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Blackcat31 08:21 AM 08-15-2013
Originally Posted by Laurel:
If you have a house is it in a residential neighborhood?
My daycare is in a residential neighborhood about 2 blocks off the main highway. My city does not have zoning laws that affect in home child care as they consider it to be a "gray" area.

Originally Posted by Laurel:
If you don't live in it than can you have more children? We have to be licensed and can only have up to 10 and then because of the age restrictions it only makes sense to keep 6 because the other 4 wouldn't be full time. Plus if we did have the full 10 we'd need another person and have to pay them.
Whether I actually live in my daycare home or not does not affect the number of children I can have in care. The ratios stay the same either way.

I could more children IF I licensed as a center but I haven't done that because I like my smaller group and in my state if you are licensed as a center you MUST take school age children too.....which I will NEVER do again.


Originally Posted by Laurel:
So how does it work legally and financially where you are?
The financial and legal aspects of having a separate home in which I don't live in aren't any different for me....regardless of whether I lived here or not.

The ONLY two things that would be different are my property taxes would be considered "Homesteaded" rather than "non-homestead".

Non-homestead taxes are about twice as high as regular property tax.

Originally Posted by Laurel:
How many children do you watch, how many adults are full time/part time, is the size of the house a factor in how many children can be there, etc.
I watch 10-12 children age 5 and under daily. I only take 2 part time families and everyone else is full time. I charge an average of $150-160 per space.

Other than my DH who comes in and helps daily with lunch & rest time, I have no other assistance. My DH is not a paid employee.

Our state requires 35 sq ft of space per child for indoors. My child care house is approximately 1200 sq ft total. Outside we are required to have 75 sq ft per child. My yard is HUGE so I have more than enough yard space.

My mortgage on my child care home is around $600 per month. That includes the property taxes (approx. $1500 yearly) as well as my structural liability insurance. I pay liability insurance separately. My utilities are electricity and heat. They are fairly reasonable here.

I make a pretty good income and don't really see how having child care in my home would net me any more since I would have to pay for the wear and tear on my home whereas, I am probably a lot more lenient with some of the activities we do here BECAUSE I don't live here... (If you are interested in actual numbers/profit, PM me and I will help if I can).

Also, I think the mental perks are too good to beat! I don't have time off "at my work", I don't vacation "at work"...kwim? I close my door at 5:00 every day and don't think about or stress about work again until the next day when I open.

The boundaries between my personal life and my business life are separated by 7.5 miles so it's all good.
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