Buy into DVC or rent?

[DanielJoseph]

We are trying out DVC by first renting. The rental seems to be a good deal. Anyone have opinions on renting every year vs. buying? Obviously the sense of ownership is a huge plus...but the lack of maintenance fees when renting is an argument the other way. We LOVE Disney, and plan on coming to WDW often as our grand kids grow. We are in our late 40s...is it too late to make DVC ownership worthwhile?

Thanks! Dan

 

[chalee94]

if you plan on coming to wdw every year (and aren't worried about getting burned out), then it's cheaper to buy.

if you don't want the commitment and/or can't afford the upfront payment, then renting is still a reasonable choice.

but IMO - if you buy in and use the contract for 20 years or so and then sell it - you will most likely pay less over time than if you just rent.

 

[gojoe]

We bought in 5 years ago, re-sale and I'm 50. I looked at all the numbers. It was going to take us about 7 years to recoup our investment. For the most part is was break even over what we were spending on our Disney vacation. Here's the thing we where staying at Pop or All Stars or a moderate ever other year. Now where at Boardwalk. There are some member perks but they are fewer and fewer every year.
I'm glad we did it then. Now we are down to one income and that has been cut by 25%. We can still afford to take a vacation that I would not otherwise be taking.

 

[Corwin]

Our first encounter with DVC was also via renting, which we did for our vacation last month. The whole rental procedure went flawlessly, and I can't say enough about how helpful and accommodating the member was we rented from. That being said, you are still depending on someone else to make and control your reservation, and if you have to cancel, you are likely out of luck.

I personally like being in control, so the thought of having my own points as opposed to depending on others was attractive to me.

In addition, I think there is a definite monetary advantage of buying over renting, assuming that the market rate for renting rises over time (as you would expect).

On the other hand, when you buy, you are locked in to using your points, year after year, whereas with renting, you have no long-term commitment.

Personally, when I crunched all the numbers, I decided that while there is indeed some cost-savings to be realized by buying into DVC, one of the biggest benefits to owning is simply giving yourself an "excuse" to go to WDW on a regular basis--which is fine with me.

 

[TisBit]

The only advantage to renting is the ability to not go for a couple of years if you wanted to, etc. I consider it like renting a house or buying a house, you are losing any type of investment and are just seeing the money go away. When you rent, you are paying for that persons membership fees as well as the up front costs, in the end they will break even or usually come out ahead by renting you their points.

Disadvantages to renting have already been mentioned. Even if you buy in and know that your membership will last longer than you might want to use it or can use it, it is something that your grandkids might enjoy with their great grandkids, etc.

 

[robertdangelo]

Many of the resales end in 2042. There are good deals to be had.($20-$30 less per point than Disney) You can become a member with a small contract... with banking/borrowing, you can go every 2 or three years. You could purchase a 50-100 point contract, based on your needs.

We bought BCV in 2008(runs through 2042) and added on at BLT in 2009.(ends in 2060) We're in our 40's... our daughter will inherite it when we pass on.

 

[DanielJoseph]

Well, it seems to be unanimous! Thanks for the excellent advice from all of you! Will let you know if we take the plunge.

Dan