Royal Highlands: a 55+ POA community whose golf course has a different owner.

Royal Highlands at a glance

Association	Royal Highlands Property Owners’ Association, Inc., 5350 Monarch Blvd, Leesburg. Managed through FirstService Residential.RHPOA contact page
County and city	Lake County. None of the 1,499 home parcels fell inside the City of Leesburg limits on the county’s GIS layer, which makes them unincorporated Lake County with a Leesburg mailing address.Lake County GIS city-limits layer
Age rule	An “adult” is 55 or older, or over 40 and sharing the home with someone 55 or older. The POA can accept other occupants 18 and up only while at least 80% of occupied homes have a resident 55 or older.Declaration of Restrictions, Lake County O.R. Book 1399, Page 1878
Home types	All single-family. County codes: 1,215 single-family, 235 single-family golf and 49 single-family lakefront parcels. No manufactured-home codes.Lake County GIS
Size and age	The POA describes 1,500 single-family homes on 1,100 acres. Plats run from Phase 1 (1996) to Phase 2-B (2004), and county year-built dates run from 1996 to 2019.
Amenities (POA)	Recreation Center with an outdoor and an indoor pool, tennis, pickleball, bocce, shuffleboard, fitness, card, billiard and arts and crafts rooms, a library and a softball field. The Great Hall has a ballroom and stage. Four lakes and a nature trail.royal.clubexpress.com
Golf	An 18-hole course with a pro shop and restaurant. The course parcel is owned by Monarch at Royal Highlands, Inc.RHPOA home page; Lake County GIS

Royal Highlands figures come from the county parcel and plat layers as of October 10, 2026. The city-limits finding is a GIS test, so read the actual tax bill too.

The golf course is not the POA’s

The declaration Pringle Communities recorded in the 1990s says there “may be a golf course owned by others” next to or inside the community. It reserves the right to give the golf owner easements over association property, for things like irrigation water and maintenance access. It also lets the POA negotiate to buy the course someday, while stating plainly that this is not an option or a right of first refusal.

County records today show the course titled to Monarch at Royal Highlands, Inc. For a buyer, that means two separate questions: what the POA assessment covers, and what golf costs, if you play. For a seller with a golf-front home, it means a buyer’s agent may ask what happens to the view if the course’s business changes. Mo answers that with the recorded easements, not reassurance.

What changes compared with The Villages

There is no Villages amenity fee and no Villages bond. You pay the Royal Highlands POA assessment instead. The POA doesn’t post the amount on its public pages, so Mo gets it from the estoppel for the lot. The tax bill is Lake County’s, outside city limits, so city millage shouldn’t appear. Check the actual bill.

One rule worth knowing early: the 2023 rules say storage sheds aren’t allowed on owners’ property. If you’re moving a workshop, plan for the garage.

Paperwork to collect before you sign

1. The HOA disclosure summary.

   Under s. 720.401, Florida Statutes, a buyer must be given it before signing the contract. A buyer who gets it late has three days after receipt, or until closing, to cancel.

2. The Sale Information/Adult Disclosure form.

   The rules require the buyer to sign it with government ID showing every occupant’s age, and an RHPOA officer or the management company’s certified manager must accept it before closing. Build that into the contract timeline.

3. The estoppel and the current budget.

   That’s where the assessment amount, anything unpaid and any special assessment show up.

4. Golf terms, separately.

   Ask the course directly about memberships and fees. They aren’t part of the POA documents.

5. The rental limits, if you plan to lease.

   Minimum three consecutive months, no more than four rentals per calendar year, whole home only, and the owner must live elsewhere. Tenants also attest to their ages on an association form.

How Mo prices a Royal Highlands home

1. Sort by position first.

   Lakefront, golf-front and interior lots are separate comparison sets. The county codes them separately, and buyers pay differently for each.

2. Royal Highlands sales, same build era.

   Most homes went up between 1996 and the late 2000s. A 1997 home with an original roof isn’t a comp for a 2006 home.

3. Never borrow Villages or Plantation sales.

   Different fee stacks change what a buyer can pay each month.

4. Documents on day one.

   Estoppel, rules and the adult-disclosure step go on the timeline before the listing goes live.

Royal Highlands next to the other Leesburg options

• Pennbrooke FairwaysIts HOA owns the golf course, and it mixes manufactured homes with site-built homes.
• Arlington RidgeThe newest of the four, inside city limits, with community development district assessments on the tax bill.
• The Plantation at LeesburgIts HOA holds title to two 18-hole courses, and golf isn’t included in dues.
• Lady LakeThe Lake County edge of The Villages, where an address alone doesn’t settle the fee question.

Questions people ask about Royal Highlands

Sources

Checked October 10, 2026. Before relying on any line above for a specific home, Mo pulls the current POA documents and the parcel record again.

1. Royal Highlands Property Owners’ Association: home page and amenities
2. RHPOA: contact and street address
3. RHPOA: Declaration of Restrictions, with recorded amendments (O.R. Book 1399, Page 1878)
4. RHPOA: Rules & Regulations (February 15, 2023)
5. Lake County GIS: tax parcels layer (land-use codes, year built, common-area and golf-course parcel owners)
6. Lake County GIS: city limits layer (parcels tested against City of Leesburg limits)
7. Lake County GIS: recorded subdivision plats
8. Lake County Property Appraiser: parcel search
9. Florida Statutes 720.401: HOA disclosure summary before a contract