Water Oak, Lady Lake: you buy the home, not the land.

Water Oak at a glance

Operator	Sun CommunitiesSun calls it “a Sun Community”; sales office at 216 Magnolia Drive, Lady Lake
Who owns the land	Sun Communities companiesLake County records list the main park parcel under Sun Communities Finance LLC, other park parcels under Sun Communities Operating LP and Sun Water Oak Expansion LLC, and the golf course under Sun Water Oak Golf Inc.
County land-use code	Rental manufactured home park
City and county	Town of Lady Lake, Lake CountyProperty Appraiser millage group 00LL Lady Lake
2026 total certified millage	16.6231 millsOn the park parcel Sun owns. A home on a leased site is registered with a decal instead (see below).
Age status	55+, as described by Sun Communities
Size	About 300 acres, per Sun
Homeowners’ association	Water Oak Estate Homeowner’s Association, Inc.Active Florida not-for-profit, filed March 25, 1986
Villages district or CDD	None on Lake County’s district map

From Sun Communities’ Water Oak pages, the Lake County Property Appraiser and county GIS, and the Florida Division of Corporations. Checked October 10, 2026.

What you are buying: a home on a leased site

The county record answers this before any tour. The main Water Oak parcel, at 106 Evergreen Lane, is owned by Sun Communities Finance LLC and coded “rental manufactured home park” by the Lake County Property Appraiser. Sun’s listing pages say it plainly: “Sale price does not include site rent.” The mortgage estimate on those pages also leaves out monthly site rent and escrows for taxes and insurance.

Sun’s guide to additional fees lists the recurring charges that can apply in its communities: site rent, utility and trash fees, cable and internet, lawn care, pet fees, late fees and taxes. It says the list varies by community and by lease, and it names one-time items such as an application processing or move-in fee and a security deposit. I don’t publish a site-rent figure here. It is set by the lease for a specific site, so get the current number, and how it has changed, in writing for the exact home.

The papers Florida law puts in front of you

Florida’s Mobile Home Act, chapter 723, covers renting a lot in a mobile home park. In a park with 26 or more lots, section 723.011 requires the park owner to deliver a state-approved prospectus before the lot rental agreement is signed or at occupancy, whichever comes first. Once it is delivered, the lot rental agreement is voidable by the homeowner for 15 days. The same section requires a separate flood disclosure from the park owner on the same timing.

Before you commit to a Water Oak home, I would have these in hand:

• The prospectus or offering circular for the site, with its exhibits and the lot rental agreement.
• The current site rent for that site, and what it covers and doesn’t: water, sewer, trash, lawn, cable.
• The park rules, including pets and guests, and Sun’s written age-verification process.
• The park owner’s flood disclosure, plus the site’s zone on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center.
• The home’s Florida certificate of title in the seller’s name and its current decal.
• What Sun’s community office needs from a resale buyer, and how long that takes, before you set a closing date.

Taxes, tags and loans work differently on leased land

Florida taxes a mobile home as real property only when the owner of the home also owns the land it is permanently affixed to (section 193.075). Otherwise the home must carry a current license plate. In Lake County that is a decal from the Tax Collector, priced by the home’s length and renewed every year or two by December 31, with a delinquency fee after January 10. The black RP (real property) decal is only for a home on land owned by the same owner, which is not the arrangement when Sun owns the land.

Financing follows the same line. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s May 2021 report on manufactured-housing loans describes chattel loans, secured by the home as personal property rather than by land, and found that chattel borrowers faced higher denial rates and paid higher interest rates than mortgage borrowers. Sun says third-party financing may be available. Get a loan quote before you write an offer, and weigh cash and financed offers with that in mind.

What Sun lists at Water Oak

Sun’s amenity page for Water Oak lists:

• An 18-hole, par-70 golf course that Sun describes as public, with putting and chipping greens, four sets of tees and a pro shop.
• The Oak House restaurant.
• Two clubhouses and two outdoor pools, one of them Olympic-size at the main clubhouse.
• A fitness center with sauna, a hot tub, four lighted tennis courts and pickleball.
• A softball field, dog park, walking trails, library and a 24/7 manned gatehouse.

Ask which of these the site rent covers and which carry their own charges, golf included.

How I’d price and sell a Water Oak home

1. Lead with the lease.

   A buyer’s first question is the site rent. Have the current rent statement, the prospectus and the park rules ready before the home goes on the market.

2. Comp against leased-land sales.

   Price a Water Oak home against manufactured homes on leased sites, adjusted for age, size, roof, HVAC and add-ons such as a garage or carport. Owned-lot homes in Lady Lake subdivisions and Villages resales are a different product.

3. Know the competition inside the gate.

   Sun sells homes in Water Oak itself, at advertised prices that exclude site rent. Your listing sits next to that inventory, so check it the week you list.

4. Clear the title and decal early.

   The certificate of title, the current decal and any lien payoff need to be in order before a buyer’s lender or the park asks for them.

5. Show the monthly number.

   Put loan payment, site rent and insurance side by side with an owned-lot alternative, so a buyer decides on the full cost. Then run your own seller net sheet.

Compare before you choose

Among the communities I cover around Lady Lake, Leesburg and Clermont, Water Oak is the land-lease option. Harbor Hills and Legacy of Leesburg are owned-lot communities with associations, Kings Ridge in Clermont adds a required clubhouse membership, and Pennbrooke Fairways mixes site-built and manufactured homes. Inside The Villages, the bond and the amenity fee are the big monthly questions instead: the bond, explained.

Questions people ask about Water Oak

Sources

Checked October 10, 2026. Site rent, fees and park rules are set by Sun Communities and can change, so I re-read the lease documents and the county record before any number goes in a listing or an offer.

1. Sun Communities: Water Oak Country Club Estates
2. Sun Communities: Water Oak amenities and activities
3. Sun Communities: example Water Oak listing, “Sale price does not include site rent” (checked October 10, 2026)
4. Sun Communities: Guide to additional fees
5. Lake County Property Appraiser: Water Oak Country Club Estates MHP, 106 Evergreen Ln (Alt Key 3538951)
6. Lake County GIS: tax parcels layer (owners, land-use codes, millage groups)
7. Lake County GIS: city limits layer
8. Lake County GIS: community development district layer
9. Florida Division of Corporations: Water Oak Estate Homeowner’s Association, Inc. (N14014)
10. Florida Statutes 723.011: prospectus, 15-day voidability and flood disclosure
11. Florida Statutes 193.075: when a mobile home is taxed as real property
12. Lake County Tax Collector: Mobile homes (titles, decals, RP decals)
13. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Manufactured housing finance, new insights from HMDA (May 2021)
14. FEMA Flood Map Service Center