Moving to a new city can be a scary thing. How do I pick the RIGHT area for ME? I don’t want to spend a few hundred thousand dollars and THEN learn that I’ve made a HUGE mistake. When I moved to Central Florida many years ago, I was pretty familiar with the area, but I still didn’t know the BEST areas to live in. So today, I’m going to take just a few minutes to share what I’ve learned about where NOT to move and THEN I’ll address the BEST area in Deltona that you should consider IF you’re thinking of moving to Deltona, Florida. At the end, I’ll share a few extra resources that may help make your decision just a bit easier.

As a suburb of Orlando, Deltona is a refuge where Orlando’s homebuyers come to find more reasonably priced homes. Deltona doesn’t have much in the way of individuality of other areas, like Sanford or Deland, where there is a wide range of home values from one area of town to the next. As such, it can be difficult to pick out just WHERE to go. We all know real estate is all about location, location, and location, and that principle applies here, too. Deltona is located about halfway between Orlando and Daytona Beach along I-4, so anyone working or spending much time playing in either of these locations should at least consider Deltona. With I-4 being the main thoroughfare, you’d probably guess that moving closer to I-4 is obvious; however, Deltona has three main exits, Exit 108, Exit 111, and Exit 114 along I-4, so which one is the right one? I’ll also address another general area of town that has a ton of homes as well as the problem with it.

Every area of Deltona has its advantages and disadvantages. Exit 108 on I-4 is the closest to Orlando, so if you’re heading down to Orlando, this one may seem like the best. However, the homes in this area tend to be older and, although older homes have some benefits, these old Mackel homes tend to be small, cookie -cutter types and just don’t have the features of the homes built, say, even in the 90’s. This area does have a few condos and Lake Monroe, which the other areas don’t have, and that may be a big deal for some moving here, but that’s about the only real advantage I can think of.

There isn’t much to do in this area either, unless the gas station or McDonald’s is your thing. The traffic makes this area problematic, too, although it’s not as bad as another area I’ll be addressing in a bit. Debary Avenue can be a mess in that area. I’ve spent a lot of time waiting at those traffic lights, and I’ve seen some pretty bad accidents right there at that intersection over the years too.

Exit 111 in Deltona is more in the middle of Deltona, so maybe this is the one that’s just right. But this area of Deltona has its issues, too. Traffic can be really crazy here, depending on just WHERE you are in relation to the exit as people funnel out of all three areas of Deltona. These homes tend to be newer than down on the south side near exit 108 and there is more of a variety of homes than you’ll generally find down there too. A big upside of this area is that if you want shopping and to be close to I-4, then this could be a good option due to its proximity to Orange City. Orange City has all sorts of restaurants and shopping. They’ve got a Lowes, and Orange City just has many more options than Deltona has.

Of course, Deltona is a large city. For the purposes of WHERE to live here in Deltona I’m spending most of our time addressing the areas closer to I-4, but there’s a huge part of Deltona that is nowhere near I-4, on the eastern side of town. Much of this area along the eastern part of town is a bit more rural, but it isn’t rural like you’d find in other towns with wide open spaces and country. It’s more just CLOSE TO rural, like out in Osteen. As such, this eastern area is further from I-4, shopping, and most anything else, aside from maybe being closer to New Smyrna Beach. Yes, you can still GET to I-4, but you could spend 10 to 20 minutes getting there. As such, I’m skipping this entire area as a desirable area to live based on location and proximity to I-4, but if you aren’t commuting any long distances or you’re working from home, this area could be just what you need.

Next, let’s look at the northern section of Deltona, up around exit 114. This area IS about 6 miles further north than the southernmost section of Deltona; however, I don’t see that as a huge deal. On the north side of the St. Johns River Bridge, where Deltona sits, traffic just isn’t as bad as it is down in Orlando, so to me you’re really talking about another 6 minutes or so. While this area of town does also get a good bit of Deland’s traffic, it’s usually getting off ON I-4, so this area of Deltona doesn’t really see that traffic. All of Lake Helen and Cassadaga are getting on I-4 here, along with the north side of Deltona, but it just doesn’t seem to pile up like it does down at exits 108 and 111. In my opinion, this area generally has an abundance of newer style homes and, if you’re looking for work IN Deltona, the I-4 logistics park is right here on North Normandy, which currently has the Amazon Distribution Center, but there are all sorts of jobs in that area.

There are a couple neighborhoods up here with HOA’s, but they’re generally inexpensive and there are real nice homes on larger lots behind Deltona High School. There isn’t as much shopping here as, say down near the central section of Deltona near exit 111, but it’s a whole lot closer to Historic Downtown Deland, which has a good bit of restaurants, shopping, some jobs, and all that. Plus, the north side of Deltona has pretty quick access to 17-92, which is the main through route connecting Orange City up to Deland.

Want to know the best schools in the area? Well school ratings are always changing, so here’s a link to one website that I’ve shared with my customers in the past.  Of course, there’s all sorts of data online if you’re looking for school ratings, crime rates, or anything else for that matter. Google’s street view is a great way to zip around and look at some of Deltona’s homes while you’re in your pj’s in your living room. Simply put in the address of a home into Google, click on Google’s street view, and you can hop on down the road to see the area. Of course, I get calls all the time from people thinking of moving here with questions and I honestly love that, so give me a call if I can help you with your real estate needs anywhere here in Central Florida.

Published on February 22. 2023 / no comments.