Buy More DVC Points or buy Real Estate

[pwwhitehead]

Could I please have advice on the following topic.

I love America and Florida in particular.I have a yearly allocation of 225 points.I was wondering what would be the best option to reside in Florida in the winter to avoid the cold.

Would it be a better option to buy real estate in the Florida area.Therefore allowing me to use my points to visit other location the the States.Are there any problems to buying and residing out there.

Or would it be a better and cheaper option to increase my points allocation allowing longer stays.

 

[vernon]

I've done both so I think I'm in a good position to answer LOL. It really depends on HOW committed you are to spending time in the states. For me, my longterm plan was , on retirement, to spend at least 3-5 months a year in Florida and the rest in Europe. Because of this I deemed that buying a house ( even though I was already a DVC owner) was the best plan for me. IMHO if you're plans are to spend more than 2 months a year in Florida then a house is likely to be the better choice. For less than 3 weeks a year then DVC is probably better. Obviously finance does come into this as well. With DVC you are reasonably limited in what your future financial commitments are, with a house they are potentially a lot higher. Buying a house is a pretty major outlay and needs A LOT of looking into, but there are some real bargains about currently.


I think I've got a pretty long old email I sent someone who asked this question before lurking about at home. Email me if you'd like a copy.