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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Re-Opening After 5 Years
Unregistered 10:10 PM 03-01-2016
We stopped doing daycare some time ago to move out of state and I went back to nursing. I've been injured pretty significantly at work and DH suggested I go back to child care (I'm a pediatric nurse) which is my (I assumed well hidden) passion once we find a new home. We are specifically looking to purchase a home with a finished basement that can be retrofitted exclusively for the daycare, including a separate entrance/exit for the parents so that they never have to walk through my actual living space, and a bathroom that we can install child sized fixtures. So far we've seen two; one even has a walkout to the perfect backyard space (minus the sings we;re installing this spring). It's on the more costly side. The other one is more economical, but we won't be able to do all the things DH wants, like the mini-kitchen and child-friendly bathroom. In fact, we would have to go up one flight of stairs to potty, which isn't a deal breaker to me but seems to be for DH. He really wants the two spaces separate. We already have a two-family home (side-by-side) that we are fixing up (and making sure it meets Section 8 requirements so we can accept those tenants as well) so this home will be our forever home. Being that our last child care closed I am a bit leery about buying my forever home and making all these modifications just for daycare although I also love the idea overall. There is a market for it, and this time will be a large group license so we can take more children and prayerfully be more profitable. I had to turn away so many children last time, mostly siblings. Question is, has anyone else done this: purchase a house especially to accommodate your daycare or completely remodeled a portion of your home exclusively for the daycare needs? I know for sure if I end up closing it will have to be converted to a living space to recoup some of the remodeling costs since it's on the higher end of our comfort zone and DH agrees, but says I won't have to worry about that. "We'll do great!" he says. I only hesitate because I DO NOT want to take on another rental property and tenant, especially now living beneath me. I'm already thinking managing the one rental property will be headache enough even though I look forward to the income. I'm optimistic it will all work out, but I'm just wondering if others have done the same or similar by purchasing or completing converting part of your home just for daycare and had it work out successfully for an extended period of time (a year or longer)?
Controlled Chaos 12:02 PM 03-02-2016
Hi! We bought our house to do daycare in specifically. We bought a split level so parents come right down to the daycare room with attached bathroom. I would not want to go upstairs to take kids potty. And I agree with your dh, having completely separate spaces make all the difference. I like not worrying about leaving a razor on the edge of the tub or cough syrup on the counter. I mean I still try not to lol, but not worrying about it with licensing is super nice.
But if it is out of your comfortable price range, I would keep looking at other options. Being house broke is no fun.
But if it is out of your comfortable price range, I would keep looking at other options. Being house broke is no fun.
Blackcat31 12:56 PM 03-02-2016
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
We stopped doing daycare some time ago to move out of state and I went back to nursing. I've been injured pretty significantly at work and DH suggested I go back to child care (I'm a pediatric nurse) which is my (I assumed well hidden) passion once we find a new home. We are specifically looking to purchase a home with a finished basement that can be retrofitted exclusively for the daycare, including a separate entrance/exit for the parents so that they never have to walk through my actual living space, and a bathroom that we can install child sized fixtures. So far we've seen two; one even has a walkout to the perfect backyard space (minus the sings we;re installing this spring). It's on the more costly side. The other one is more economical, but we won't be able to do all the things DH wants, like the mini-kitchen and child-friendly bathroom. In fact, we would have to go up one flight of stairs to potty, which isn't a deal breaker to me but seems to be for DH. He really wants the two spaces separate. We already have a two-family home (side-by-side) that we are fixing up (and making sure it meets Section 8 requirements so we can accept those tenants as well) so this home will be our forever home. Being that our last child care closed I am a bit leery about buying my forever home and making all these modifications just for daycare although I also love the idea overall. There is a market for it, and this time will be a large group license so we can take more children and prayerfully be more profitable. I had to turn away so many children last time, mostly siblings. Question is, has anyone else done this: purchase a house especially to accommodate your daycare or completely remodeled a portion of your home exclusively for the daycare needs? I know for sure if I end up closing it will have to be converted to a living space to recoup some of the remodeling costs since it's on the higher end of our comfort zone and DH agrees, but says I won't have to worry about that. "We'll do great!" he says. I only hesitate because I DO NOT want to take on another rental property and tenant, especially now living beneath me. I'm already thinking managing the one rental property will be headache enough even though I look forward to the income. I'm optimistic it will all work out, but I'm just wondering if others have done the same or similar by purchasing or completing converting part of your home just for daycare and had it work out successfully for an extended period of time (a year or longer)?
I purchased a separate home for my child care business. We stopped doing daycare some time ago to move out of state and I went back to nursing. I've been injured pretty significantly at work and DH suggested I go back to child care (I'm a pediatric nurse) which is my (I assumed well hidden) passion once we find a new home. We are specifically looking to purchase a home with a finished basement that can be retrofitted exclusively for the daycare, including a separate entrance/exit for the parents so that they never have to walk through my actual living space, and a bathroom that we can install child sized fixtures. So far we've seen two; one even has a walkout to the perfect backyard space (minus the sings we;re installing this spring). It's on the more costly side. The other one is more economical, but we won't be able to do all the things DH wants, like the mini-kitchen and child-friendly bathroom. In fact, we would have to go up one flight of stairs to potty, which isn't a deal breaker to me but seems to be for DH. He really wants the two spaces separate. We already have a two-family home (side-by-side) that we are fixing up (and making sure it meets Section 8 requirements so we can accept those tenants as well) so this home will be our forever home. Being that our last child care closed I am a bit leery about buying my forever home and making all these modifications just for daycare although I also love the idea overall. There is a market for it, and this time will be a large group license so we can take more children and prayerfully be more profitable. I had to turn away so many children last time, mostly siblings. Question is, has anyone else done this: purchase a house especially to accommodate your daycare or completely remodeled a portion of your home exclusively for the daycare needs? I know for sure if I end up closing it will have to be converted to a living space to recoup some of the remodeling costs since it's on the higher end of our comfort zone and DH agrees, but says I won't have to worry about that. "We'll do great!" he says. I only hesitate because I DO NOT want to take on another rental property and tenant, especially now living beneath me. I'm already thinking managing the one rental property will be headache enough even though I look forward to the income. I'm optimistic it will all work out, but I'm just wondering if others have done the same or similar by purchasing or completing converting part of your home just for daycare and had it work out successfully for an extended period of time (a year or longer)?
Been operating successfully for over 2 decades now.
Not all state's allow provider's to live off site but mine does and honestly thank goodness it does because I wold have surely quit in year 1 if I had to do this in my home.
......where I live. eat and sleep
Thriftylady 04:21 PM 03-02-2016
If I was going to buy a home with a separate space, I would try to make sure I could afford the home without the daycare income, just as I would otherwise. My reason is that as we all know daycare income isn't always stable. But that is always my way of thinking!
Ariana 04:32 PM 03-02-2016
I purchased my previous house with a home daycare in mind and it was a walkout with a bathroom. I didn't do any renovations as they even had the basement done in ceramic tile. I absolutely love the walkout. It is perfect for daycare. Unfortunately the slope by the side of my house was a bit drastic so parents couldn't come around the back to get their kids in winter. If this would have been my full time career I would have done something on the side to make it easy for parents to come down.
My second house was a house we purchased knowing that I wouldn't be doing daycare forever and this was my forever home so it wasn't as important. It definitely makes me appreciate my walkout more! In this house I have to take the kids in and out through my kitchen which is very annoying. Having access to the backyard from your daycare space is worth it.
My second house was a house we purchased knowing that I wouldn't be doing daycare forever and this was my forever home so it wasn't as important. It definitely makes me appreciate my walkout more! In this house I have to take the kids in and out through my kitchen which is very annoying. Having access to the backyard from your daycare space is worth it.