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Willows at Lake Rhea: 1990s Homes Inside the Town
Willows at Lake Rhea, Windermere, is a Town community of 143 homes built from 1989 to 1998, and with 28 recent resales, it has enough evidence to show buyers and sellers what updates to a 1990s home are actually worth.
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Buying or Selling in Willows at Lake Rhea
Willows at Lake Rhea homes for sale offer the Town of Windermere at values well below its lakefront: 1990s pool homes on lots of more than half an acre. Our agents help buyers judge updates, and help sellers price them. Belmere, under a mile away, is a newer alternative outside the Town.
Three Phases, Built in Sequence
- Phase 1: 51 homes built 1989 to 1994, median 2,717 square feet, median county value $781,510.
- Phase 2: 49 homes built 1991 to 1998, about 3,100 square feet, median $867,270.
- Phase 3: 41 homes built 1993 to 1997, about 3,480 square feet, median $929,960, including the four homes on Lake Rhea.
Two more homes, built in 1993 and 1994, make up the small Phase 2A plat.
Across the community, lots are a median 0.59 acres, county value runs about $273 per square foot of living area, 138 of 143 homes have pools, and 123 carry a homestead exemption. All 143 are inside Town limits.
What an Update Is Worth Here
The phases differ mainly in house size; per square foot, their values are close, from about $263 to $281. That puts the focus on condition: a renovated kitchen, a new roof or replaced systems. Because Willows has so many recent sales, our agents can usually find updated and original homes of similar size in the same phase and show you the difference between them, rather than guessing at what a renovation adds. For buyers, that tells you whether an original home's lower price covers the work; for sellers, whether an update before listing will pay back.
Before Buying a 1990s Home
Homes here are 28 to 37 years old. We ask for roof, air-conditioning, water heater and pool equipment dates, help you get insurance quotes early, and check the Town's permitting rules for any work you plan.
Willows at Lake Rhea: Taxes and Flood Zones
At the Town's 2025 millage of 15.4839, a buyer's property tax before exemptions runs roughly $12,000 to $14,500 a year for the middle half of Willows homes; with 123 of 143 homes homesteaded, many sellers' bills are lower. Ten lots touch a FEMA special flood hazard area, including the four on Lake Rhea, and none has the zone at the middle of the lot. Look up schools in Find My School.
Pricing a Willows Home
We price from Willows sales in your phase and size range, updated or original to match your home, and show you exactly which sales we used.
For other homes inside Town limits, our Town of Windermere page covers the historic core, and the neighborhoods guide compares communities side by side.
The Own Luxury Homes® Perspective
In Willows at Lake Rhea, there are enough sales to measure what an update is worth.
Twenty-eight of Willows at Lake Rhea's 143 homes show a most recent recorded sale from 2022 through 2026, about one in five. In a community where the homes are similar in age and value per square foot, that's enough to compare updated and original homes of the same size directly.
In Willows, an update's value can be read from the community's own sales instead of estimated. Before you pay for an updated home, or spend on updates before selling, ask for the matched pairs of sales that show the difference.
Willows at Lake Rhea Questions
Is Willows at Lake Rhea in the Town of Windermere?
Yes. All 143 homes are inside Town limits.
Are any Willows homes on Lake Rhea?
Four Phase 3 homes touch Lake Rhea, according to county maps.
How different are the three phases?
Mainly in house size, since all were built between 1989 and 1998: Phase 1's median home is about 2,700 square feet and Phase 3's about 3,500.
Do most Willows homes have pools?
Yes: 138 of 143.
A Private, More Intentional Beginning
Tell us about your decision
Tell us what you are buying or selling, where, the approximate price range, your timing, and what matters most.
Speak with a local real estate professional.
Discuss your goals, the property, the market, and the questions that will help you decide how to proceed.
Choose your next step.
Take the time you need. There is no obligation to move forward.
Sources:
Orange County GIS, parcel data (2026 tax roll); Orange County GIS, recorded subdivision plats; Orange County GIS, hydrology (lakes); Orange County Property Appraiser, 2025 final millage rates; Orange County GIS, FEMA flood zones; Orange County Public Schools, Find My School. Checked October 2026.
Figures: homes with a Windermere site address outside the Horizon West planning boundary, from Orange County parcel data; values are county just values on the 2026 tax roll, not sale prices; medians. Tax estimates multiply each home's 2026 county just value by the 2025 final millage for its tax district, before exemptions and non-ad valorem assessments, and are rounded. Flood counts are homes with at least 1% of the lot in a FEMA special flood hazard area (zones A, AE or AH) on the county's FEMA layer.
Reviewed by Ryan Brown, Licensed Real Estate Broker and CEO, Own Luxury Homes®