Annual Dues?

[DannyDisneyFreak]

I am looking into the DVC and I read some where that annual dues are like $4.00 per point per year. Say you have 150pts. does that mean that you have to pay $600 per year on top of what you pay for the time share? That seems nuts.

 

[DVCconvert]

Maintaince fees (or annual dues) go toward covering things like real estate taxes etc. They vary by DVC resort. At BWV the current MF rate is $4.41 per point - so if you owned 100 pts, your annual cost would be $441.

It's not as 'nuts' as it may seem, as you should look to divide your principle investment cost over the term of the contract (37 years to 54 years). Just like a house payment, you'd have to also pay the taxes each year.

HTH

 

[Caskbill]

Yes that's true, but why is it nuts?

Every timeshare there is has annual dues.

Would you expect to be able to buy a house and never have any other expenses on an annual, or even monthly basis? There's taxes to pay, insurance premiums, maintenance items, lawn care, garbage pick-up, electricity, telephone, cable tv.

Your timeshare has all those regular expenses, plus others: Mousekeeping, laundry, pool maintenance, Member services, Transportation, Administration, Furniture replacements and so on.

Even with annual dues and an initial substantial outlay of funds, in just a few years you've broken even with what you would have paid in regular hotel costs, and for the rest of contract, you're way ahead of what it would cost you if you stayed in hotel rooms, with their ever increasing rates, every year.

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

Sorry, I've never owned a timeshare, I didn't realized it was just like buying a house casue you don't live in it. I just started looking into DVC, now I'm worried about asking stupid questions.

 

[DVCLiz]

Danny - don't worry about asking stupid questions!!! Everybody has to start learning about DVC at the beginning, and it can be confusing. There are lots of friendly people here on the DIS who will help you learn about DVC - but don't be surprised if you end up an owner before long!!

 

[paslea_pooh]

in comparison to what my Mom pays for her timeshare. Ours is about $1100 a year and my Mom pays $350! But she has one week a year and that's all, she can only go to her timeshare for one week and that's Saturday to Saturday. Us on the other hand depending on how we budget our points (we have 300) we can go away 2-3 times a year and we can go for 1,2,3 or 7 days whatever we want. So you have to really think about the flexibility of your timeshare . I know it seems alot but like what someone already said consider it as owning a vacation home for 49 years.

 

[athenna]

Sorry, I've never owned a timeshare, I didn't realized it was just like buying a house casue you don't live in it. I just started looking into DVC, now I'm worried about asking stupid questions.

Don't ever be afraid to ask questions!! That's what we're here for. I remembered a saying from my childhood-The only stupid questions, are the unasked ones. We were all newbies once and we are forutante enough to have these boards to help out!

 

[DVCconvert]

now I'm worried about asking stupid questions

Well, Athenna beat me to this, but like she said, only the unasked ones are 'uniformed' if you don't know or understand something!

Everyone of us here had to start asking questions before we became members - and most of us still don't think we're so smart but that we continue to ask questions!

 

[erikthewise]

Many DVC buyers are first-time timeshare buyers (including me). The idea of paying annual dues on top of the large cost of initial buyin can seem "nuts" ("I just paid $15K and now you're asking for more?!?!"), but that's the way it is. You just have to factor it in when making your purchase decision.

 

[DannyDisneyFreak]

So, you can avoid paying the annual dues by financing them along with your membership?

 

[sheryl0521]

Unfortunately no. But they can be withdrawn from your checking/savings account monthly instead of one lump sum. Or they can be charged to the Disney Visa in one lump sum in January. And you can use Disney Rewards points to go towards the yearly dues.