Don’t Launch Blind: Red Flags Every Assisted Living Owner Must Know
Sep 29, 2025
Starting an assisted living facility can be exciting, but it comes with its fair share of challenges. One of the most important things you need to know before opening your doors is the red flags that could hold up your licensing, zoning, or overall success. In this guide, we’ll break down the top red flags you need to watch for and how to navigate them.
Check out this video, too:
Why It Matters
Missing key requirements or skipping inspections can cost you time, money, and even your ability to operate. Being proactive and prepared is the best way to avoid headaches and ensure your residents are safe and happy.
1️⃣ Fire Safety Violations
Fire safety is a big deal in assisted living. Common issues include:
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Inadequate fire suppression systems – Check if your building needs sprinklers or just fire extinguishers.
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Blocked or improper exit routes – Every room must have accessible exits for residents.
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Missing smoke or carbon monoxide detectors – Hardwired or battery-operated, make sure they’re up to code.
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Not meeting egress requirements – Rooms must have two ways out, like a door and a window that residents can safely use.
How to fix it:
✅ Check local fire codes
✅ Schedule a fire department inspection early
✅ Install exit signs, emergency lighting, and fire extinguishers strategically
✅ Make sure bedrooms have two ways to exit
Fire safety may be your biggest startup cost if you need a fire suppression system, so plan ahead!
2️⃣ ADA Compliance Issues
Some assisted living homes must follow the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Even if residents aren’t wheelchair-bound now, they might be in the future. Key areas to check:
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Hallway and doorway width – Standard is 36 inches to accommodate wheelchairs.
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Wheelchair-accessible bathrooms – Grab bars, accessible showers, and sinks.
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Ramps and stairlifts – Ensure entrances and transitions are smooth and safe.
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Uneven flooring or raised thresholds – Remove or cover to prevent trips.
How to fix it:
✅ Widen hallways and doors if needed
✅ Install grab bars and railings
✅ Add ramps at entrances
✅ Smooth out flooring transitions
Some of these changes can be costly, but they’re essential for safety and compliance.
3️⃣ Incomplete Documentation
Having all your paperwork ready is just as important as meeting fire or ADA requirements. Common missing documents include:
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Proof of property ownership or lease agreements
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Approved zoning and business permits
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Fire safety inspection reports
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ADA compliance verification
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Electrical and plumbing inspection reports
How to fix it:
✅ Work closely with your city planner to confirm what’s required
✅ Keep all permits, licenses, and inspection reports organized
✅ Use digital folders or paper copies for easy access
Having your documentation ready will speed up inspections and prevent delays.
Key Takeaways
When launching your assisted living business, these three red flags can make or break your timeline:
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Fire safety violations – Protect your residents and your facility.
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ADA compliance issues – Ensure accessibility for all residents.
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Incomplete documentation – Keep everything organized and ready.
By staying proactive and addressing these red flags early, you can avoid costly setbacks and keep your facility running smoothly.
Next Steps: Take Action Today!
🚀 Want to launch your assisted living business in the next 12 months?
✅ Step 1: Download the Business Plan Checklist to start planning.
✅ Step 2: Need help figuring out where to start? Join the next Roadmap Challenge and build your launch plan with me.
✅ Step 3: Follow this guide, take action, and bring your vision to life!
Got questions? Drop them in the comments below! ⬇️
Show full transcript 👇
Transcript
00:00:00 - 00:00:44
Hey friend, it's Brandon Gustafson. I help beginners like you launch their assisted living business in the next 12 months. And today's video, we're going to be talking about some of those red flags that you might encounter as you're trying to get your facility zoned and approved for assisted living. If you need some help with that, stick around for today's video. Hey friend, welcome back to Assisted Living Investing. Excited to have you here on the channel. Before we get started, I want to remind you to go get
00:00:27 - 00:01:14
your free underwriting calculator at assistedlivinginvesting.net, it will be the big blue box in the top right corner. And if you go and grab that, it's a great resource to help you decide if this is actually going to be a profitable opportunity for you or not. Uh so, make sure you go grab that free resource. Now, let's get into the topic for today's video. Today we're going to be talking about some of those red flags that you need to be aware of as you're trying to launch your assisted living
00:00:50 - 00:01:41
business, specifically when it comes to zoning and making sure that you have everything that you need in place. So, at its core, what I found is there are really three different ways that can really hinder your ability to get licensed and and get the zoning piece in place for your facility, which is a part of of the licensing process that you're going to go through as you're trying to launch your assisted living business. One of those issues is fire safety violations. There's a lot of common
00:01:15 - 00:02:09
problems that I see as you're trying to figure out the the process for doing this. And I have videos that are specific to this. So, we'll link one of those up above. So, you can go and watch those videos that talk specifically about fire. But what I see here is you're like missing an inadequate fire suppression system, which is maybe you have the the wrong kind. I think there it's like a 13R and a 13 R. I can't remember exactly what they are, but I'm pretty an F. I can't remember. Go watch
00:01:43 - 00:02:42
that video. We'll link it up above where it kind of describes to you exactly what you need to be doing with the proper type of fire suppression system in your facility for your needs to meet the standards of the state and the local municipality, but also to protect your home and your residents in the event that there is a fire. having blocked or improper exit routes as well. Uh that's something that can be a hindrance. Like if you have a a door that looks like it could be something that is an exit, but
00:02:12 - 00:03:07
it's painted in and you can't use. It's really just for decoration. You're going to have to adjust that and make it so that it is accessible so that you can get outside of the home. Not having hardwired smoke or carbon monoxide detectors can also be uh something that you're going to need to look into. Not all states, not all municipalities will require that it be hardwired, but you're going to need to have adequate amount of those smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors inside of the home and and
00:02:40 - 00:03:32
make sure that you have everything that you need from that standpoint and make sure that they are serviced and and up to date on a regular basis, which is something that if you're doing a fire suppression system can help you out with a lot of that. Uh but it's something if you don't need that fire suppression system, you only need fire extinguishers, then having proper notification of when there is a fire is very important for you and for your residents. And then not meeting egress requirements. So this is a ways to exit
00:03:05 - 00:04:01
a building or a room. And I actually was looking at a facility looking at home and doing a conversion a couple of years ago here local to me in Utah. And as we were looking through that, what we found is there were two rooms inside of the home that we were not going to be able to use for assisted living. We thought we would be able to, but when we had the fire department come out and inspect it, we found that we wouldn't be able to use it in the current state because there were not two forms of egress from a
00:03:32 - 00:04:26
room. That is a window and a door. And not only do you need to have a window egress, but it needs to be something that somebody can actually get out of. And when you consider an elderly person, that means you're probably not going to be able to do something necessarily in a basement with a window being one of the egress if they've got to climb out of a window well type of a thing or you have multiplestory building. If it's just a ladder to climb down, probably not going to work. So my home in Colorado where we
00:04:00 - 00:04:54
have a four-story building has the ability to do this because our top floor we have a fire escape, a whole staircase that goes around the back side of the building. so that those are that are upstairs can get out in the event of a fire. Those on the bottom floor have their own e exit from the home. Those on the main floor have their own exit from the home. And those that are on the second floor, which is kind of in the middle, can go upstairs, they could go out one way, and they can go out another. So, there's plenty of ways for
00:04:27 - 00:05:09
them to get outside of the building. And those meet the requirements. So, that's something you want to be aware of as you get into this. Just something that I've learned through doing this a few times that sometimes you think you've got something perfect and you're like, "Ah, it doesn't work." And other times you have a four-story building that actually works really well for it. And so you just need to understand what those rules are for the local municipality and make
00:04:49 - 00:05:33
sure you're adhering to that and then maintaining those areas so that in the event of a fire, it's not going to become an issue. You're going to have to run fire drills and a bunch of other things, uh, which is a part of phase four of what I teach, which is kind of the licensing process. as you get into that. That's something that I can definitely help you out with there. Now, when you run into some of these issues with the fire, there are a few ways that you can kind of mitigate this and work
00:05:11 - 00:05:58
around it and and fix some of these issues. One is to check those local fire codes. Have somebody from the local fire department come out, do an inspection on the home. Make sure they're telling you what can and can't happen, what needs to happen, what you don't need to worry about. Um, getting those things done is really important. installing exit signs throughout the house to show, you know, with arrows showing where people need to go, possibly doing emergency lighting, you know, track lighting on the floor or
00:05:34 - 00:06:24
in the ceilings that show people where to go in the event that it's too smoky. Some states are actually starting to require. So, that's something you might need to consider doing. Ensure that each bedroom, as I mentioned, has two ways to get out of it. Window and a door, multiple doors, something along those lines. There has to be exit routes for people to get outside uh in the event of a fire. and then having fire extinguishers placed strategically throughout the house based off of local
00:05:59 - 00:06:42
fire code and making sure that you're doing that. Even if you have a fire suppression system, still going to have to have fire extinguishers, making sure those are serviced and charged on a regular basis is something else that's really important. So, there's a lot with fire. And it's one of those things it's probably the biggest expense, startup expense that you're going to have if you need to put put in a fire suppression system. So, you want to really understand what that looks like and have
00:06:21 - 00:07:15
the right conversations with the right people to make some progress there. In my accelerator course, I kind of coach you exactly through how to do that. You can check that out at assistedlivinginvesting.net/ala for assisted living accelerator. And in that, I give you my five phase process, phase four of which is to navigate all the rules and regulations and make sure you're good from that standpoint and having those conversations. So, phase two is all about the house. If you combine those two phases, you're going
00:06:48 - 00:07:34
to be able to navigate all of this. Who to talk to, how to talk to them, how to get the certificate of occupancy, and then how to use that to get your license. So, I can help you out with that. Again, it's assisted livinginvesting.net/ala. Now, let's talk about the next one, which is ADA compliance. So, ADA compliance is something that you you may or may not have to do in your home. You need to check with the local municipality, check with the state, see what the requirements are. You also want
00:07:11 - 00:08:02
to look at which type of resident you're going to be serving. And take into consideration that some of your residents may not be wheelchair bound when they get to the facility, but they may become wheelchair bound. And if you want to continue to care for them for the duration of their life, then you're going to need to make sure that you are ADA compliant. If you don't want to do that and you're okay saying, "Yeah, sorry. We can't care for you anymore because you are wheelchair bound and we
00:07:37 - 00:08:23
can't handle that. We don't have the facilities to do that. we don't have a shower, we don't have toilets that work for it. And then then you have to discharge them and have them go to another place. That's fine, but you want to make sure that you're understanding the rules and regulations for what that's going to look like and how it's going to impact you as a business owner. Something else is common with ADA is the width of hallways and doorways. Typically, the standard there is 36 in.
00:07:59 - 00:08:52
And so you need to look at that and see what that might entail because it could require an extensive renovation and that could potentially reduce room sizes which then makes it so you can't have enough residents in the room. Um or could be too costly. Bathrooms, they will need to be wheelchair accessible. That could be grab bars, wheelchair accessible shower, could be sinks that are ADA compliant so you can wheel up a wheelchair underneath it. Those types of things are are what you would need to
00:08:26 - 00:09:23
consider as you get into this as well. um ramps and stairlifts. If you don't have those and you only have stairs, then that could be a potential issue as well. Some states, some municipalities are going to require that there be ramps or lifts. Some are okay with stairs. You need to understand the how that's going to impact you as you're trying to get things going. And then uneven flooring with a raised threshold. So, what I want you to think about here is you're coming in from the outside of the home into the
00:08:55 - 00:09:47
inside and you have this little this little gap, this little raised flooring so that it can keep dust out as an example. Or maybe it's you have the main living space and then you have this little kind of track that's between the main living space and the door going into the room so it can keep dust out. That really that's a lot of what these are for. Those transitions if they are raised can be a problem. So, you either need to take them out or you're going to need to make it so that they are not
00:09:21 - 00:10:08
they don't have a ledge on them. So, you're going to have to, you know, get some kind of rubber thing or something like that that makes it reduces the likelihood of being tripped. There's a lot more to ADA compliance and would encourage you if you need to make sure your facility is ADA compliant that you're looking into a lot of that stuff and seeing exactly how that works. How you're going to fix some of these issues here when it comes to ADA compliance is you're going to be looking at the
00:09:44 - 00:10:34
hallways and doorways, making sure that those are wide enough and that you're able to handle that for your residents. You want to install grab bars inside of the the bathrooms, potentially railings throughout the house, even alongside hallways so that there's something for residents to grab onto. Adding ramps at entrances, and smoothing out those flooring transitions can really help you mitigate those ADA compliance issues. So, that's something that you should be looking into. Some of those things could
00:10:09 - 00:11:05
potentially be expensive potent, you know, putting in a ramp or something like that, but and potentially if you need to widen doorways and hallways, that can be a pretty big hindrance for you. Now, the third one that I want you to be aware of is incomplete documentation for the home. So, some common problems that I see here are like proof of property ownership or a lease agreement. So, even if you own the facility and the business and you do what I do and you have those as separate things, you you are still going to need
00:10:37 - 00:11:26
to have a lease agreement. I have a tool for you for that actually if you go to assistedlivinginvesting.net/lease-aggreement. We'll link that down below so you can grab it, but it's the lease agreement that I have between my operating entity and my real estate entity so they can lease that back and forth. Something I worked on with my attorney, but having a tool like that is really going to help you out. Making sure you have the approved zoning permits and and business permits to be operating inside of your
00:11:04 - 00:11:55
home is another one that you cannot skip over. You're going to need to have that. Not every city, not every municipality is going to require that business permit or even a zoning permit, but you have to check and make sure that you check the status for your local municipality to see where that lands because that could be something that can really hinder your ability to launch your assisted living business and continue operating it successfully. so you avoid fines and can continue operating the business. Fire
00:11:30 - 00:12:16
safety inspection reports is another one. So, you're going to need to have the fire department come out and look at the house. You want to do this pretty early on in the process because they're going to give you what is essentially a punch list of the things that you need to fix on the house to make it compliant for assisted living, but ultimately you're going to have to get an inspection approval from the fire department that says, "Yes, this house is good and you can use it for assisted
00:11:53 - 00:12:36
living." Um, ADA compliance and documentation. So, if you do need to be ADA compliant inside of your house and your municipality, then you're going to want to have the documentation that you are ADA compliant. So, you're going to want to have that and electrical and plumbing inspection reports. So, if you're doing that, especially, you know, if you're selling a house, you're going to want to have those types of things. Any maintenance work that you do on the house, if you own it and you're doing a
00:12:14 - 00:13:03
conversion, you're going to want to have that. And they're going to have to have final inspections for plumbing and electrical to make sure that the systems can handle the volume of people that are going to be in the home. When you shift over from being a single family home over to assisted living, you've got a lot more stuff happening in the house. You have a lot more people using toilets, for example, and flushing and and a lot more water going through the pipes and waste going through the pipes
00:12:39 - 00:13:26
and those types of things. And so, you want to make sure that you can handle the the volume of people there. So, it's another piece that I want you to figure out. So, some of the ways that you can really kind of navigate the incomplete and missing documentation as you're going through this is to work closely with the city planner um just to confirm that you have all of the required documents before scheduling any inspections because if you don't, they're going to come out, they'll say,
00:13:02 - 00:13:50
"Well, do you have this this document?" You'll say no. And they'll leave and you got to schedule it again. So, you want to make sure that you're working with the city planner. understand what that's going to look like when you have electrical and plumbing and fire department and anybody else that comes out for an inspection so you have everything that you need to move things along and do it right the first time. Another one is to keep all of the permits, the licenses, the inspection
00:13:26 - 00:14:22
reports and organized all of that. Keep it all organized and ready to hand to people. If you need paper copies, then do that. If electronic copies are okay, which is what I prefer to do, then keeping those in a Google Drive folder or something along those lines, can really make it a lot easier when you're having these conversations with people, with inspectors, with the city, with the state, whoever it is that you're interacting with. You'll have those ready to go and it can really accelerate
00:13:54 - 00:14:37
some of the application processes as you go through all of this. There's a lot that you have to do, and this can really help you out uh along that path. Now, if you found this video to be helpful, make sure you like the video, subscribe, and ring the bell as well, so you get notified every time we put out content like this. Uh we do content on Tuesdays, we do a live, and Thursdays we do content like this. Would love to have you join us, and if you subscribed, you'll get notified anytime we put out
00:14:16 - 00:15:03
any other extra content. So, make sure you don't miss anything. as well. So, it's very kind of technical, but really helpful in helping you navigate the things that you need to be aware of to make sure that you don't run into these hiccups and you don't get held up because you're missing documentation or or you're not prepared for some of these bigger things that can really hold up your ability to turn your home into an assisted living facility or even if you're buying, you're going to have to
00:14:40 - 00:15:28
do a lot of these same inspections. If you need help with things like this, my accelerator course again is a great tool for you. Assisted livinginvesting.net/a /ala for assisted living accelerator can really help you out through the process. So, make sure you go and check that out. And if you want some guidance as you're trying to go through this and try to figure out how to do this, get your questions answered, get some weekly tips and things like that, join the ALI basics community. You go to assisted
00:15:03 - 00:15:48
livinginvesting.net/basics. And it's it's an incredible community. We're we're growing and I love seeing the interaction inside of that community and the progress that people are making as they are trying to launch their assisted living business. Does residentialass assisted living sound interesting to you but you don't know how to get started? At assisted living investing.net, we're here to help beginners like you launch their assisted living business in the next 12 months. I
00:15:26 - 00:16:02
love helping and coaching people and helping them along as they're trying to launch their assisted living business. I'd love to help you out as well. And remember, it doesn't take a lot, just a little bit. Just keep going step by step by step. And I promise you, if you do and you're consistent and persistent, you're going to be successful. Thanks for watching and have a great day. [Music]
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