Silver Lake Estates. Know what matters before you buy.

The 60-Second Overview

Silver Lake Estates is KB Home's entry-price community in north Leesburg, opened in October 2024 off Radio Road and Morningside Drive near Silver Lake, on the corridor between downtown Leesburg and Tavares. It sells in two phases from one sales office at 9891 Orion Loop: Phase I with the smaller plan set, advertised at the time of writing from roughly the low-to-mid $270s, and Phase II with a larger lineup from around $300K, plans running roughly 1,500 to 3,016 square feet with up to six bedrooms. Local reporting on the project described it as zoned for roughly 233 homes on about 114 acres, with a first phase of 69 homesites, numbers we treat as the plan of record to confirm, not gospel, since builder phasing shifts.

Those from-prices are the story. In a county where the big master plans have pushed entry pricing well into the $300s plus CDD assessments, Silver Lake Estates is among the lowest-priced new construction in Lake County, with a modest HOA and no CDD advertised. The trade is honest and visible: amenities are thin, plans filed with the city reference trails and recreation areas rather than a pool-and-clubhouse package, the zoned middle and high schools rate mid-to-low, and the Orlando commute is real.

The from-price gets you in the door. The contract price, after the lot premium, the design studio, and the lender tie-in, is the number that decides whether this was a good buy.

One more thing before anything else: the name. There is an older, established Silver Lake area immediately around this project, a 1970s-90s lakeside neighborhood ringing the 1944-built Silverlake golf course, with everything from mobile homes to lakefront houses, and portals and county records blur the two constantly. When you see a "Silver Lake Estates" comp from 1987 at a price that makes no sense, that is why. This guide is about the KB Home new-construction community; we keep the two separated in every comp set we pull.

The KB Built-to-Order Model, Decoded

KB Home sells differently from the spec-heavy national builders, and understanding the model is most of the game here. The advertised price is a base price: a specific floor plan, on a base homesite, with base finishes. From there you choose a homesite (premiums apply on the better ones), then visit KB's design studio, where flooring, cabinets, counters, appliances, and structural options are priced individually, at builder markups. KB cites roughly 4 to 5 months to deliver a personalized build, and it also keeps quick move-in homes with builder-selected finishes for buyers who need to close sooner.

The financing layer matters just as much. KBHS Home Loans is KB's affiliated lender, the two companies share ownership, and KB's own disclosures say plainly that you are not required to use KBHS. In practice, the headline incentives, closing-cost credits and below-market rate promotions like the 5/1 ARM specials KB advertises, are typically tied to financing through the affiliated lender. Sometimes that package genuinely wins; sometimes an outside lender's full offer beats it once you price the whole loan, not just the teaser rate. We run that comparison for every client rather than assuming either way.

HOA, Taxes & the Fee Read

Compared with the fee stacks we decode in the big master plans, Silver Lake Estates is refreshingly simple, which is itself the selling point. Three layers, none of them exotic:

1) The HOA. Third-party listing sites report dues around $285 per quarter at the time of writing. In a young builder community the HOA is still developer-controlled, budgets are immature, and dues and inclusions can change as sections turn over, so we confirm the current amount, what it actually covers, and the budget in the HOA documents during the contract review, every time.

2) No CDD advertised. Unlike Hills of Minneola and most large new master plans, no community development district assessment is advertised here. That is a genuine, durable carrying-cost edge, hundreds to thousands of dollars a year that never hits your tax bill. We still pull the actual Lake County parcel line items on any specific homesite before you sign, because "advertised" and "recorded" are different standards of proof.

3) The year-two tax jump. This is the one that catches new-construction buyers everywhere. The first year's tax bill often reflects land-only or partial-year assessment; once the county assesses the completed home, the bill resets meaningfully higher. If your lender escrows off year one, your payment jumps in year two. Budget off the full assessed value from the start.

Phases, Plans & Homes

Both phases sell KB's current Florida lineup of one- and two-story single-family plans, named by square footage. Phase I carries the smaller set, plans running roughly 1,501 to 2,544 square feet with 3 to 4 bedrooms, and the lowest advertised from-prices in the project. Phase II lists around ten plans from roughly 1,541 to 3,016 square feet, including the two-story layouts with lofts and configurations KB's announcement describes as up to six bedrooms and three baths. Modern open kitchens over great rooms, walk-in primary closets, and KB's Energy Star-oriented build standards run across the lineup.

Because this is a young, actively building community, the streetscape is a mix of finished homes, homes under construction, and bare homesites, and it will be for a while. That cuts both ways: you get first pick of plans and lots, and you also live with construction traffic and an unfinished feel until buildout. Buyers who want a finished, settled street today should be cross-shopping the near-new resale communities, and we tell them so.

Amenities & the Lake Question

Read this section before you let the renderings do your imagining. Silver Lake Estates is a low-amenity community by design: reporting on the approved plans references trails and recreation areas, not a clubhouse, pool, or fitness center, and the modest HOA is the receipt. Confirm exactly what is built, open, and funded before you assign any of it value, in a new community, "planned" and "existing" are different things.

And the lake: Silver Lake names the community, but it is not advertised as a deeded amenity. The lake sits nearby, largely ringed by private property and the older Silver Lake neighborhood, and the community's marketing leans on "near beautiful lakes" rather than promising access, which is the accurate phrasing. Boaters here use the Harris Chain of Lakes, Griffin, Harris, Eustis and the rest, through public ramps a short drive away, and that chain is genuinely one of Florida's best bass fisheries. The everyday amenity package is really Leesburg's public one: Venetian Gardens Park and its waterfront, Rogers Park Splash Pad, the Leesburg Dog Park and LSSC sports complex less than a mile per KB, and downtown Mount Dora about 20 minutes out.

Schools

Silver Lake Estates is served by Lake County Schools. KB's own site lists Treadway Elementary about a mile from the community, and Treadway rates a solid 7/10 on GreatSchools at the time of writing, genuinely good for the area and a real plus for young families. The honest continuation: Treadway students typically feed to Tavares Middle (5/10) and Tavares High (4/10), mid-to-low composites that deserve real homework from families buying for the long haul, programs, teachers, and trajectory rather than one number.

Two cautions we give every buyer here. First, zoning is by address and Lake County rezones as it grows, fast-growing corridors are exactly where boundaries move, so confirm the current assignment for the specific homesite with the district, not with a portal. Second, if top-rated secondary schools are your deciding factor, the honest answer is that south Lake County communities like Hills of Minneola compete better on that dimension, and we would rather tell you that now than after you close.

More on Living in Silver Lake Estates

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

5 Mistakes Buyers Make in Silver Lake Estates

Entry-price new construction generates the same five mistakes everywhere we work, and a young KB community is where they cost the most. Each one is avoidable with the right read before you sign.

Which Lots & Homesites Hold Value Best

Relative resale strength by homesite type, illustrative of how entry-price new-construction communities trade. The exact premium depends on the phase, the release, and what KB charges for the homesite versus what the resale market later pays for it, a gap we check before you pick.

What to Check Before You Sign

Before you sign a KB purchase agreement in Silver Lake Estates, run this list. Missing any one of them is how new-build buyers overpay or inherit a surprise.

• The true contract price: base price + homesite premium + every option, in writing, before you fall for the from-price
• The incentive terms: exactly what is offered, what it requires (usually the affiliated lender), and the expiration
• An outside lender quote to price against the KBHS package, full APR and fees, not the teaser rate
• HOA documents: current dues, what they cover, the budget, and rules on fences, trailers, boats, and rentals
• The parcel's tax line items from Lake County records, and a year-two tax estimate at full assessment
• What amenities are actually built and funded, not planned, and who maintains the trails and common areas
• School zoning by address with Lake County Schools, not a portal's guess
• Independent inspections scheduled: pre-drywall if built-to-order, pre-closing, and the 11-month warranty walk

Silver Lake Estates vs. Comparable Communities

The honest way to place Silver Lake Estates is against the other communities an entry-price Lake County buyer is realistically weighing. Each trades something different.

Silver Lake Estates' case against this field is simple: the lowest advertised entry to a brand-new, personalized home in Lake County, with a modest HOA and no CDD advertised. The case against it: almost no built amenities, mid-to-low secondary school ratings, a real Orlando commute, and a final price that drifts well above the from-price if you let the design studio drive.

The Honest Trade-offs

The Silver Lake Estates Playbook

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

• Set the real budget first. Decide your maximum contract price, base plus lot plus options, before you walk into the model, and hold it.
• Pick the lot before the finishes. Open-space, pond, and oversized homesites hold value; design-studio finishes mostly do not.
• Price the incentive like a loan product. Get the KBHS package in writing and an outside quote the same week; take whichever wins on the full math.
• Verify the paper. HOA documents, parcel tax line items, year-two tax estimate, school zoning by address, and what amenities are actually built.
• Inspect like it is a resale. Pre-drywall, pre-closing, and the 11-month warranty inspection, independent, all three.

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 Silver Lake Estates home, we want to know:

• What is the true contract price on this plan and homesite, base, premium, and options itemized?
• What does the current incentive actually require, and does it survive an outside-lender comparison?
• What are the HOA dues today, what do they cover, and what do the documents say about fences, boats, and rentals?
• What will the tax bill be in year two at full assessment on this parcel?
• What does this homesite back to, and what is KB charging for that versus what resale will pay for it?
• How have comparable closed builds here recorded versus their advertised from-prices?

Silver Lake Estates May Not Be Right For You If

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