How to Obtain a License for a Residential Assisted Living Home
Mar 12, 2025
Starting an assisted living home is an exciting journey! But before you can open your doors, you need one critical thing—a license. Getting licensed ensures your home meets state regulations, provides quality care, and gives families peace of mind when choosing your facility.
The licensing process may seem overwhelming, but don’t worry! This guide breaks it down step by step so you can navigate the process with confidence.
Check out the video, too:
Phase 4: The Licensing Process
At Assisted Living Investing, we use a five-phase process to help you launch your business.
1οΈβ£ Build a Strong Foundation – Create a business plan & use tools like our free underwriting calculator.
2οΈβ£ Find the Right Property – Choose a location that meets zoning and safety requirements.
3οΈβ£ Secure Funding – Ensure you have the financial resources to support your business.
4οΈβ£ Obtain Licensing – (That’s today’s focus!)
5οΈβ£ Launch & Scale – Grow and expand your business successfully.
If you need guidance through any phase, join our Success System for coaching and expert advice!
Different Types of Assisted Living Licenses
Each state has different categories for assisted living homes. Here’s some general guidance you you need to know:
π‘ Care Homes (4-6 Residents)
- Small, home-like settings.
- Licensing rules vary by state (some states don’t require a license, but getting one builds trust!).
π Residential Assisted Living (6-20 Residents)
- The "sweet spot" for many operators—big enough to be profitable, but still personal.
- Requires a thorough licensing process to meet state regulations.
π’ Big-Box Facilities (20+ Residents)
- Large facilities, like nursing homes and rehab centers.
- Stricter licensing rules, including staffing and medical requirements.
Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Your License
πΉ Step 1: Identify Your Target Residents
Before applying for a license, decide who you’ll serve:
βοΈ Seniors who need daily assistance
βοΈ Individuals with disabilities
βοΈ People with memory care needs
βοΈ Residents needing mental health or substance abuse support
Your target population affects your license type, staff requirements, and facility setup.
πΉ Step 2: Understand Your State’s Rules
Each state has different licensing requirements. Some things you’ll need to check:
π Facility layout and safety rules
π©βοΈ Staff qualifications
π¨ Emergency plans
π° Financial policies
π‘ Pro Tip: Contact your state’s health or social services department before you start renovations or hiring staff!
πΉ Step 3: Prepare Your Application
Most states require:
π A business plan
π Proof of zoning approval
π Background checks for owners and key staff
π Safety and emergency plans
π Staff training policies
πΉ Step 4: Decide on Medicaid or Private Pay
Do you want to accept Medicaid? If so, you’ll need an extra certification that involves more paperwork and strict regulations.
If you stick with private pay, your process will be simpler, but you’ll need a strong marketing plan to attract residents who can afford private care.
πΉ Step 5: Work with State Officials
Your licensing inspector will help guide you through the process. Build a good relationship with them and ask questions early so you don’t make costly mistakes.
π‘ Pro Tip: If you get stuck, consider hiring a consultant or joining our Success System to get expert guidance!
Common Licensing Challenges (And How to Fix Them!)
β Too Much Paperwork
β
Use checklists and digital tools to stay organized.
β Regulations Are Confusing
β
Work with an expert or join a mastermind for guidance.
β Zoning Issues
β
Check zoning laws before buying or renovating a property.
Resources to Help You
π Underwriting Calculator – Check if your business is financially viable!
π Success Sytem – Get 1-on-1 help from industry experts.
Final Thoughts
Getting your assisted living license is a big step, but it’s worth it. It ensures your business is compliant, credible, and ready to provide amazing care to your residents.
Take it one step at a time, stay organized, and don’t hesitate to ask for help. Soon, you’ll be on your way to running a successful assisted living home!
π Need help with licensing? Drop a comment or check out our free resources to get started!
Whether you decide to operate a licensed or unlicensed facility, careful planning is essential. At Assisted Living Investing, we’re here to help you every step of the way. Visit Assisted Living Investing to access valuable resources, including our FREE Business Plan Checklist.
Need help figuring out where to start? Join the next Roadmap Challenge and build your launch plan with me.
Show full transcript π
Transcript
00:00:00
hey friend I'm Brandon Gustafson and I help beginners like you launch their Assisted Living business in the next 12 months in today's video we're going to be talking about how to obtain a license for your assisted living home so if you need some help and some guidance with that make sure you stick around for today's [Music] video hey friend welcome back to the channel excited to have you here today before we get started I want to remind you to get over to Assisted Living investing. net to grab our free
00:00:28
underwriting calculator it's a tool that I've created that's going to help you see if you have a profitable business and help you secure the funding that you need to get started again that's Assisted Living investing. net make sure you go grab that free underwriting calculator now let's get into the topic for today's video we're going to be talking about how to obtain a license for your assisted living home this is phase four of our five-phase process that we go through at Assisted Living
00:00:50
investing so phase one just to kind of quickly recap is building a business Foundation uh which that calculator we talked about is going to help you out with so building the business Foundation number two is finding the right property number three is funding number four that we're talking about today is going to be getting that getting the facility license and number five is all about launching and scaling your business in a way that's going to help you be profitable and have a a fun and
00:01:17
successful business as you're moving things along on your path to owning your own Assisted Living business if you need help with any of that if you need help getting into the process here about any of those five phases check out The Mastermind program you can apply to it at at Alim mastermind.com application very quick application takes you 5 minutes to go through and from there I can see where your goals are what you've done in the past to see if I can help you out and if I can and I feel
00:01:41
like there's good alignment there I will send you all the details to the program so you can review that and then if you feel like you need some extra help and guidance to just feel confident in working with me I'll send you information on how we can connect to review all of that together and make sure that you feel confident in in what we would be doing together to help you launch your Assisted Living business all right so let's get it a little bit here into the topic of how to obtain that
00:02:04
license for your assisted living home for the Assisted Living business that you have and it's core there's kind of three different licenses and I've talked about this in previous videos so we'll try to link that up above here as well but there is a care home um there is a residential assisted living and there is a big box facility so the more you understand about what each of those are the better off you're going to be is going to help you out in understanding the licensing process for you so you can
00:02:29
kind of put this all together and make sure you're getting the right license so you can launch the assisted living home that you want to launch so let's talk really quick about Care Homes care homes are typically going to be something that's like four to six beds or less it kind of depends on the state but basically these are small residential homes they are still providing the types of services but they typically are going to be a little less regulated they're a little bit easier to start um you can
00:02:54
actually find these be unlicensed as well there's licensed versus unlicensed when you get into the care home world so that's something you want to be aware of residential assisted living facilities on the other hand are still kind of in that residential setting but they will be capped at 16 to 20 beds again it depends on the state and what their requirements are but when you're looking at that 16 to 20 bed you're going to be going through the residential assisted living home type of application process
00:03:21
very similar honestly all three of these are are very similar types of applications just different boxes and things that you're going to check but it's going to you just want to make sure you know which population which type of home and license you want to have so residential assisted living up to 16 to to 20 depends on the state but typically more than six to eight beds so that's kind of the The Sweet Spot that I that we talk a lot about here on Assisted Living investing and probably how you
00:03:47
found this channel so that that's a lot of the core the third one that we're going to talk about is big boxes so big boxes are big box facilities are the things like your book Dells the big ones that people think of as nursing homes or rehab facilities sometimes they are specific they have they can have Continuum of Care have a bunch of different things independent to Assisted Living to Memory Care to Skilled Nursing or or Beyond so those are big box types of facilities typically these are 20 plus beds often
00:04:13
times they're 50 to 100 maybe even 200 plus beds and those are kind of the big box facilities again the licensing process there is not all that different you're going to have a few different requirements in the way that you operate that from a staffing perspective the different people that are involved and and things like that so it it is slightly different but when you're doing that initial application the the paperwork the form that you're filling out very similar throughout these three
00:04:39
different phases that we're looking at those three different types of licenses that you want to be aware of now as you are filling out the application process something else especially if you're doing something like working with Medicaid that you want to be aware of is who you're going to serve you need to identify that population that you're going to serve what that looks like and why you want to serve them what I like to recommend is you spend a lot of time in that business Foundation phase that
00:05:03
first phase that I teach and figuring out exactly who you want to serve it's a part of that that criteria is it's part of who building out your business plan to say I want to serve this population the reason why is I'm a super passionate I have history with it I have family that experienced this what are the experiences that you've had that make you passionate about that you want to build that into a business plan and that's going to carry over into now your application process this is where
00:05:27
building that base again helps you out through throughout the entire rest of the process of launching your own Assisted Living business so here you're going to be thinking to yourself do I want to serve the elderly do I want to serve disabled Community do you want to do special needs do I want to serve a youth what about mental health drug abuse which population am I most passionate about you're going to be building everything from the beginning and taking that through and then as you're going through the application
00:05:54
process there will be checks and and things like that for who do you want to serve again as I mentioned medication especially which Medicaid waiver do you want to serve and those specific populations where do they fall in that process okay so that's something you really want to pay attention to is identify who are you going to serve that's going to help you have a a better conversation with people at the state as you're going through that licensing process we want to be a senior home uh
00:06:20
we want to serve seniors that need assistance with activities of daily living that's an assisted living facility here's the license here's the paperwork for it we want to be working with disabled persons oh that's a different here's a different file you know here's a different form we need you to fill out the the more information you have about who you're going to serve and you can talk intelligently about that to the people at the state the better information they can give you in helping
00:06:43
you find the exact application that you need to be filling out so you can really move things along the other thing I want to talk about here and this is kind of a part of the licensing process because it is going to dictate the type of paperwork that you're going to need to have and this is how how your residents are going to pay there's two kind of big options here one is private pay are you working with a private pay type of a facility what does that look like what are your rates going to be getting an
00:07:07
understanding of that or number two could be Medicaid you want to work with a Medicaid population and that is an entire other thing and and I've got a ton of videos on Medicaid we'll link one of those up above for you to understand what Medicaid is and how it works there's no right answer here it's really preference for you who do you want to serve and why and then building things out from there it will if you're going the Medicaid route there is more paperwork involved and it's not the
00:07:32
licensing process it is a separate Medicaid application though a lot of the paperwork and the things that they're going to ask for are the same um to that uh as you would experience there so again we'll we'll link up another video for Medicaid up above so you can get a feel for what that looks like but you want to figure out what that is because it it could instigate a another conversation saying you know I want this assisted living facility this is the license I want I also want to do
00:07:58
Medicaid and then they say okay well here's let me introduce you to Sally over here is going to help you out with the Medicaid process while we work on getting your facility license in place it I want to be clear facility license and Medicaid certification two completely different things oftentimes they are in different departments different agencies within the state so they and they don't necessarily talk to each other so it is a separate thing so if you if that's a rep that you want to
00:08:24
go it's just more paperwork and and a little bit more complexities there as you get into that and and but you know it's it's definitely possible something that you can do and we're going to be getting into a lot more here in the next few weeks about just the licensing process what it looks like who to who to work with um how to fill out that application what does that look like so stick around make sure you like the video subscribe and ring the bell as well so you get notified when we do
00:08:45
those you also get notified when we do our live sessions and you can ask me questions there about your specific scenario so make sure you do all of that if you need some help through this licensing process there's a few things one The Mastermind program I love helping people out through this our five-phase approach um go check out the program there Alim mastermind.com application if it's a good fit then I'll send you all the details we can chat about it from there or number two if all
00:09:09
you need is this piece that is just kind of getting the license everything else you've done I actually would suggest getting with somebody that is a specific type of consultant that can help you out with that I do have contacts that I can help you out with I really like to give that to people in The Mastermind program because I know how committed they are to that and I want to give the the relationships that I have good people to work with them but if that's something that you need help with then make sure
00:09:34
you reach out to me you can comment it down below I would love to see that but the best way to do that is to get on to the website assisted living investing. netcon and that will allow you to reach out to me and we can have a conversation from there as well so I hope you found this video to be helpful um and understanding what the licensing process is stick around for future videos we're going to get a lot deeper into this and help you out through the process but does residential Assisted Living sound
00:09:57
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 12 months I love working with people like you and helping you out through the process grab your free resources grab all the stuff check out The Mastermind if it's a good fit but I want you to remember that it doesn't take a lot just a little bit keep going step by step by step and I promise you that if you do and you're
00:10:20
consistent and persistent you will be successful thanks for watching and have a great day [Music]
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