Lindsford

Lindsford is 953 homes on private streets inside the City of Fort Myers, north of Colonial Boulevard and above the Winkler Avenue Extension. About half of it is detached houses, and the rest splits between attached villas and townhomes. Every lot carries a finished house, so there's nothing left to build and every sale is a resale. I-75 lies about one and a half miles off, Metro Parkway about one and a third.

Get the phases straight first, because the clubhouse does not serve all of them. It is open to Phase 1 and Phase 2. Phase 3 is no small remainder, since its 236 townhomes are about a quarter of Lindsford. They have their own gate and pool area, and no access to the clubhouse. Budget around $250 a month in association dues.

Who can use the clubhouse?

Phase 1 and Phase 2. The clubhouse went up in 2015 on Dutchess Park Road, single-story and about 6,700 square feet. Inside there's a fitness room, locker rooms with showers, a catering kitchen and a bookable community room. A swimming pool and a spa come with it, and tennis, basketball and bocce courts, a play area and a fishing pier sit outside. The master association puts access in one line: "Access to the Amenities Center is for Phase 1 & 2 residents only."

The townhomes have none of it. No clubhouse, no main pool, no spa, no fitness room, no courts, no fishing pier. Phase 3 has its own pool area on Tilbor Circle, and the only building on that tract is a 648 square foot restroom. That isn't a lesser place to live, just a different purchase, and the phase is what to check first.

Who sends the bills?

Two associations, out of four. A master association sits above three neighborhood associations, one per phase, each with its own board and its own management company. The first covers 221 homes, the second 496, the third the townhomes. The master association is plain about the money: "The Master Association and the Neighborhood Associations have different roles and responsibilities and are funded by separate quarterly assessments." Ask for both figures on the house. A neighborhood may impose stricter standards than the master's, so read the documents for your phase.

What can you buy, and what does it cost?

Three products, close to evenly weighted: 475 detached houses, 242 attached villas, 236 townhomes. Detached houses start in the $310,000s and reach around $650,000. Attached villas open in the $270,000s and stop around $400,000, and townhomes sit between the $240,000s and around $350,000. 162 of the houses and villas have a private pool, and no townhome does.

Can you swim or fish in the lakes?

No. Nineteen lakes cover about 46 acres inside Lindsford and roughly four in ten homesites back onto one, but the water is there to look at. No home here has a boat dock. The covenants are blunt: "no swimming, boating, playing or use of personal flotation devices, shall be permitted, unless specifically authorized by the Master Association."

Fishing is narrower still. It is allowed in one lake only, the one beside the clubhouse, from the pier and the bank beside it, and only for Phase 1 and Phase 2. The townhomes are out of it altogether: "Phase 3 governing documents do not allow fishing and signs have been posted to that effect for the lakes in Phase 3."

What are the rules on renting, pets and parking?

Renting is allowed and capped. Homes go whole or not at all, leases go in writing, and timeshares are prohibited outright. A neighborhood is free to be tighter than the master, whose own limit reads: "The minimum lease term for any Unit within the Properties is one (1) month, and no more than four (4) leases may be made of any Unit in any one calendar year."

The rest of the rulebook:

• Parking. No overnight parking on the street without written approval, and no boat, trailer, camper, motorhome or commercial vehicle anywhere unless it's inside a closed garage. If you own a boat, that garage is where it lives. A vehicle in breach can be towed.
• Pets. Dogs, cats and usual household pets, in a number the board sets and can vary by home type. Leads no longer than fifteen feet off the lot, and liability insurance on every animal.
• Changes outside. Written approval before work starts, from the master's design review committee and the neighborhood's architectural committee. Above-ground pools are out.

Who owns the streets?

The association does, all of them. The City of Fort Myers neither owns nor maintains any of them, so repaving, curbs and street signs come out of assessments. The Fort Myers Police Department has patrolled inside the gates since February 2021 under an agreement with the association. Water, sewer, utility billing and trash collection are the City's.

Utilities run underground throughout; the covenants ban overhead electric, telephone and cable lines. No lot has a septic tank or a private well, and lawn irrigation draws off the community system rather than the drinking supply. Both entrances are gated and open from a phone app.

The Ronto Group developed the land and ran the master association until 31 August 2021, when it was handed to the owners. D.R. Horton, which built the houses between 2014 and 2022, still handles warranty repairs on them.