Ask a Stone Creek sales associate what the HOA fee runs and you'll likely hear the smallest number first. It sounds like a deal. A gated, guarded, golf course community for around $250 a month feels like a steal next to what you've seen quoted at other Ocala 55+ neighborhoods.
That number is real. It's also only one of four numbers Stone Creek uses, and the cheapest one comes with an asterisk most buyers don't discover until they've already signed a contract and started calling lawn services.
Four Series, One Community, Four Very Different Bills
Stone Creek, the Del Webb community on SW Ocala's SW 80th corridor, sells homes across four series: Classic, Estate, Garden (also called Scenic), and Villa. All four series share the same clubhouse, golf course, pools, and gate. What separates them isn't the amenity list. It's what the HOA fee does and doesn't cover once you're inside your own yard.
| Series | Monthly HOA fee | Lawn and irrigation included | What else is bundled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic / Estate | $250 | No | Clubhouse access, golf, pools, fitness center, trash and recycling, basic internet, 24-hour gate and guard |
| Garden / Scenic | $395.50 | Yes | Everything above, plus mowing and irrigation |
| Villa (resale only) | $727.79 | Yes | Everything above, plus annual pressure washing, exterior repainting every 5 to 6 years, pest control, and contributions to two separate reserve funds for roof repair and eventual roof replacement |
Those figures reflect Stone Creek's published fee schedule effective January 1, 2025, and they've held steady into 2026. The pattern underneath them is what most comparison charts miss: because every series gets the same golf course and clubhouse, the entire spread between $250 and $727.79 is really the price of maintenance, not the price of amenities.
The question isn't which HOA fee is lowest. It's which fee is lowest once you add back what it leaves out.
The Line Item Classic and Estate Owners Forget to Add Back
A $250 HOA fee sounds like it beats a $395.50 one by nearly $150 a month. It rarely does, once you factor in what Florida's growing season demands from a Classic or Estate lot.
Warm-season grass in Marion County doesn't pause for anyone's budget. Hiring it out for a typical single-family lot runs somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 to $150 a month, and skipping it isn't really an option since HOA appearance standards apply community-wide. Add that back to the $250 base fee and you land close to $350 to $400 a month, which puts Classic and Estate within shouting distance of the Garden series' flat $395.50, sometimes above it.
That doesn't make Classic a bad choice. If you enjoy yard work and plan to do it yourself, the $250 fee is genuinely the lower-cost path, and nothing about the math changes that. But if you're the retiree who moved to Ocala specifically to stop mowing, the Classic fee isn't buying you the lifestyle you're picturing. It's buying you a lower number on a brochure and an errand you still have to solve.
What the Villa Fee Is Actually Pre-Paying For
The Villa series looks like the outlier at $727.79 a month, nearly three times the Classic rate. The gap makes more sense once you see what's inside it.
Beyond lawn care, Villa owners get annual pressure washing, a repaint cycle every 5 to 6 years, pest control, and contributions to two distinct reserve funds earmarked for roof repair and roof replacement. That last piece matters more than it sounds. A roof replacement is one of the largest irregular costs a homeowner faces, and most Classic, Estate, and Garden owners are expected to save for it on their own, outside any HOA structure. Villa owners are already funding it, a little at a time, inside a fee they pay whether or not the roof needs anything that year.
That's a real tradeoff, not an upsell. You're paying more certainty for less flexibility. If you'd rather smooth a large future cost into a predictable monthly number, the Villa fee is doing exactly what it's designed to do. If you'd rather keep that cash and self-insure against a roof bill that might not come due for another decade, the lower series fees leave that choice in your hands.
One practical note if the Villa series appeals to you: Pulte built all 100 individual villas between 2006 and 2013, located in the Santa Fe and Pinebrook neighborhoods, and they are no longer offered as a buildable option. The only way into a Stone Creek villa today is resale. If you want that maintenance structure and you're touring new construction, you're touring the wrong series.
Why This Matters Beyond Stone Creek's Gates
Buyers comparing Stone Creek against other Ocala 55+ communities often stop at the sticker HOA number, and the same blind spot shows up everywhere.
On Top of the World's central leasehold neighborhoods run a higher fee, generally $512 to $531 a month, but that fee bundles full exterior maintenance, including lawn care, painting, and roof repair. It's a different ownership structure entirely (you're leasing the land under a 99-year term rather than owning it outright), so it isn't a clean apples-to-apples swap with Stone Creek. Still, the underlying lesson holds: a higher HOA number sometimes buys you out of separate maintenance costs entirely, while a lower one just defers them to your own calendar and checkbook.
One thing Stone Creek buyers don't have to budget for, and worth knowing if you're cross-shopping: Stone Creek carries no CDD, the special taxing district some newer Ocala communities use to fund infrastructure. Nearby Indigo East, by contrast, still carries a legacy CDD-related maintenance charge on some parcels, reported at $477 a year on top of its HOA fee. If a fee comparison chart shows Indigo East's monthly HOA looking cheaper than Stone Creek's Classic series, that annual CDD line can close part of the gap. Always ask what's on the tax bill, not just what's on the HOA invoice.
Stone Creek is also still building. As of early November 2025, the community had roughly 3,523 homes built or under construction, working toward a planned total near 4,000 over the following two years. Resident representation on the HOA board expands as build-out progresses. The community currently has a five-member board with two resident seats, and the remaining seats convert to resident control once the community reaches 90 percent build-out. Fee structures at communities in this stage can still shift as resident boards take on more of the decision-making, which is one more reason to confirm current numbers directly rather than relying on a chart that's a year or two old.
Questions Worth Asking Before You Tour a Model or Write an Offer
- Which series is this specific home in, and does the HOA fee include lawn care and irrigation?
- If lawn care isn't included, what does a comparable lot actually cost to maintain here in Marion County?
- For a Villa resale, ask to see the reserve fund balances for both the roof repair and roof replacement accounts, not just the current monthly fee.
- Does this subdivision carry the additional Spectrum cable charge? It applies in Saratoga, Bridlewood, Lexington, Sundance, and parts of Silver Glen, adding $52.25 a month on top of the base HOA fee.
- Is there any CDD or bond assessment on the tax bill, separate from the HOA invoice?
A Short FAQ
Does Stone Creek charge a CDD fee? No. Unlike some other newer Ocala communities, Stone Creek does not carry a Community Development District assessment.
Can I buy a new-construction Villa in Stone Creek? No. The Villa series was built out between 2006 and 2013 and is only available today as a resale in the Santa Fe and Pinebrook neighborhoods.
Does every home in Stone Creek pay the same HOA fee? No. The fee depends on which series the home falls into, and within that, certain subdivisions carry an additional cable charge that others don't.
If you're weighing Stone Creek's series against each other, or against a different Ocala 55+ community entirely, the fee schedule is only half the picture. The other half is how each structure fits the way you actually want to spend your Saturdays. Our team at the Stone Creek Realty Team walks buyers through current floor plans, resale inventory, and the real all-in cost of each series before you tour a single model. If you're also thinking about what your current home might sell for first, our free home valuation is a good place to start. Either way, Next Generation Realty is here when you're ready to talk it through.
