Hillside at Mount Dora. Know what matters before you buy.

The 60-Second Overview

Hillside at Mount Dora is KB Home's entry into the Mount Dora market: a small single-family community at US-441 and Robie Avenue that grand-opened in March 2025. Development reporting put the project at roughly 80 homesites on about 20 acres, which makes it one of the smallest new communities in the area, an infill neighborhood, not a master plan. KB offers nine one- and two-story floor plans from roughly 1,511 to 3,016+ square feet, with the largest layouts running to six bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths.

The headline is the price. Base prices have recently been advertised from roughly $322,990 to $335,990 depending on the week and the source, which makes Hillside the lowest published new-construction entry point in the Mount Dora market, undercutting Timberwalk, Seasons at Wekiva Ridge, and everything closer to downtown. The second headline is the model: KB sells built-to-order homes. You choose the homesite, the plan, the elevation, and the finishes in the KB Design Studio, and every one of those choices moves the price up from the base number that got you in the door.

The base price is the starting line, not the finish line. In a built-to-order community, the money is made or lost between those two numbers.

What you are not buying is amenities. Development reporting describes a planned dog park and trail, not a pool, clubhouse, or fitness center, and that modesty is part of how the entry price stays low. What you are buying instead is the location: historic downtown Mount Dora, one of Central Florida's most beloved small downtowns, is about five minutes up US-441, and the SR-453 connection to the completed Wekiva Parkway puts Sanford and Lake Mary on a real expressway commute. For the buyer who wants new construction near Mount Dora at the lowest possible entry, and who walks in with the option math understood, Hillside is exactly what it appears to be. For the buyer who anchors on the brochure price, it is a community designed to upsell you.

The Fee Picture: HOA, No CDD Reported, and the Tax-Bill Read

Hillside's recurring-fee story is refreshingly thin, which is one of its genuine advantages, but two of the three numbers still need verifying on every purchase.

1) The HOA. The community is managed by Empire Management Group, and the association covers the common areas and the modest amenity package. Here is the honest part: portals have not published a consistent dues figure for Hillside, third-party data has shown low double-digit monthly figures, and KB listings frequently say to contact the builder. In a new KB community the dues are set in the budget the developer files, so the number exists, it just is not reliably public. We get the current amount, the billing cadence, and exactly what it covers in writing from the association before you contract, not after.

2) The CDD: none reported. An 80-lot infill community generally does not carry a community development district, and no CDD has been reported for Hillside. That is a real cost advantage over big Central Florida master plans, where the CDD can add $1,500-$3,000+ a year to the tax bill, and it is part of why Hillside's all-in monthly can beat communities with similar sticker prices. But never take a portal's word for it: we verify the absence of any CDD or special assessment on the actual Lake County tax bill for the specific parcel before you close.

3) The year-two tax step-up. This is the fee surprise that actually bites new-construction buyers. The first year's tax bill on a new build often reflects the land value only. In year two, the completed home is assessed at full value, the bill steps up sharply, and an escrowed mortgage payment jumps with it. We run the post-reset estimate for any Hillside home so the real monthly payment, not the teaser-year payment, is what you budget.

How KB Sells: The Built-to-Order Model

KB Home's pitch is genuinely different from the spec-heavy builders next door. Where D.R. Horton at Timberwalk sold mostly finished inventory with fixed included features, KB sells a process: pick your homesite, pick one of nine plans, pick the elevation, then walk the KB Home Design Studio and choose flooring, cabinets, counters, and dozens of other selections. No two KB homes are the same, and for buyers who hated settling for someone else's gray-on-gray spec, that is real value.

It is also exactly how the advertised base price grows. The base number assumes the base elevation, a standard homesite, and base-level finishes throughout. Homesite premiums are additional and disclosed per lot. Design Studio selections are priced as options, and option pricing is where builder margins live, the same cabinet or floor that costs X at retail can carry a healthy markup as a builder option, while some structural options (an extra bedroom, a covered lanai, a bath) are genuinely cheaper to do during construction than ever again. Knowing which options to buy from the builder and which to do after closing is a real-money skill.

Two more pieces of the KB model to price clearly. First, the energy story is real: every Hillside home is designed to be ENERGY STAR certified, a standard fewer than 12% of new homes nationally meet, and KB publishes energy-performance estimates that translate to genuine utility savings versus a typical resale. Second, the financing arm: KBHS Home Loans is KB's affiliated lender, and the best incentives are often tied to using it. Sometimes that package wins; sometimes an outside lender beats it once you compare total cost. The only honest answer has both columns filled in.

The Plans & Homesites

Hillside offers nine floor plans named by their square footage: the 1511, 1541, 1707, 1989, 2168 (the modeled plan), 2333, 2566, 2766, and 3016. The smaller plans are single-story, 3-4 bedroom layouts built around an open kitchen-to-great-room core with the primary suite at the rear; the larger two-story plans add lofts, flex rooms, and configurations up to six bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths. Included features across the line run to stainless appliances, WaterSense-labeled fixtures, walk-in primary closets, and dual-sink primary vanities, with everything above that priced in the Design Studio.

Because this is a small, roughly 80-lot community on about 20 acres, lot variety is limited but real: interior lots, corner lots, and the perimeter rows, some of which sit toward the US-441 frontage where road noise deserves a site visit at rush hour before you pay a premium for anything. Move-in-ready spec homes, KB builds a rotating handful, have listed from the mid $360s up to the high $470s for the 3,016-square-foot plan, and specs often carry their own incentives that can beat a build-to-order price for the right buyer. As early resales eventually appear, they will include things the builder charged for, blinds, fences, gutters, landscaping, which is exactly why comps, not the brochure, should set your number.

Schools

Hillside is served by Lake County Schools, and the honest read here has two layers. The first is the ratings: the zoned secondary schools, Mt. Dora Middle (about 1.5 miles) and Mt. Dora High (about 1.2 miles), carry GreatSchools ratings of 3/10 and 5/10 at the time of writing. Those are mid-to-low composite numbers that deserve real homework from relocating families, programs, teachers, and trajectory rather than a single score.

The second layer is the elementary question, and it matters. Portals disagree: KB's own materials list Triangle Elementary among nearby schools, while other listing data shows Round Lake Elementary, the high-performing conversion charter about two miles away that rates 10/10, as the assigned school. Round Lake is a charter within Lake County Schools with its own enrollment process, and seats for non-zoned families typically run through an application with a wait list, it is an option to pursue, not a guarantee that comes with the deed. Before schools drive your offer, we confirm the exact zoned assignment for the specific address with the district, in writing, and map the charter and choice options realistically.

More on Living at Hillside

The depth without the wall of text. Open what matters to you.

5 Mistakes Buyers Make at Hillside

Entry-priced built-to-order communities produce the same five mistakes over and over. Every one of them is avoidable with the right read before you sign.

Which Lots & Homesites Hold Value Best

Relative resale strength by homesite type, illustrative of how small corridor communities trade. The exact premium depends on the specific lot, what it backs to, and the noise reality on the ground, walk it before you reserve it.

What to Check Before You Sign

Before you reserve a homesite or sign KB's purchase agreement, run this list. Missing any one of them is how new-build buyers overpay or inherit a surprise.

• The current price sheet and incentive package in writing, for the exact plan and homesite, base prices move weekly
• The homesite premium and what the lot actually backs to, walked in person at a noisy hour
• The HOA dues, cadence, and inclusions confirmed with Empire Management Group, not a portal
• The Lake County tax bill math: no CDD or special assessment on the parcel, and the year-two full-assessment estimate
• The builder-lender offer vs. an outside quote, total cost over your realistic hold, both columns filled in
• The option list split: structural items to buy now, cosmetic items to do cheaper after closing
• The school assignment for the address confirmed with Lake County Schools, and the Round Lake Charter process if it matters to you
• Independent inspections at pre-drywall and final, yes, on new construction, every time

Hillside vs. Comparable Communities

The honest way to place Hillside is against the other new-construction communities a Mount Dora-area buyer is realistically weighing. Each trades something different.

Hillside's case against this field is simple: the lowest entry price, the shortest drive to downtown Mount Dora, no CDD reported, and the ability to build to order rather than take a spec. The case against it is equally simple: the lightest amenity package of the group, a corridor address, mid-rated zoned secondary schools, and a base price that grows with every Design Studio decision.

The Honest Trade-offs

The Hillside Playbook

If we were buying at Hillside, this is the order of operations we would run, and the one we run for our clients.

• Price the as-built, not the base. Current sheet + realistic lot premium + the options you would actually choose, before you fall for a floor plan.
• Walk the site plan. Identify the green-space and quiet interior lots, and stand on anything near the US-441 frontage at rush hour.
• Split the option list. Structural now, cosmetic later, and let the after-closing column save you real money.
• Run both lender columns. KBHS incentive package versus an outside quote, total cost over your realistic hold.
• Verify the boring stuff. HOA in writing, no CDD on the parcel, year-two taxes, school assignment, and independent inspections at pre-drywall and final.

Questions We'd Ask Before Buying Here Ourselves

The questions a local who knows builder communities asks are different from the ones a portal answers. On any specific Hillside home, we want to know:

• What is the current incentive package, and is it stronger on specs or build-to-order this month?
• What is the homesite premium on this lot, and what exactly does it back to?
• What are the HOA dues today, in writing from the association, and what do they cover?
• What does the year-two tax bill look like at full assessed value on this price?
• Which options on our list are cheaper after closing, and which must be done during construction?
• What have comparable Hillside closings actually settled at, with options, versus the advertised base?

Hillside May Not Be Right For You If

We would rather tell you the truth than sell you the wrong community. Hillside may not be the right fit if any of these are deal-breakers, and that is a property question, not a personal one.