Lee County, Florida: A Local Guide for Home Buyers and Homeowners

Lee County takes in 781 square miles of land, from the canals of Cape Coral and the River District in Fort Myers out to Sanibel, Pine Island and Boca Grande. About 880,000 people live here.

Here’s what we’d cover if you called us about a house in Lee County: how the loan limits and the FHA math work, which programs can cover the down payment and where each one applies, how homestead and flood zones affect your costs, and who you’ll deal with after you move in.

Every source for this guide is listed at the bottom of the page.

  • County seatFort Myers
  • Founded1887, from Monroe County
  • PopulationAbout 880,000
  • Land area781 sq mi
  • Barrier islandsSanibel, Captiva, Estero, Gasparilla
  • FHA limit, 1 unit$541,287 in 2026
  • Conventional limit, 1 unit$832,750 in 2026
  • School districtThe School District of Lee County

Cities, islands and communities across Lee County

Lee County has six municipalities: Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Sanibel, the Village of Estero and the Town of Fort Myers Beach. Lehigh Acres, North Fort Myers, San Carlos Park, Three Oaks, Alva, Buckingham and the Pine Island communities sit outside them, and which side of a city line the house is on decides where you look up its flood zone and which down payment programs you can use.

The county was carved out of Monroe County on May 13, 1887, and named for Robert E. Lee.

Fort Myers

Fort Myers is the county seat, on the Caloosahatchee River, and goes by the nickname City of Palms. Its downtown River District has early 20th-century buildings, a riverside amphitheater and rooftop bars.

Cape Coral

Jack and Leonard Rosen founded Cape Coral in 1957 as a planned community. It covers about 120 square miles, the second-largest city in Florida by land area, with more than 400 miles of canals lined with waterfront homes, five marinas including Cape Harbour and Tarpon Point, and more than 1,500 acres of parks. Four Mile Cove Ecological Preserve runs a boardwalk through the Caloosahatchee mangroves.

Sanibel

Sanibel runs about 12 miles long and 3 miles wide, and because it lies east to west, the Gulf pushes shells onto its beaches. It has no stoplights, more than 25 miles of shared-use paths, and no building taller than the tallest palm tree. More than half the island is protected nature.

Fort Myers Beach

Fort Myers Beach is a town on Estero Island with seven miles of coastline. The Mound House museum sits in the island’s oldest standing structure, a 1920s home built on a 2,000-year-old Calusa shell mound.

Pine Island and Matlacha

Pine Island is the largest island on Florida’s Gulf Coast, about 17 miles long, made of coral rock and edged with mangroves, with fruit and tree farms and the communities of Bokeelia, Pineland and St. James City. You cross Matlacha to get there, and its bridge is known as the World’s Fishing-est Bridge.

Bonita Springs and Estero

Bonita Springs sits on the Imperial River, with the Wonder Gardens botanical garden in town and Bonita Beach Park on the Gulf. Next door, the Village of Estero has Miromar Outlets, Coconut Point and Hertz Arena.

Lehigh Acres

Lehigh Acres is a census-designated place of about 94 square miles in eastern Lee County, one of the largest unincorporated communities in the county by area.

Alva, Buckingham and Boca Grande

Alva is described as the county’s first settlement, and with Buckingham it makes up rural eastern Lee County along the Caloosahatchee, with farm stands and Caloosahatchee Regional Park.

Boca Grande, at the south end of Gasparilla Island, is reached by the Boca Grande Causeway. A six-mile rail-trail runs the island, and the Gasparilla Inn has operated there since 1911.

Buying a home in Lee County and the loan limits

Lee County’s housing follows its history. Cape Coral grew out of a 1950s planned community, and its canals are lined with waterfront homes. Lehigh Acres spreads across about 94 square miles in the east. Fort Myers has the River District downtown, and out on the islands, Sanibel keeps every building below the tallest palm tree while Boca Grande is reached by its own causeway.

Prices differ a lot between a Cape canal home, a Lehigh Acres house and an island property, and they move month to month, so we don’t print a county number. Tell us the area and we’ll pull the closed sales that match.

Renting in Cape Coral or Lehigh Acres? Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll compare that rent check with a mortgage payment on a home you’d own.

Loan limits in Lee County for 2026 Maximum loan
FHA, single-family home $541,287
FHA, two-unit home $693,050
FHA, three-unit home $837,700
FHA, four-unit home $1,041,125
Conventional, single-family home $832,750

HUD sets the FHA limits and FHFA sets the Conventional limits for every county, and both change each January. This table refreshes itself from HUD's published figures.

The FHA and Conventional limits for Lee County are in the table below, and they update on their own from HUD’s published figures. HUD and FHFA reset both every January.

Here’s the FHA math on an example. On a $400,000 purchase, FHA’s 3.5% minimum down payment is $14,000, and the programs below can cover some or all of that. Call or text us at 954-816-8820 with the address, a canal home or a Lehigh Acres lot, and we’ll work out your cash to close.

One check on any coastal or canal home: if repairs or improvements equal or exceed 50% of the building’s market value, county floodplain rules require the whole structure to meet current flood standards. Ask for the permit history on anything that took water in 2022, and get the flood zone before you write an offer.

Down payment help for Lee County buyers

Lee County buyers can draw on county programs, a housing finance authority loan, a Cape Coral city program and the statewide Florida Housing programs. Each has its own price limit, income limit and service area, and the money comes and goes. Under Florida Housing’s rules, you’re a first-time buyer if you haven’t owned a primary residence in the past 3 years, and veterans with a DD-214 can be exempt.

Lee County HOME Down Payment Assistance

Lee County’s HOME program makes a 0% second mortgage for the down payment, closing costs or both, forgiven a portion each year while the home stays your homesteaded primary residence. It needs a 30-year fixed first mortgage and HUD-certified homebuyer education. You can’t own another home, but you don’t have to be a first-time buyer.

The HOME price and income limits are reset by the county from time to time. Call us and we’ll get the figures that apply from Lee County Human and Veteran Services on Thompson Street before you pick a price range. County contact: (239) 533-7938.

Official program page

Lee County SHIP assistance for new construction

The county’s SHIP second mortgage helps with down payment and closing costs on newly built, never-occupied homes in unincorporated Lee County, Bonita Springs, Estero, Fort Myers Beach or Sanibel, and homebuyer education is part of it. Homes inside Fort Myers and Cape Coral city limits don’t qualify.

The county’s SHIP price cap and funding change with each year’s state allocation. Looking at a new build in Estero or unincorporated Lee? Call us and we’ll find out whether SHIP money is there for that builder’s address.

Official program page

Housing Finance Authority of Lee County

Through its Own a Home Opportunity Program, the Housing Finance Authority of Lee County puts a 0% down payment assistance second behind a 30-year fixed FHA, VA, USDA-RD or Freddie Mac HFA Advantage first mortgage. Nothing is due for 30 years unless you sell, refinance or rent the home out. It’s for first-time buyers, with exceptions for veterans and targeted areas.

eHousingPlus runs the program for the HFA and reissues its guide when the second-mortgage amount or price limits change. Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll confirm the Lee HFA is reserving funds and what it pays before you go under contract.

Official program page

City of Cape Coral SHIP and CDBG

Cape Coral has run its own SHIP program since 1992, plus a CDBG program, for very-low and low-income households, under a three-year housing plan. The Housing Coordinator is at (239) 573-3182.

Cape Coral’s program opens and closes as the city’s funding allows. Buying in the Cape? Call us and we’ll check the city program for you and line up county and state help alongside it.

Official program page

Florida Hometown Heroes (statewide)

Florida Hometown Heroes is a Florida Housing first mortgage, 30-year fixed, paired with a 0% second for the down payment and closing costs. The second has no monthly payment and isn’t forgiven: it’s repaid when you sell, refinance or pay off the home, or stop living in it.

At least one buyer must work full time for an eligible Florida-based employer in health care, K-12 schools, first response, public safety, the courts or licensed child care, so a nurse at Lee Health or a teacher with The School District of Lee County is in the target group. For Lee County’s military buyers, active duty qualifies with any employer, and veterans and Reserve or National Guard members qualify working full time for a Florida-based employer.

Florida Housing assistance is once in a lifetime, so put it on the right home with the right lender. Limits vary by county and household size and funding is reserved loan by loan, so call us first and we’ll confirm your job qualifies and what Hometown Heroes does on a Lee County price.

Official program page

FL Assist and HFA Preferred / HFA Advantage (statewide)

In Lee County, FL Assist works as a 0% Florida Housing second covering the down payment and closing costs, with no monthly payment, and you repay it when you sell, refinance, transfer the home or move out. It pairs with a Florida Housing first mortgage: FHA, VA, USDA or Conventional HFA Preferred or HFA Advantage.

HFA Advantage PLUS puts a second that’s forgiven over 5 years while you live in the home behind a Freddie Mac Conventional first. The FL HLP second comes with a small fixed monthly payment over 30 years.

Florida Housing adjusts what each second pays. Call us and we’ll tell you which one pairs best with a Lee HFA or county second on your address.

Official program page

With our FHA 100% financing, a down payment assistance second sits behind a 96.5% FHA first mortgage, so the down payment doesn’t have to come from your savings. Since Lee’s county, city and HFA money each covers different areas and price caps, call 888-601-8344 before you make an offer and we’ll sort out which ones the address qualifies for.

Property taxes and your homestead exemption

Living in the house full time? Then file for the Florida homestead exemption with the Lee County Property Appraiser. It can take up to $50,000 off your taxable value, with the first $25,000 applying to all property taxes and the rest to non-school taxes, and it puts the home under Save Our Homes, which holds yearly assessment increases on a homestead to 3% or the change in CPI, whichever is lower. When you move to another Florida homestead you can carry some or all of that difference with you, but in Lee County portability isn’t automatic: you apply for it along with the new exemption.

You have to own the home and make it your permanent residence on January 1, and the application is due by March 1 of the year after you buy. U.S. citizens with a current Florida driver license or ID card can apply online, and there’s a second path for permanent residents and partial owners.

The Lee County Tax Collector at 2480 Thompson Street sends the bills, and if your loan has an escrow account, the payment comes out of that.

Lee County Property Appraiser

2480 Thompson Street, 4th Floor, Fort Myers, FL 33901

Phone: (239) 533-6100

Homestead filing and property search: leepa.org

Tax bills and payments: Lee County Tax Collector, 2480 Thompson Street, (239) 533-6000

Hurricanes, flood zones and insurance on the Gulf

Hurricane Ian came ashore on Cayo Costa on Sept. 28, 2022, as a Category 4 with 130-knot winds. The National Hurricane Center measured 10 to 15 feet of storm surge above ground on Fort Myers Beach and 9 to 13 feet on eastern Sanibel, and counted 36 storm-surge deaths in Lee County. On older island homes, the damage, repair and permit history is part of what buyers and insurers check.

Hurricane Irma, on Sept. 10, 2017, brought 3 to 5 feet of inundation from Marco Island north to Fort Myers. Before that, Hurricane Charley hit Cayo Costa, just north of Captiva, on Aug. 13, 2004, also at about 130 knots, with an estimated 6 to 7 feet of surge on Sanibel and Estero Island.

FEMA’s flood maps for Lee County get redrawn, and when new maps take effect a house’s flood zone and flood insurance price can change with them. Check the zone for your closing date, not the one the listing quotes. Unincorporated Lee County is also in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which earns flood policyholders there a discount on their premiums.

  • Look up the flood zone before you make an offer. Unincorporated Lee County uses the county’s Forerunner flood portal, linked from the county flood page; in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Springs and Estero, check with the city or town, or use the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. An A, AE or V zone means your FHA, VA or Conventional lender will require a flood policy.
  • Ask for a homeowners quote during your inspection period, not the week of closing. Carriers price heavily on the roof’s age, and a wind mitigation report can earn credits on the premium.
  • Find your evacuation zone with the county’s Know Your Zone lookup and sign up for AlertLee alerts through Lee County Emergency Management.

Jobs, schools and getting around

Lee Health, a not-for-profit health system, runs Lee Memorial Hospital, HealthPark Medical Center, Gulf Coast Medical Center, Cape Coral Hospital and Golisano Children’s Hospital.

Southwest Florida International Airport, at 11000 Terminal Access Road, is run by the Lee County Port Authority, which also runs Page Field for general aviation. Tourism draws on Sanibel, Captiva, Fort Myers Beach and Boca Grande.

Schools and colleges

Public schools are run by The School District of Lee County.

Florida Gulf Coast University, a public university founded in 1991 that opened in 1997, sits on an 800-acre campus in Fort Myers and plays NCAA Division I sports as the Eagles. Florida SouthWestern State College, founded in 1962 as Edison Junior College, has its Thomas Edison Campus in Fort Myers.

Getting around

Interstate 75 and U.S. 41, the Tamiami Trail, are the main north-south routes. The Cape Coral Bridge and the Midpoint Memorial Bridge carry traffic over the Caloosahatchee between Cape Coral and Fort Myers, and the Sanibel Causeway links the island to the mainland.

LeeTran runs the county buses from 3401 Metro Parkway, with fixed routes, on-demand service and paratransit, and its Beach Park & Ride on Summerlin Square Drive connects to the Fort Myers Beach trolley.

Islands, shells and local favorites

J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge

The refuge on Sanibel was established in 1945 and renamed for Darling in 1967. It’s part of the largest undeveloped mangrove ecosystem in the country, and you can see it from the four-mile Wildlife Drive.

Shelling on Sanibel

Sanibel calls itself the Seashell Capital of the World, and more than 400 shell types wash up there. Bowman’s Beach and Blind Pass are the named shelling spots, and an early-morning low tide is the best time to look.

Edison and Ford Winter Estates

At 2350 McGregor Blvd., the winter homes of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford sit on 20 acres of historic gardens with Edison’s restored botanical laboratory. Every February since 1938, the Edison Festival of Light has closed with the Grand Parade of Light, where every entry has to be lit up.

Islands you reach by boat

Cayo Costa State Park has about 2,436 acres and roughly nine miles of undeveloped shoreline, reachable only by boat or kayak. Cabbage Key, a tiny island in Pine Island Sound, is boat-only too and home to the Cabbage Key Inn & Restaurant.

Estero Bay parks

Lovers Key State Park has more than two miles of beach on barrier islands once reachable only by boat. Koreshan State Park in Estero preserves 11 restored buildings from the Koreshan Unity settlement, and you can paddle from there to the Calusa site at Mound Key.

Spring training and hockey

Every February and March, the Minnesota Twins train at Hammond Stadium on Six Mile Cypress Parkway and the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park at Fenway South. The Florida Everblades play ECHL hockey at Hertz Arena on Everblades Parkway in Estero.

Owls and tarpon

Cape Coral has more than 1,000 nesting pairs of burrowing owls and a Burrowing Owl Festival every February. Boca Grande calls itself the Tarpon Capital of the World, and silver king tarpon there can reach about 100 pounds.

Conservation land and the Calusa Blueway

Lee County voters created the Conservation 20/20 land-buying program by referendum in 1996 and reaffirmed it in 2016, and the program has protected conservation land across the county. The Calusa Blueway paddling trail threads the coast, with a kayak fishing tournament out of Pineland Marina. Inland, Caloosahatchee Regional Park in Alva has hiking, camping, biking and horseback riding.

Fort Myers Beach has hosted the American Sand Sculpting Championship for more than three decades, and Pine Island puts on the StoneCrab Music Festival.

Moving to Lee County: your first-month checklist

  • Electric: LCEC, a not-for-profit cooperative founded in 1940, serves Cape Coral, North Fort Myers, Sanibel, Captiva, Pine Island and parts of Lehigh Acres, and FPL serves other parts of the county, so ask which one serves the house.
  • Water and sewer: Lee County Utilities provides water, wastewater and reclaimed water, but not every address is on it, so confirm the provider for the house you buy.
  • Driver license and tag: handled by the Lee County Tax Collector by appointment, main office at 2480 Thompson Street, Fort Myers, (239) 533-6000.
  • Homestead and portability: apply at leepa.org by March 1 of the year after you close.
  • County services: start at leegov.com.
  • Hurricane season: Lee County Emergency Management has the Hurricane Preparation Guide, the LeePrepares app and AlertLee alerts.
  • Buses: LeeTran, 239-533-8726.

Buying or refinancing in Lee County with AAA Capital Funding

Buying a home

FHA is the loan most of our Lee County buyers use: 3.5% down with a 580 or higher credit score, and it pairs with the county, HFA and statewide programs above. Eligible veterans can buy with a VA loan and no down payment, and we also close Conventional loans, Hometown Heroes and FHA 100% financing here.

As a licensed Florida mortgage broker since 1997, we close loans from Boca Grande to Bonita Springs and statewide in all 67 Florida counties. We shop your loan with multiple wholesale lenders and get you pre-approved before you start touring canal homes in Cape Coral or new construction in Lehigh Acres.

Refinancing the home you have

A refinance on a Lee County home can lower your payment, pull cash for a new roof, elevation work or impact windows, pay off higher-interest debt, or buy out a co-owner. The equity in the house can pay for all of that.

Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll put your current loan next to the new one, with the payment, the cash out and the closing costs on the same sheet.

Lee County questions we hear a lot

What is the FHA loan limit in Lee County, Florida?

Check the loan limit table on this page. It fills itself from HUD’s published Lee County figures, and HUD and FHFA reset the FHA and Conventional limits every January, so it always shows the year you’re buying in.

Is there down payment assistance in Lee County?

Yes. The county runs HOME and SHIP programs, the Housing Finance Authority of Lee County offers a 0% deferred second, and statewide programs like Florida Assist and Hometown Heroes work here too. Amounts and funding change, so confirm the money is there before you count on it.

Can I use Lee County SHIP help on a new home in Cape Coral or Fort Myers?

No. The county’s SHIP new construction program excludes homes inside Fort Myers and Cape Coral city limits. Cape Coral runs its own SHIP program, which opens when the city has funding, so call us and we’ll check it.

When do I file for homestead in Lee County?

By March 1 of the year after you buy, with the Lee County Property Appraiser. You need to own the Cape Coral or Fort Myers home and live in it on January 1. If you’re moving from another Florida homestead, apply for portability at the same time.

Do I need flood insurance in Lee County?

Your lender will require it on a federally backed loan if the house sits in an A, AE or V zone. Flood maps get redrawn, so check the zone on the county portal or FEMA’s map for the date you’ll close, and get a quote before you write an offer.

City guides in Lee County: Fort Myers home loans and buyer guide.

Sources for this guide (49)
  1. U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Lee County, FL
  2. Lee County, Florida (Wikipedia, history and roads)
  3. Lehigh Acres, Florida (Wikipedia)
  4. City of Cape Coral: History
  5. Visit Fort Myers
  6. Visit Fort Myers: Fort Myers
  7. Visit Fort Myers: Cape Coral
  8. Visit Fort Myers: Sanibel Island
  9. Visit Fort Myers: Fort Myers Beach
  10. Visit Fort Myers: Pine Island
  11. Visit Fort Myers: Matlacha
  12. Visit Fort Myers: Bonita Springs and Estero
  13. Visit Fort Myers: Lehigh Acres and eastern Lee
  14. Visit Fort Myers: Boca Grande and outer islands
  15. Lee County HOME Down Payment Assistance info sheet
  16. Lee County SHIP application
  17. Housing Finance Authority of Lee County program guide (eHousingPlus)
  18. City of Cape Coral: Housing and grants
  19. Florida Housing: Homebuyer programs
  20. Lee County Property Appraiser
  21. Lee County Property Appraiser: Apply for homestead
  22. Lee County Property Appraiser: Exemption information
  23. Florida Department of Revenue: Property tax exemptions
  24. Lee County Tax Collector
  25. Lee County: Flood information
  26. Lee County Emergency Management
  27. National Hurricane Center: Hurricane Ian report
  28. National Hurricane Center: Hurricane Charley report
  29. National Hurricane Center: Hurricane Irma report
  30. Lee Health: Locations
  31. Lee County Port Authority
  32. Florida Gulf Coast University: About
  33. Florida SouthWestern State College: About
  34. The School District of Lee County
  35. LeeTran
  36. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: J.N. Ding Darling NWR
  37. Florida State Parks: Cayo Costa
  38. Florida State Parks: Lovers Key
  39. Florida State Parks: Koreshan
  40. Lee County: Conservation 20/20
  41. Lee County Parks and Recreation
  42. Edison Festival of Light
  43. Edison and Ford Winter Estates
  44. Minnesota Twins: Spring training ballpark
  45. Boston Red Sox: Spring training ballpark
  46. Florida Everblades
  47. LCEC: About
  48. Lee County Utilities
  49. Lee County Government

AAA Capital Funding, Inc. NMLS #374739. Jason J. Sarji, NMLS #374700. Licensed Florida mortgage broker serving Lee County and all 67 Florida counties since 1997. Equal Housing Opportunity.

You work with the same person from start to finish, in every county in Florida.

We've been closing Florida loans since 1997, in all 67 counties. If you want to know what's possible in Lee County, call 888-601-8344 or text 954-816-8820. One call, under ten minutes. No application needed to start.

AAA Capital Funding, Inc. · NMLS #374739 · Jason J. Sarji, NMLS #374700