Instead of DVC Being A Timeshare

[lugnut33]

Why don't they just market it as a prepaid vacation for the next 50 years? Why does it even need to be a timeshare?

Just make it so people cannot sell their interest in DVC. They have it until they die, or for the next 50 years, whatever comes first.

That way there would be no resale market at all because you don't own anything. The only thing you are getting is a bed, and it's not transferrable.

 

[DVC SSR Owner]

1 word. ..marketing. Lots of people can't image the next 10 years let alone 50. DVC can market this flexibility of selling it down the road if your lifestyle changes. I have heard that they used to market it as an investment that appreciated, but that doesn't fly anymore!

 

[disneynutz]

DVC isn't a timeshare, it's a club.

Bill

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

I'm not a lawyer, but I have a feeling they'd find themselves on the wrong side of the law if they didn't treat it like a timeshare. Real estate in general and timeshares specifically are very highly regulated. There are many points-based timeshares that work the same way as DVC. It would be difficult for them to claim DVC was something other than a timeshare. It if walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...

Not selling it as real estate interest would also have a big effect on their financial risk. There'd be no concept of maintenance fees for a pre-paid vacation, so they'd have to make an assumption now on how much it's going to cost for the full $50 years. As a timeshare, they can adjust for fluctuations in operating costs through adjustments to the maintenance fees. They'd also be exposed for catastrophic losses if it were sold as a long-term hotel reservation. For example, if a hurricane takes the roof off the resort, as a timeshare, they'd be able to collect a special assessment (or at a minimum increase maintenance fees) to cover repairs. It becomes the collective owners' responsibility to repair the resort, and our loss if the resort is totally destroyed. If it were simply a pre-paid vacation, it would be their responsibility to either provide a comparable room at another resort or a refund.

 

[Dean]

Why don't they just market it as a prepaid vacation for the next 50 years? Why does it even need to be a timeshare?

Just make it so people cannot sell their interest in DVC. They have it until they die, or for the next 50 years, whatever comes first.

That way there would be no resale market at all because you don't own anything. The only thing you are getting is a bed, and it's not transferrable.

Legally they can't, it has to be sold under the timeshare laws, at least in all states I know of including FL. Regardless, whatever you call it or market it, it's still a timeshare.

 

[JimMIA]

DVC isn't a timeshare, it's a club.

[

Okay, Bill -- NOT nice to mislead newbies.

News Flash: DVC IS a timeshare, folks.

 

[Deb & Bill]

[

Okay, Bill -- NOT nice to mislead newbies.

News Flash: DVC IS a timeshare, folks.

Jim, he just forgot the "But" at the beginning of his statement.

 

[disneynutz]

[

Okay, Bill -- NOT nice to mislead newbies.

News Flash: DVC IS a timeshare, folks.

I'm just repeating what our first Guide told us.

Bill

 

[Dean]

I'm just repeating what our first Guide told us.

Bill

If they actually said that it's not a timeshare, rather than just calling it a vacation club, they would have been in violation of FL law as I understand it.

 

[tjkraz]

I'm just repeating what our first Guide told us.

Bill

So I guess Guides stretching the truth isn't such a new phenomenon after all. They were misleading members even back in the good 'ole days of colored bath towels and well-cleaned rooms.

 

[CMOORE185]

1 word. ..marketing. Lots of people can't image the next 10 years let alone 50. DVC can market this flexibility of selling it down the road if your lifestyle changes. I have heard that they used to market it as an investment that appreciated, but that doesn't fly anymore!

Our original guide was very honest. He said do not buy this if you think it is a financial investment. He said do not expect to make money when reselling. He said this when things were going well in the resale market too. One of the main reasons I bought was because of this guide. Because of his sales technique it didn't have the feel of a timeshare. I do not think if I sat down today with a guide I would buy.