and caregiver scheduling records kept alongside the books
Resident billing and Medicaid/private-pay receivables tracking
Monthly financials clean enough to hand to a CPA or a buyer
Photographers
A care home sells on its rooms, its light and its condition as much as on its numbers. A photographer who has shot licensed homes shows the resident rooms, common areas, and required accessibility features without making the home look institutional, and works around residents and staff.
What to Look For
Experience photographing care homes, senior living, or medical settings
Comfortable working around residents and on a care schedule
Interior and exterior sets sized for listing sites and print
Quick turnaround so listing and CHOW timelines line up
House Cleaning
An operating home is cleaned around residents, on a schedule, to a standard an inspector or a buyer walking through will notice. A company used to care settings works quietly, on time, and with the products the home allows.
What to Look For
Experience in care homes, clinics, or senior living
Staff who are background-checked and consistent week to week
Willing to follow the home's product and infection-control rules
Deep-clean and move-out service for a sale or a room turnover
Water Damage Restoration
A burst line or a slow leak in an operating home is an emergency twice over: residents cannot simply move out while it dries, and DSHS will expect the home to have stayed safe and sanitary. A restoration company that can dry, contain, and document the work around residents matters more here than in an ordinary house.
What to Look For
24-hour response and the equipment to dry in place
Containment that keeps residents' rooms usable during the work
Moisture readings and photos documented for insurance and DSHS
Experience in care homes, clinics, or other occupied buildings
Restoration & Rebuilding Contractors
After a fire, flood or storm, the damaged parts of an operating home have to be torn out and rebuilt, usually through an insurance claim, while residents stay safe. A contractor that runs the claim, the repairs and the rebuild together keeps the work in one set of hands.
What to Look For
A Washington contractor registration you can check with L&I
Experience working directly with insurance adjusters on the claim
A plan for keeping residents' rooms, exits and kitchen usable during the work
Experience in care homes or other occupied buildings
Adult Family Home Biohazard Cleanup
After a leak, a fire, a sewage backup or a medical emergency, an operating home needs the damage or biohazard cleaned up and its cause found while residents stay safe. Mold, moisture and smoke are hard on older lungs, so the work has to be thorough.
What to Look For
Moisture readings and written documentation, for DSHS, an insurer or a lender
Containment that keeps mold and dust out of residents' rooms during the work
Trained crews with protective equipment and proper disposal of biohazard material
Availability for urgent calls, since water and smoke damage spread
Business Insurance
An adult family home needs general and professional liability, property, workers' compensation for caregivers, and often abuse-and-molestation coverage. A buyer cannot take over the seller's policies, so coverage has to be placed before the CHOW date.
What to Look For
Writes adult family homes or assisted living, not just homeowners
Knows which carriers will bind care-home risk in Washington
Can quote before closing so the CHOW is not delayed
Explains what DSHS and lenders expect to see on the certificate
SBA Loan Specialists
Most AFH purchases that include the business are financed with an SBA 7(a) or 504 loan, which underwrites the home's income as well as the real estate. A lender who has closed AFH deals knows how to present resident revenue, the CHOW timeline, and the owner's role to underwriting.
What to Look For
Closed SBA loans on adult family homes or similar care businesses
Comfortable with income from Medicaid and private-pay residents
Can sequence funding with the DSHS change-of-ownership approval
Clear on down payment, guarantees, and what the appraisal must show
Commercial Business Brokers
When the business changes hands separately from the building, or the buyer will lease, a commercial business broker values and markets the operation itself: the license, the resident census, the staff, and the contracts. That is different work from selling the real estate.
What to Look For
Has sold care businesses, not only restaurants or retail
Values the operation on its census and margins, not the house
Coordinates with the real estate broker when both are sold
Understands that the DSHS license does not transfer with the sale
AFH Management Companies
A management company can take on contracted work for an AFH owner: staffing and scheduling, billing, record-keeping, and compliance support. It does not take over the license. Under Washington rules, the licensed owner stays responsible for daily operations and resident care, must meet with the manager at least monthly and visit the home at least quarterly, and must file the management agreement with DSHS 60 days before it starts. Services vary widely — some handle everything from caregiver hiring to billing; others focus on compliance and record-keeping.
What to Look For
Washington State operating experience
DSHS compliance track record
Staffing and caregiver management services
Transparent fee structure
A written agreement that leaves you, the owner, in charge, filed with DSHS on form 27-226
CPAs Familiar with AFH Operations
AFH tax and accounting has unique considerations — business income mixed with residential property, Medicaid rate structures, depreciation on modifications, payroll for caregivers, and licensing fee deductibility. A CPA with AFH experience will save you money and help you avoid costly errors.
What to Look For
Experience with Medicaid-contracted small businesses
Understanding of AFH-specific deductions
Payroll services for caregiving staff
Estate and business transition planning
AFH Inspectors & Compliance Consultants
Independent consultants and former DSHS licensors can conduct pre-inspection walkthroughs to identify compliance gaps before an official DSHS inspection. They can also assist with corrective action plans, record-keeping systems, and staff training compliance.
What to Look For
DSHS inspection or licensing background
Current knowledge of WAC 388-76
Pre-inspection audit services
Corrective action plan support
Are You a Professional?
Join the Real Property Planning Network
AFH Club lists independent professionals who serve adult family home owners, buyers, and operators throughout Washington State. If you work with Adult Family Homes and would like to be considered for a listing in this directory, use the contact page to learn more.
Join the NetworkProfessional Disclosure
Real Property Planning is an educational and connection hub. It does not provide legal, tax, accounting, financial, brokerage, or appraisal services. Professionals referenced on this site are independently licensed and operate through their own separate businesses. Real estate brokerage services are provided by David Stein, a licensed Washington broker, through eXp Realty. Appraisal services are provided by David Stein through Stein Appraisal. Read the full disclaimer.