Buying an Adult Family Home
You are buying a house, a business, or both, but never the license. You apply for your own license through the change-of-ownership process and must meet every provider qualification.
Check the home's DSHS record and confirm what it really is before you rely on the income it shows.
Your steps, in order
- Buying or Selling an Adult Family HomeThe change-of-ownership process from both sides.
- Before You Buy: What to VerifySeven layers to check, and the sales claims to prove.
- Is It Really an Adult Family Home?Operating, former, AFH-ready or just marketing.
- How to Look Up DSHS ViolationsChecking a home's inspection and enforcement record.
- How to Finance an AFHLoan types for the real estate and the business.
- DSCR Loans for Adult Family HomesHow lenders count an AFH's income, gross or after expenses.
- Leasing a House to an AFH OperatorWho holds the license in a rented house, and what the lease must settle.
- Buying as an Individual or Through an LLCDecide before you apply; changing later is another change of ownership.
- AFH ListingsHomes, businesses and leases for sale in Washington.
Watch out for
The license does not transfer.
Every new owner applies for a new license, including when an LLC is formed around an existing home. ECS and SBS contracts do not transfer either.
A lapsed home meets today's rules.
DSHS confirmed in writing that a continuously licensed home keeps the building rules it was licensed under; a home whose license lapsed must meet current rules, including 27-inch doors.
Read the public record.
The DSHS locator shows each home's license and three years of limits and enforcement.
Looking for a figure or a rule? See Rules & key figures or the AFH glossary. General information, not legal or tax advice.
See the whole flow chart
Once licensed → Running a home
Once licensed → Running a home