As a Canadian, I feel I missed the boat?

[Chrisey]

I was hemming and hawing all of last year on buying DVC, but tabled the idea for the last 6 months and am totally kicking myself.

Not only does it seem resale prices have gone up but the dollar makes it so hard to justify right now.

Can anyone share any pros to still buying now?

 

[suebeelin]

I personally no longer recommend dvc resales to ppl anymore. I was pushing ppl to buy last year and the years before.

The only thing I can think of is if you only stay deluxe resorts anyway. If you do, and you go to DW regularly, and plan on going for another decade or more, then you'll save in the long run.

 

[DougEMG]

I feel for you. The increase in resale prices and the drop in our dollar make it a lot more expensive to buy now then 6-12 months ago.

One thing would be to buy a contract that has banked points on it and rent them out. At least then you'll have some $US income to go towards the purchase.

If you are looking for multiple contracts you could look at purchasing them over time, with the hope that our dollar goes up.

Or just rent for now and hope that our dollar goes back up or the U.S. Goes into a recession and prices drop back down.

Good luck.

 

[MoreTravels]

I am from Canada.

When I bought my DVC, the CAD-USD was at par. I paid $65 /pt. It is currently averaging $90USD / $117CAD per point. So it is an increase of 80%

But Disney (DIS) stock was listed at $30 per share... right now it's $120.... so it's a 400% increase.

I sold DIS stock to fund my DVC. So what is my point? None other than hindsight is always 20/20. If I had kept my Disney stocks, the dividends would have been enough to pay for my Disney trips years after years. It would have been a better investment choice.

 

[DVCanadian]

We bought SSR for $50 per point at par in 2010 and OKW for $68 per point at around $0.85. We bought the OKW loaded and rented 2 years of points to get our net cost down.

Do your math, watch for a good contract, and only you can decide if it is still worth it.
It does seem like you have been hit by a double whammy!

Good luck

 

[hcortesis]

If you keep your contract till the end of it's term, you will spend far more on dues than on the original purchase. We have bought many contracts at various costs and exchange rates. My opinion - get it done now.

 

[DenLo]

It looks like you did miss the boat. Todays price differences are much like they were in the 70s, if my memory is correct and definitely not a bargain for Canadians. I agree with the others if you usually do not stay at deluxe resorts, just continue with your Disney plans as usual. But if you prefer deluxe resorts, considering renting or if you know you will be going to WDW for 10 years straight, perhaps you should considering buying resale anyway.

 

[mab2012]

No question that DVC is a great deal more expensive for Canadians now than it was a few years ago. But one thing to keep in mind is that if you're going to Disney, your costs are going to be in USD anyway. Yes, DVC costs more in CAD terms, but so does whatever other accommodation you'd be paying for. So if it made sense for your family to own DVC 6-12 months ago, and you don't expect your vacation patterns to change due to the exchange rate, then owning DVC probably still makes sense. Or at least, the difference in exchange rate itself is likely not a big factor, unless it means that the upfront purchase price is now more than you can afford, or unless you expect a big recovery in the CAD in the foreseeable future.

Trust me, I know just how you feel. I first started looking at DVC in 2012, when the exchange rate was par or better, and DVC resale prices were at or near their bottom. I couldn't justify the cost then, based on how we expected to use it. Largely I was considering the ongoing cost of maintenance fees, which hasn't really changed. I went and bought a different time share instead (which we've been very happy with), but I have continued to look at DVC off and on over the past few years. Over that time my expectations of how we would use DVC has evolved, and recently I finally decided to go ahead with a small contract. It's painful to think of how much cheaper it would have been if I'd just gone ahead with it three years ago, but my crystal ball must have been broken then. I've found a model that should work for our family based on prices and expected usage now, and while I'm very well aware that it's not the best investment decision I've ever made, I also don't think I'll regret it.

 

[Minniesgal]

For now maybe.

I firmly believe everything is cyclic and your opportunity to buy will come back