I want to be these People!!!!!!!!!

[Disney Doll]

I want to be these people!!!! On one of our stays at OKW several years ago, we met up with a bellman whos parents owned enough points to be able to stay in a 1 bedroom unit for 3 months. They live in Ohio, and what they do is right after Christmas, they drive to Florida and stay for the winter months. According to this guy, they get the best of all worlds...they stay in Orlando, close to their son, his wife, and their grandchildren for 3 months, at the end of 3 months, they pack up and go back home, and when they leave, they don't have to worry about who will watch their condo etc...they just walk away. When they are both gone, the points will be willed to their kids...they have others besides the one who works at WDW....so everybody's happy!!!!!!! The son bought the points at his cast member discount. Could life be any better????

[Mary Anne]

This is DH and my dream. I figure I've got 10 more years to keep doing add-ons and the 31 more years to enjoy them!

[BobBrazeal]

WOW!!

[Ed T]

Hey Bob:

You keep buying those points you'll be there before you know it.

Ed
DVC 1994

[BobBrazeal]

Still got a long way to go, Ed, but I can dream!!

[PamOKW]

I've heard of others who spend their winter at OKW. It's a great goal for the future! Not only don't you have the worries about the rest of the year but you can even change where you stay if you like (a few weeks at Vero, some time at BWV, etc.) Not that I can spend months at a time, but I bought DVC at the time I was considering whether to try and get a condo in FL. OKW was cheaper, served my real purpose of a few weeks per year and was already furnished and decorated in a style I love!

[CaptainMidnight]

Personally, when doing this, my suggestion would be to buy groups of points instead of one huge purchase. That way if you ever did want to sell, you would not be trying to sell the large chunk of points and potentially loose thier value because the market is limited for such large purchases, over a smaller number of points where there may be sevearl buyers.

Just a thought. Great idea, especially from a fellow Ohioan.

:p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p :p

[Wes]

I used the WDWInfo point calculator (http://www.wdwinfo.com/resort/dvcpoint.shtml). The parameters I plugged in were:<ul><li>Boardwalk<li>1 Bedroom-Standard View<li>From 12/1/2001<li>To 2/28/2002.</ul>And the answer is ...

They would need 2561 points to do this.

Figuring maybe they bought in at about $50 a point, that would have cost $128,000.

Figuring annual dues at $3.50 a point (all this is just ballpark close), that means an annual dues payment of about $9,000.

I guess if you had thought of buying a $128K house and paying taxes and upkeep, just to spend 3 months, then this price is in the same ballpark ... though you are getting 1BR w/o laundry for your money -- and w/o maintenance worries.

But can you imagine calling every day for 3 months just to make sure you get a reservation for the same room without an interruption?

[PamOKW]

For fun, I looked at the OKW 1-bedroom mentioned and assumed Jan. 1-Mar. 31 as the three month period (standard Snowbird time). Comes out roughly the same...2,516 points. With OKW dues at $3.13....$7,875.08 maintenance. I think that could be the deal breaker ;)

[Minnie*Mouse]

I know of a person who owns 2,000 points. Every year he stays in a GV with family and friends. You can imagine he's got a lot of friends...and a lot of money.
;)

[invalid_char]

Have any of you thought of just buying a condo. or house in the Orlando area? This way, if you spend 100K or more, you wouldn't have the huge maintenance fees and it would stay in your family forever (not just 40 years) plus you'd have an investment which would continue to appreciate.

Just wondering....

[dtheboys]

I think that the Bellman may of been stretching the story a bit!
If I had $128,000 and about $9000.00 a year in dues. I would buy a Condo and pass that to my family!

[Denine]

Staying at OKW for 3 months at a time would be nice, but I'd rather move there permanently.

[Peggy Sue]

Sounds like a dream...

I thought I read somewhere that no one can have a reservation for more than 30 consecutive days?? Did I dream that?

[PamOKW]

Have any of you thought of just buying a condo. or house in the Orlando area?

I was considering purchasing a condo in the Stuart, FL area when I made the DVC decision instead. I wanted to have somewhere for my parents and myself to get away to in the winter (either together or seperately but not for 3 months though). DVC gave me a turnkey beautiful condo on a golf course with easy access to WDW. I didn't have to worry about who would look after the condo and/or rent the condo when we weren't there. (Warm weather can be as bad as cold weather on an unattended unit.) Or, the cost of furnishing the unit as well. For substantially less money I got the same Florida getaway with less headache. Now, Vero gives me my ocean vacation as well.

[Disney Doll]

I think the guy said that the reason his parents didn't buy a condo in the area was because they didn't want year round resposibility for something that was only be used 3 months out of the year, and they didn't want to stick him(their son)with the responsibilty of having to take care of it.

[Beachangel]

Sounds a little to good to be true if you know what I mean.

[rallydoc]

Ok, so 128 k plus 9k per year seems a bit high but where is the breakeven point? I mean at what point in the buying of points does it make more sense to purchase a real live home? Just curious folks..

Lester

t- 2 months to VERO for the SAAB convention

BTW.. I played with some of those "edit" buttons at th bottom of the thread.. not trying to mess up anything I just haven't spent much time here since the changeover..

[PamOKW]

t- 2 months to VERO for the SAAB convention

Hey, RallyDoc I saw a few months back that they were having the SAAB meet at Vero this year. I wondered if any DVC'ers would be there! Have a great time. (Are you staying at Vero DVC?)

[rallydoc]

But of course!! It will be our first stay on points! And the first time that the SAAB convention will be held somewhere where the rest of the family can find something else to do..;-)

Lester

[mikesmom]

I know it sounds a little too good to be true, but I think I believe it.

When DH and I were at BWV last year, we had just taken the tour and were thinking it over..weren't sure if it was REALLY that good, etc. You all know. Anyway, we were in the gift shop and saw this man with a DVC jacket on. He seemed pretty friendly, chatting to the CM behind the counter, so being the shy person I am (NOT), I started asking him about DVC and how he felt about it.

Well, this guy was so into it, it almost scared us off! He apparently had enough points that he'd spend 3 weeks at Vero, then a few weeks at HH, some time at BWV , some time at OKW and then start over. He obviously had thousands of points. He'd bought points for all his kids, he went on and on. It was almost like Stepford DVC! We asked ourselves later if the guy ever went home! While that was a little too much enthusiasm for us, we did buy in and love our DVC.

But there are people who have all those points. We met one!

[WebmasterDoc]

A comparable condo (with maintenance provided) could easily sell for $500K (and up) and STILL not be onsite. Add to that property taxes, maintenance costs, upkeep, utilities and telephone ( and T/T or full clean) and you will easily use the $9K annual fee. If you'll only use it 3 months per year- it does get costly quickly!

Of course, that condo will likely appreciate more over time...plus you'd qualify for FL resident passes! :)