Buy DVC resale...good deal but still very hesitant! WWYD?

[Crazy4Disney06]

Dh and I put in an offer for a small resale DVC contract on Friday. Today the seller accepted. The deal is a very good one, yet I am still very hesitant to spend the money. The points will allow us to travel to WDW/DL/Hawaii every to every other year.....which is typically our travel habit anyhow.
Total cost for the contract and any fees will be less than $3500 and our lodging will be paid for, for the next 30 years I'm sure that we will get our money out of it and then some....guess I'm just being my typical self and over analyzing everything
WWYD?

 

[Four*Peas]

I have no experience with DVC but it does sound like a good deal. If your dh is on board, you should go for it!

I often have over analysis paralysis. Types like you and me are our own worst enemy!

Good luck!

 

[SeattleRedBear]

Dh and I put in an offer for a small resale DVC contract on Friday. Today the seller accepted. The deal is a very good one, yet I am still very hesitant to spend the money. The points will allow us to travel to WDW/DL/Hawaii every to every other year.....which is typically our travel habit anyhow.
Total cost for the contract and any fees will be less than $3500 and our lodging will be paid for, for the next 30 years I'm sure that we will get our money out of it and then some....guess I'm just being my typical self and over analyzing everything
WWYD?

...and how much is annual maintenance?

we've considered buying DVC resale as well for the same reason, but need to get rid of the credit card debt (plus we already have three vacation ownerships and at least have the possibility for trading into DVC if we want).

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

...and how much is annual maintenance?

we've considered buying DVC resale as well for the same reason, but need to get rid of the credit card debt (plus we already have three vacation ownerships and at least have the possibility for trading into DVC if we want).

The annual maintenance fees can vary slightly, but just to give you an idea for 2012 it's only $260.

 

[SeattleRedBear]

The annual maintenance fees can vary slightly, but just to give you an idea for 2012 it's only $260.

That's veeery reasonable. Sounds like a good deal. Have fun!!

 

[Pakey]

Something to think about. I own DVC and have for a long time.

You have to be buying a 50 point contract or so due to your low annual fees. This is going to get you enough points for a studio every few years (and not in Hawaii). If your children are young now, this will be fine. As they get older, that studio is going to get more and more cramped once you have to fold out that sleeper sofa. Most of the studios only hold 4 people (and cramped at that), will that villa size work for you long term? We are going to Hawaii this year and our 2 bedroom villa, during the lowest point month of the year, is going to take 440 points.

I've owned DVC for 15 years and I think that one of the biggest mistakes buyers make is that they think about how they vacation right now, not how they will vacation 20 years from now.

 

[swilshire]

The annual maintenance fees can vary slightly, but just to give you an idea for 2012 it's only $260.

So you would have enough points for what? A couple of nights in a studio in the off-season. Oops. I see the previous poster just answered that.

I'm a multi-week timeshare owner and have looked at DVC. I've never bought because of the high annual maintenance fees.

I HAVE been tempted to buy a small contract just to get the discounts on annual passes, but they aren't guaranteed to continue forever. A night or two would work for me because I could tack it on to a week at another resort.

Think carefully before you buy. Disney is one of the few timeshares that does hold some value, but these are right to use contracts that expire. At some point, the prices will go down as you get closer to the expiration date. Does the one you're considering expire in 2042? 30 years will go fast if you're a young family.

Sheila

 

[Marionnette]

Dh and I put in an offer for a small resale DVC contract on Friday. Today the seller accepted. The deal is a very good one, yet I am still very hesitant to spend the money. The points will allow us to travel to WDW/DL/Hawaii every to every other year.....which is typically our travel habit anyhow.
Total cost for the contract and any fees will be less than $3500 and our lodging will be paid for, for the next 30 years I'm sure that we will get our money out of it and then some....guess I'm just being my typical self and over analyzing everything
WWYD?

I would look at it this way...

How much would you spend on accommodations alone over 15 trips? Assuming that dues remained the same over the entire 30 years, you would be shelling out $11300 over that time period for the purchase price and maintenance fees. That comes to $754 per vacation, in what I assume would be a studio. But of course, maintenance fees will go up over time. So $754/trip is the lowest cost you would be paying.

Now think about what it would cost you to rent points every visit, no obligations and no upfront costs. I just stayed 5 nights in a studio at AKV Kidani. It was 55 points. I paid $13/pt. for a total of $715. I could rent points again at any time without having to front the thousands of $$$ that it takes to buy into DVC.

 

[kirstenb1]

At that price, it sounds like a small contract, like 50 pts max. We have 200 pts, and use all of them every year. We have 2 kids, and I cook several meals at our villa, so we always go 2 BR.

We bought back in 93 so we got 7 years of free park tickets. I know you didn't ask, but the park tix can be a killer. We do break it up with Sea World and Universal, but I hadn't anticipated the price of tix climbing so steeply over the years.

 

[Judyat]

Not sure how many points you bought but we bought 330 points several years ago. Just got our annual dues and taxes statement. They are over $1,700 this year so you're not actually getting anything free after you pay for your contract. We were lucky to be able to pay for them at the time and not have a mortgage on them and we recently added the extra years. We do enjoy using the points but the annual fees and taxes are hefty and that's probably why people sell their time shares

 

[mykidslovesdisney]

is this a resale from Disney?? Now if you buy resale from anyone but Disney you can not use it outside of the DVC accomadations. They changed it last year for resale.

Hope this isn't the case.

We have been DVC mbrs for 5 yrs and loving it.

 

[Pumbaa_]

we have dvc and love it. there are other discount perks with DVC also, including a discount off APs

Best thing we ever did! we lvoe hte deluxe accomodations and if your traveling style changes, you can always get another add on (stay away from the 1 br! it will spoil you for life!)

 

[auralia]

I also have a small 50 point contract at OKW. Paid something like 69 pp and it was fully loaded and is a 2057 use year and this was before they changed the rules about resales. Anyway it works great for me. It is like pre paying for a deluxe room. I did it because it forces us to vacation every 2-3 years. We went many years without vacationing at all and when we did go to disney it was value resorts or off site. Now we get to stay deluxe. I have 9 nights booked at OKW in December of this year and it was about 100 points. If we want to stay in a one bedroom when the kids are older I will just rent points for transfer to get a bigger room if it's in the budget. Also now that I have 50 points I can buy at any resort I want direct from Disney in increments as small as 25 points. No idea what the minimum buy in is now but when I was looking it was 100 points. I really like my little contract! And I may add on some day, but for now it is enough. I stay in deluxes for value prices without having to involve a 3rd party. We have stayed boardwalk, animal kingdom, and SSR so far.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

I have not taken the time to read all of the post yet, will do that once I post...

For starters yes it is a 50 point contract at OKW, which will allow us to stay for 5 night stays every year in a studio which is all we stay right now with the oldest being in school and we travel in the fall from Oregon. Perfectly fine for us at this point in time. We have also looked into it and can use 2012 and borrow for 2013 points for a 5 night stay at Aulani.....again perfect amount of time for our vacations. We are only a family of 4 so a studio fits us perfectly and we can always add on if/when we need to. I totally understand that we will not be going 2 bedroom villa or anything of that sort, but for OUR vacation purposes it a studio is perfect!

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

So you would have enough points for what? Actually we have several choices during our time of year that we usually travel. For example:
We plan to travel December of 2012 with 50 2012 points and borrow 50 from 2013, we can stay at the following resorts for 5 nights/6 days (our typical stay since we come from the West cost):
AKV Studio: Value, Standard, Savanna or Club level
BLT Studio: Standard, Lake or Magic level
BCB Studio:
BWV Studio: Standard, or preferred
OKW Studio:
Saratoga Studio:
WL Villas Studio:
Aulani Studio:
HHI: Studio, or 1 bedroom
VB Studio:
Grand Californian Studio

So again we have many choices for stays every two years, or if we chose we can stay 5/6 days EVERY YEAR on 50 points at:
AKV
OKW (home resort)
BWV
HHI
VB
So again we have several choice that will allow us a yearly vacation as well.



Think carefully before you buy. Disney is one of the few timeshares that does hold some value, but these are right to use contracts that expire. At some point, the prices will go down as you get closer to the expiration date. Does the one you're considering expire in 2042? 30 years will go fast if you're a young family.

Yes the contract we are buying does expire in 2042, however that is 30 years from now, so yes our vacation habits can/will change but we can always add on later or sell. I don't see myself going to Disney much into my 60's anyhow We have gone to Disney 9 times in the past 12 years so even at this rate we would have gone our moneys worth even with annual maintenance fees each year.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

I also have a small 50 point contract at OKW. Paid something like 69 pp and it was fully loaded and is a 2057 use year and this was before they changed the rules about resales. Anyway it works great for me. It is like pre paying for a deluxe room. I did it because it forces us to vacation every 2-3 years. We went many years without vacationing at all and when we did go to disney it was value resorts or off site. Now we get to stay deluxe. I have 9 nights booked at OKW in December of this year and it was about 100 points. If we want to stay in a one bedroom when the kids are older I will just rent points for transfer to get a bigger room if it's in the budget. Also now that I have 50 points I can buy at any resort I want direct from Disney in increments as small as 25 points. No idea what the minimum buy in is now but when I was looking it was 100 points. I really like my little contract! And I may add on some day, but for now it is enough. I stay in deluxes for value prices without having to involve a 3rd party. We have stayed boardwalk, animal kingdom, and SSR so far.

Exactly the way I look at it! I think that many people think you can't get anything for 50 points.....well maybe not in a 3 bedroom during peak season for 2 weeks, but 50 points per year or banking/borrowing and using 100 point every two gives us plenty of options!

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

At that price, it sounds like a small contract, like 50 pts max. We have 200 pts, and use all of them every year. We have 2 kids, and I cook several meals at our villa, so we always go 2 BR.

We bought back in 93 so we got 7 years of free park tickets. I know you didn't ask, but the park tix can be a killer. We do break it up with Sea World and Universal, but I hadn't anticipated the price of tix climbing so steeply over the years.

I understand that the tickets are killer, but we are don't plan on going to the parks on every trip. We will also use the points at DL for 3 or 4 day at times. DL tickets are considerably less pricy.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

is this a resale from Disney?? Now if you buy resale from anyone but Disney you can not use it outside of the DVC accomadations. They changed it last year for resale.

Hope this isn't the case.

We have been DVC mbrs for 5 yrs and loving it.

This is not resale from Disney. I do understand that we can only use the points at DVC accommodations and RCI. We are okay with that, as we have a 10 year old and 1 year old and see many DL/WDW vacations in our future We have done 9 in the past 12 years as is.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

Something to think about. I own DVC and have for a long time.

You have to be buying a 50 point contract or so due to your low annual fees. This is going to get you enough points for a studio every few years (and not in Hawaii).

We can stay at Aulani for 95 points for 5 nights/ 6 days in a studio in December, or stay at AKV, BWI, or OKW (home resort) EVERY year for about 50 points in a studio. We are a family of 4 we are not looking of for a 3 bedroom villa or anything We can always add on later if we need as well.

 

[Pakey]

I understand that the tickets are killer, but we are don't plan on going to the parks on every trip. We will also use the points at DL for 3 or 4 day at times. DL tickets are considerably less pricy.

You can't count on this. It's almost impossible to get a studio at VGC at 7 months which is the earliest you will be able to book.