Four Seasons at Lakes of Cane Bay: The Math Nobody Runs on the Lake Premium

The lake is real — that part isn't the surprise

Unlike most Summerville 55+ communities where "waterfront" means a retention pond, Four Seasons at Lakes of Cane Bay is built around an actual 300-acre interconnected lake system with an 8-mile navigable waterway. Kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, and fishing boats move through the community's core, the 24,000 sq ft clubhouse sits directly on the water, and the community ranked #12 nationally on RCLCO's 2024 top-selling master-planned communities list. None of that is exaggerated marketing — it's a genuinely different physical layout than competing communities.

The part that doesn't show up until you're deep in the paperwork

Lakefront and lake-view lots carry premiums of roughly $30,000 to $80,000 over comparable interior lots at the same square footage. Spread over a 10-year hold, that's an amortized $3,000–$8,000 per year — real money that doesn't show up as a separate line item anywhere in the marketing materials, because it's baked directly into the lot price before you ever see a number.

Buyers who kayak or fish regularly report the premium is unremarkable given daily use — it becomes their neighborhood, not an amenity they visit. Buyers who bought a lake view mostly for the aesthetic, but rarely access the water, are more divided on whether it was worth it. Be honest with yourself about which category you fall into before paying for the water view — the resale market eventually prices that distinction accurately too, even if the original purchase doesn't force you to confront it upfront.

Three neighborhoods, four "Looks," a genuinely wide price range

The community is organized into three sections — Villas, Compass, and Beacon — with K. Hovnanian's four designer finish packages ("Looks": Loft, Farmhouse, Classic, Elements) available across plans. Attached Villas start around $380K; single-family Compass and Beacon plans run from roughly $480K up to $680K+ for the largest 3,200+ sq ft Loft designs. That's one of the widest floor plan spans in the Summerville 55+ market — verify current builder pricing directly, since active-build communities adjust pricing as phases sell through.

Berkeley County's tax edge applies here too

Four Seasons sits in Berkeley County alongside Del Webb Cane Bay, both benefiting from roughly a 0.51% effective property tax rate versus Dorchester County's ~0.67% for most other Summerville 55+ communities — on a $520K home, that's about $832/year saved simply by county line, independent of anything to do with the lake.