What Should You Ask the HOA Before Buying a Home in WildBlue, Fort Myers?

Ask for the documents, then ask six questions. What do the dues cover, and is anything billed separately? Does the home sit under more than one association? Is the developer still running the board? What are the rules for boats, docks and the lakes? Can the home be leased, and on what terms? And which changes to the house or yard need approval first? Then check the Lee County tax bill for a Community Development District line, because that charge is billed by the county, not by the association. Get all of it during your inspection period, while you can still walk away.

I am Kris Asquith, Broker Associate at Premiere Plus Realty, and I help buyers and sellers across Fort Myers and eight other Southwest Florida markets. WildBlue is a gated, master-planned community of roughly 3,500 acres off Corkscrew Road in southern Fort Myers, at the Estero border, built around three deep freshwater lakes that were once limestone quarries. Lakes, private docks, a marina, an amenity campus and homes from several builders share one gated community and its rules, which is why the association's paperwork deserves as close a read here as the house itself.

Ask the seller, or the association's management company, for the full set rather than a summary:

• The declaration of covenants. The core document. It sets what the association maintains, what you maintain, how assessments work and what the board can and cannot do.
• The bylaws and articles of incorporation. How the board is elected and how decisions are made.
• The rules and regulations. The day-to-day rules, including those for the lakes, the marina and the amenities.
• The architectural guidelines. What you may build, add or change, and how approval works.
• The current budget and reserve information. What the association collects, what it spends it on, and what it is setting aside for future repairs and replacements.
• Recent board minutes. Where planned projects, disputes and possible assessments show up first.

Florida law also requires a seller in a community with a mandatory homeowners association to give the buyer a short disclosure summary about the association before the contract is signed. If it arrives late, the law gives the buyer a short window to cancel, so make sure it is in your contract package.

Then ask one more question: does this home sit under one association or more than one? In some master-planned communities a neighborhood association sits beneath the master association, with its own documents, its own budget and its own dues. If that applies here, you want both sets.

Read the budget line by line, because it is the only reliable record of what your dues pay for and what the association itself maintains. My guide to WildBlue's amenities without a golf course covers what that campus includes: the resort-style pool, lap pool, fitness center, spa, tennis, pickleball and the waterfront restaurant.

Then ask what is not in the dues. Is there a separate charge for marina use, boat or trailer storage, or the boat ramp? Is any dining or amenity charge billed apart from the dues? Is there a fee or capital contribution due when a home changes hands, and who pays it? Has the board approved, or is it discussing, a special assessment? Before closing, the association puts what is owed on the home in writing in an estoppel certificate. My article on what an HOA estoppel certificate is was written for Estero, and it works the same way in WildBlue.

Finally, look past the association to the tax bill. Pull the most recent Lee County property tax bill for the address and read the non-ad valorem section, which sits apart from the taxes based on the home's value. If a Community Development District assessment applies, it appears there, not on an association invoice. My article on how CDD fees and HOA fees differ explains what each one pays for and how long each one lasts.

Ask, because the answer changes how you read the budget. While homes are still being built and sold in a community, the developer usually controls the association board. Florida law sets out when control passes to the homeowners, and the budget and the reserves can change after that handover, since the owners then set them for themselves.

So ask who controls the board today, whether a date for the handover is known, and what the reserve plan looks like now. On a new build, ask the builder too: some charges on a new home's closing statement come from the builder's contract rather than the association, so ask the builder for a list of every fee you would pay at closing.

WildBlue's lakes cover more than 800 acres, and residents powerboat, water ski, wakeboard, kayak and paddleboard on them. Lakefront homeowners can build a private boat dock; owners off the lake use the community boat ramp and marina. The rules and the architectural guidelines decide how that works for a particular home, so ask:

• Which kinds and sizes of boat are allowed on the lakes, and does a boat have to be registered with the association?
• Are there hours, speed rules or zones for powerboating, skiing and wakeboarding?
• On a lakefront lot, what dock and lift designs, sizes and materials does the association approve, and how long does approval take?
• On a resale with a dock, was it approved, and is there a permit behind it?
• Can a boat or trailer be kept at the house, or only in community storage, and on what terms?
• Can guests use the lakes, the ramp and the marina?

Keep one fact in view while you read. WildBlue's lakes are freshwater and inland, and the docks, ramp and marina serve the lakes, not the Gulf. My article on lakefront versus off-lake homes in WildBlue walks through how the dock right and the shared ramp compare.

Read the leasing section of the declaration and the rules before you assume either way. Associations in this part of Florida commonly set a minimum lease term, limit how many times a year a home may be leased, require the lease or the tenant to be registered or approved, and decide whether tenants use the amenities in place of the owner. Get the rules in writing for this home, and ask the association whether any change to them is under discussion. My article on rental restrictions in Estero communities explains the kinds of limits associations use and why they matter before you buy.

The architectural guidelines answer this, and they usually reach further than buyers expect. Ask what needs written approval before work starts: a pool or screen enclosure, a dock or lift, a generator, hurricane shutters or new windows and doors, exterior paint colors, a fence, landscaping and hardscape. If you plan changes after you buy, read the rules and the approval process now, not after closing.

Ask the association, too, whether there are any open violations or pending approvals on the property. An unapproved change or an open violation can become the new owner's matter after closing, so have it settled before you close, or put it in the contract.

Put the documents and the answers side by side with the house. If the dues, the extra charges, the lake rules, the leasing terms and the approval rules all fit how you plan to use the home, you have bought into the community knowing what it asks of you. If something does not fit, such as a boat the rules will not allow, a lease you could not sign, or an assessment on the way, that is a reason to negotiate or walk away during your inspection period, not after it. Ask early too whether the association has to approve the buyer before closing, because that runs on its own clock.

My step-by-step buying process shows where the association documents fit between contract and closing. If you are looking at a home in WildBlue, I am glad to go through its association documents with you. Get in touch or call (239) 300-1427.

This article is a general overview and is not legal or tax advice about any particular property. The community's governing documents, your purchase contract and the association control. Confirm the specifics with the association or its management company, the Lee County Tax Collector and a real estate attorney.