Frisco Lakes looks like the simple one — a single HOA around $600 a quarter, no buyer fee, no club minimums. The complications hide in the fine grain: three school districts serve the city at a ~$500-a-year spread, the association’s fees have climbed since Del Webb handed over the keys, and every filing runs through Denton CAD despite the Frisco address. The honest assembly, line by line.
| Item | Figure | The Footnote That Matters |
|---|---|---|
| HOA assessment | ~$600/quarter per current listings | Residents have publicly noted increases since builder handoff in 2020 — request the last three budgets, not just this year’s number |
| One-time buyer fees | Standard resale costs only | No CIF equivalent — a genuine ~$3,800 advantage over Robson at the door |
| Property tax (rep. $525K, over-65 filed) | ~$7,000–$8,100/yr after exemptions | The $200K shield covers 38% here — the price of the bigger house; the school line then freezes |
| The ISD variable | ~$500/yr between districts | Frisco (2.16%), Lewisville (2.20%), and Little Elm (2.26%) ISDs all serve the city — identical homes streets apart carry different bills. Confirm per listing, never per community |
| Filing reality | Denton CAD, always | Zip 75036 is the Denton side of Frisco — exemptions, ceiling certificates, and protests sent to Collin CAD accomplish nothing |
| Insurance | ~$2,800–$3,600/yr typical | 2006–2020 housing stock: ask every listing\u2019s roof age, since pre-hail-era roofs price differently |
| Amenities included | In the HOA | The 28,000 sq ft Village Center and 100+ clubs carry no surcharge — but golfers budget an off-site club, the structural opposite of Heritage Ranch |
Representative over-65 couple, $525K resale, mid-spread ISD: HOA ~$200, tax ~$590–$675, insurance ~$265 — roughly $1,055–$1,140 a month of carry. Across ten years with the freeze applied and the usual drift assumptions: $106,000–$113,000, the figure that makes the Robson matchup a statistical tie and moves the decision onto golf, gate, and maturity. The structural insight worth carrying out of this page: Frisco Lakes’ costs are tax-weighted where Robson’s are fee-weighted — which means Frisco Lakes’ decade improves the longer the freeze runs and worsens if the unfrozen lines outpace assumptions, while Robson’s depends on board discipline. Pick which uncertainty you prefer; one of them is voting in Austin and the other at the HOA annual meeting.
Full community treatment: the Frisco Lakes guide · Denton County guide · the Over-65 Guide
District confirmation, three years of association budgets, and the decade table at your target listing — one request, all of it.