Buying a vacation home in Florida instead of DVC

[disneyofcourse]

The more I read about DVC the less I want to buy into it. This is not meant to offend current owners. DVC just doesn't seem to be worth it for me with increasing price for maintenance on each point. Having to book vacations so far in advance, etc etc. I was thinking of buying a condo unit in the area near Disney so that our family could use it whenever and we could go down for long weekends. What are some areas or zip codes that I should be looking in for decently safe areas? Maybe within 30 minutes - 1 hour from Disney. I personally have always want to live in a high rise but don;t know if those are really available in/around that area. I know it would be more expensive with insurance and taxes but It would be something we would have constant use of and I would own it.

I would love to hear from people who live around the Disney area and your thoughts on areas. I'm looking at Realtor . com right now at $19000-$30k properties (condos) and wondering if that's really what they sell for since In some cities I could have maybe afforded a parking spot with that money. There's one home listed at 89k mls S4673622 that looks pretty good. I understand loans are very difficult to get in Florida now so that is a concern.

 

[Happiest mommy]

We had the same idea, when we were there in May we went to look at some properties not condos but homes the prices were really low, but since we own a home already getting an additional mortgage was going to be harder since it would techinically be an investment property and would have to give a HUGE down payment and have 6 months worth of mortgage on the side available.
We are currently selling our house (its off the market till the holidays) but we still really want to do this a friend of our just bought a BEAUTIFUL house in Cape Canaveral(sp) for $150 4bd/2b inground swimming pool/lanai(sp) they are so happy they planned it a year ago saved alot and worked hard and made it happen Good luck.

 

[MrsPete]

Before you decide to buy a house (with all its upkeep and maintenance costs), do look into timeshares other than DVC.

Like you, I am underwhelmed with DVC. It's expensive to buy and offers a narrow range of vacation choices. If you look into Marriott or Hilton (possibly others as well), you'll find that they are considerably cheaper to buy -- especially if you look at the re-sale market -- and they offer more versitility.

I suggest that you read the book Timeshares for Dummies, which was written by a former timeshare salesperson. She isn't loyal to any particular company, so she explains the value in owning a week vs. owning points. She explains the costs that're glossed over by the people who are trying to sell you something. She explains that it's vital to buy a prime-time unit that'll trade well.

My personal opinion: The best deal is a Marriott two-bedroom lockout unit bought on the resale market. You can get this for much less than the cheapest condo, and you can either use it as a two-bedroom for one week . . . or you can split it into two weeks in a one-bedroom. And, unlike DVC, it doesn't expire. It's yours, even to deed to your children. It's really worth looking into before you decide to buy.

 

[jmpellet]

I had thought about this as well but decided it probably was not a good idea. The condos you see in that range probably have a ton of foreclosures and they are not collecting the HOA fees and they will go sky high in the near future! I also worry about maintenance being so far away. We just bought a really cheap timeshare for less than $150 (not in Orlando!) that will easily trade there.

 

[Kay1]

Insurance and taxes are costly in Florida. There are so many excellent rentals in the area that offer a hassle-free experience, I wouldn't consider anything else.

 

[gracie1]

Just remember condos come with HOA fees each month, and you really should have insurance incase you cause damage to other units (leaks, toilet seals, etc.) I work for a condo, not in florida but when you look at what it could cost with all the additional things, DVC could be cheaper

 

[chalee94]

DVC just doesn't seem to be worth it for me with increasing price for maintenance on each point.

no matter what real estate you buy, you risk property taxes, HOA fees and maintenance fees of whatever sort going up...if you are trying to do it yourself and have little experience in that area, you risk getting way in over your head.

but i agree that DVC is a decent deal only when compared with onsite prices at wdw - there are better options available more cheaply... i also would agree with trying out a marriott or hilton timeshare before trying to do it all yourself...

 

[amyy]

A friend of mine just bought a second home in Florida (for under $100,000) but it is a few hours from Disney. The don't have a pool, aren't on the beach etc but for a 2nd home they are happy. When they aren't down there they hope to rent it out. Someday they might retire there. I love looking at realtor.com too.

Other friends have a condo (2 bedroom) in Vero beach and they pay around $400 a month in condo fees. Plus electric etc.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

I own a condo on the lake 4 hours from our "everyday" house. I would not trade it for a timeshare ever!

But here are some things to think about. How often will you actually use it? In our case how often we actully go is WAY LESS than we would LIKE to go!!!! We go about once every other month during cold season and as often as possible during boating season. Even with being there that often we sometimes feel like all we do is pay the bills for our place! I would not be able to write those checks if we were only there a couple times a year!

Remember there is a whole 'nother set of house hold bills on the condo even when you are not there! We still have to heat and cool it, pay for water, cable, sewer, condo fees, maintenance man, internet wether we are using it or not. Things need to be replaced like the appliances and heat and air conditioning system. It has to be furnished and will need towels, sheets pots and pans ......and .....and ....and. There is literally always something!!!!

We are thrilled with our choice and hope it will be where we live while we build our retirement home but it is a really big financial commitment.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Something else to think about is hurricanes. If your home gets damaged, repairs would have to be made. Where as with DVC Disney would make the repairs.

 

[akcire]

You will want to speak with your tax accountant, but ours explained to us:

If we rent it out--even if we just rented it to friends in our local area--then our trips would be a tax deduction to check on our investment property

Now this does not mean your Disney tickets can be a write-off, but does mean all of your adult travel expenses, in addition to the cost of upkeep on the FL property. Essentially it would be the world's worst investment property--and always generate a loss. At the time it would have worked for us since we have no interest in Disney in Summer or other "high" seasons except Christmas.

We had thought to buy a townhouse, and let our friends use it for the cost of the monthly HOA. At the time we were in the Orlando area approximately 3 times a year. Since that time our life has changed, and we are no longer interested in purchasing in Florida: mostly due to family situation.

When we were looking we really liked the Davenport FL area. It was approximately 15 minutes from WDW and has a lot of homes that are owned by people from the British Isles. Since there are so many foreign owners--there are a couple of really good management companies operating in the area--we wanted to keep our ownership as easy as possible. As an added bonus there was a nice Publix in the area that carried a lot of European groceries.

 

[fall08CP]

This was recently discussed on the DisUnplugged podcast. I'd recommend listening to it. Here is the shortened discussion thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2576193

 

[dclfun]

We live literally 10 minutes from the Disney theme parks, yet I don't feel like I'm on vacation unless I'm staying on property. Obviously my mindset is different as I live here fulltime, but I'd not want to come down on vacation and stay in my own house for which I have responsibilities. There are lots of hidden expenses with home or condo ownership as has been mentioned and different tax rules for deductions for a vacation home. If you're looking for cost savings then I agree with those who say to look into an inexpensive timeshare that you can trade out to a WDW-area property.---Kathy

 

[dcldad]

Our families have been DVC members since 1994 and some of the happiest memories we have as children have been created whilst staying at the DVC club. That being said, the cost and perks back then were a lot different than they are now. Costs are over $60 per point more than they were to begin with, and because initially DVC was not popular and they could not sell them they gave away free park passes for your party for the duration of your stay. These passes were worth their weight in gold and for the price of the initial investment, these tickets more than covered the originally investment. Indeed, the ticket giveaway almost banktrupt DVC. As someone who lives here in Orlando now, we rarely use the DVC.

As a Realtor myself, the flip side to purchasing a home as opposed to DVC is you are buying in a weakened market. Therefore you are buying and paying a low price, however dont be mistaken, prices are cheap, but they are not giving properties away. properties that are $19K-30K are this price for a reason. When we are talking about great value properties, we mean homes that sold in the boom for $500K are selling for $190k now. There are some aggressively priced homes and townhomes for around the $100k price range. It depends on location and your intention to rent it out to the tourist market as you will need to be in a short term rental area if this is the case. If so you can get brand new townhomes 20-25 min from Disney for $99,990 and single family pool homes for $139,990.

Another positive about investing in a property Vs. DVC is you actually OWN a property. DVC you will never ultimately own a property as its a leasehold which expires and if memory serves it is for 50 years. You are going to have maintenence costs on both sides and the rates for those depend upon the which property both in DVC you buy and also which community and type of property you buy in terms of buying a house/condo. To give you an example, Disney are actually building on property a community, minutes from Magic Kingdon on one of their former golf courses they retired, so this will be a golf course community. However, there is a premium for living on Disney land and that is from the info they have released to us Realtors home prices will start at over $1 million+.

For me, I live in a non short term community in a great area away from the tourist area of 192, however we live 15 min drive from my front door to Magic Kingdom and we have views of the Magic Kingdom fireworks every night. Living here as was mentioned before will never be the same as being on vacation, but for us its better.

I hope this helps

The more I read about DVC the less I want to buy into it. This is not meant to offend current owners. DVC just doesn't seem to be worth it for me with increasing price for maintenance on each point. Having to book vacations so far in advance, etc etc. I was thinking of buying a condo unit in the area near Disney so that our family could use it whenever and we could go down for long weekends. What are some areas or zip codes that I should be looking in for decently safe areas? Maybe within 30 minutes - 1 hour from Disney. I personally have always want to live in a high rise but don;t know if those are really available in/around that area. I know it would be more expensive with insurance and taxes but It would be something we would have constant use of and I would own it.

I would love to hear from people who live around the Disney area and your thoughts on areas. I'm looking at Realtor . com right now at $19000-$30k properties (condos) and wondering if that's really what they sell for since In some cities I could have maybe afforded a parking spot with that money. There's one home listed at 89k mls S4673622 that looks pretty good. I understand loans are very difficult to get in Florida now so that is a concern.

 

[rubato]

We have been seriously looking for a 2nd home in Florida as well. We are hoping to get a house with a pool. Yes, we know all the costs involved. We will likely rent it out as a vacation rental when not there. And, we can plan our vacations in off times, so as not to interfere with the house's money making potential. We have a rental house now and just have a property manager handle everything. This can be done locally or long distance. Our rental pays for itself, and, in the end, we'll have something tangible.

 

[PrincessBelle09]

Obviously, buying property is a much better investment than DVC or any other timeshare. I think you're on the right track by considering by considering a vacation home purchase. You could also rent out the condo when not in use to make some extra cash and it can help pay for itself.

 

[rvchat]

I had thought about this as well but decided it probably was not a good idea. The condos you see in that range probably have a ton of foreclosures and they are not collecting the HOA fees and they will go sky high in the near future! I also worry about maintenance being so far away. We just bought a really cheap timeshare for less than $150 (not in Orlando!) that will easily trade there.

did you really? wow. care to share? i can't find any less than $500!

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Obviously, buying property is a much better investment than DVC or any other timeshare. I think you're on the right track by considering by considering a vacation home purchase. You could also rent out the condo when not in use to make some extra cash and it can help pay for itself.

If we have learned anything over the last few years, it should be that real estate CAN be a good investment but is not guaranteed to be one. Timeshares, one the other hand, are not an investment at all, but a way of prepaying for future vacations.

We own a vacation home in Maui and also DVC. Both are very different vacation experiences, but both work for us. -- Suzanne

 

[SPBendersky]

I own DVC deed for 275 points and a Towne Home in Stuart County. I purchased DVC for the travel benefits for distant destinations. We have benn all over the Carribean, and Mexico using it and it has been great. I bought the Towne home with the intent of using it to fish in Florida with friends and Family. After a few years people cant make the same plans for timing and you dont us it as much. Now I have it rented and guess what. I have Maintenance fees. And better yet have to fix stuff when it breaks. I bought it new in 04 and got it cheap but still a hassel. Much easier to rent a place for a week at a shot where ever I decide to fis. I also now have the freedom to change where I want to go. The same place gets old for me. The DVC can be booked if you use it properly, if you are short notice rent the points and use the money else where. Last year I rented the points and booked a full week with family on a Princess cruise on West Coast of Mexico. No Brainer for me. Hope it helps.

 

[LIFERBABE]

We were seriously considering a florida vacation home prior to our DVC purchase. We rented homes 2 years in a row and had our downpayment ready. I never stayed onsite at WDW and really did not think we were missing out on anything, having our own home, pool, community etc.

We decided to stay onsite for 5 nights and made our decision to purchase DVC instead of a vacation home.

No matter what route you choose, you will have maintenance fees. The more you skimp on maintenance, the more of the work you have to do yourself while you are there. Vacation rentals are highly competitive in Orlando. I spoke with our owner and she pretty much had a full time job renting their 2 homes. She was a SAHM. Management companies can be risky. Many keep a large portion of the rental fees they generate and overcharge for repairs and services. Some are fly by night or just inept.

If you keep your property in pristine condition, you can maybe get $100 a night rental fee. My research showed I would have to rent 36 weeks a year to break even on the mortgage payments. That's alot of weeks, especially if we want to stay over Christmas break which are prime weeks.
At 36 weeks, that still leaves 3 months expenses for us to cover oop. I estimated our mortgage and expenses to be around 2k a month for a Florida vacation home.

In the end, I decided I had enough in my everyday life to take care of, and if I was going to invest that kind of money, I did not want to worry about keeping my house marketable, and replacing items, and painting, lawncare etc while on vacation. It's hard/costly enough to keep up with those things at home. DVC has maintenance, but it is an economy of scale. I would spend half my vacation at Target, Walmart and Home Depot.

So we chose DVC, I consider it my vacation home, I host family get-togethers and reunions and I have room for my very large family. My guests have access to transportation, ME, Dining and entertainment. I visit 5 times a year on average, because it is easy and relaxing for me to do so. I feel for us DVC was the right decision, it takes care of me, instead of me having to take care of it.

My boys are getting to be teens and I would not be comfortable allowing them to drive in such a congested tourist area, for many years to come. With DVC as our home, they can move around the resort freely, go to movies, recreation, waterparks etc that we would have to take them to if we had our own home offsite.