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New facility rent or buy
I have been running a family home daycare very successfully in Florida. Now is that time when I feel we should move to a facility since we can't keep up with the demand and all the referrals that we get from our enrolled parents. I been planing and planing for a year now and I was certain that buying a house and converting it into a daycare was the best option. Now my accountant said that I will probably need to lease a retail space for this purpose. I'm confused Because I have saved some money to cover all the start up but I'm not sure which way will be better in the short and long term. Need some advice .... Please. My acct. said is due to liability issues, he said liability is cheaper when you don't own the space.
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What county? I am in FL.... -
Palm beachComment
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Ok, we did EXACTLY what you are hoping to do....converted a residence into a center. not easy, the biggest hurdle was to get zoning approval. Check with city or county zoning first. I had to get a "major conditional use" approval.
Renting is very expensive usually, so if you have funds to buy real estate instead, I would. The insurance you mentioned seems wrong. I bought liability insurance, no problem. I pay around $600 annually for that.
If you register here, you could message me and I could help more.
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Here is a list of what MY city required for the Major Conditional Use. Your county may be very different, I would suggest buying a copy of your zoning codes. We had to meet "institutional" zoning standards.
1. Site plan drawn up by an architect, showing where the existing building is, where the parking will be, where the play area will be, where trash cans will be stored and other things.
2. The lot had to be a minimum of 10,000 sq ft. Mine was under, so that was a variance.
3. Landscape plan showing a ten foot landscape buffer between your center and any residential neighbors.
4. Traffic study to see if your center will adversely effect neighborhood traffic.
5. A neighborhood meeting announced so neighbors can see your plan and ask questions.
6. A city council meeting for approval
7. Sign had to be approved
8. Setbacks!
Having a paved parking lot and handicapped ramp were the big expenses.
When choosing real estate....location, location, locationComment
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thank you for all the info can I ask what city are you located in and your capacityComment
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My capacity is 15, based on my square footage. We wanted to keep it small. I am directly across the state from you , I keep most of my info off the public forum, but if you private message me I am happy to disclose that.
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