Yes but you can also buy extended contracts on the resale market. You will get the same number of years as the extended contracts from Disney but for a lower price.
Maybe a better example would have been a used car from the dealership vs the same used car from a used car lot at a much higher price.By definition they aren't the same thing when you say 'other than.' Used cars are the same as new cars in that they will get you from point A to point B the same way, but without the frou-frou options that the new car dealer may give you (that may be totally unrequired), plus the fact that the used car already has mileage on it (or in our case less years until the contract expires).I see the pros and cons of both sides, and this debate will go on to the end of time...
Glenndon
One of my main qualifications is that we're talking resorts that are routinely available on the open market at around half the price and that we're talking a full sized contract. So VGC or VGF would not be applicable to the discussion. They're simply more expensive and one has to decide whether to buy them or not. Buying SSR, etc retail vs resale is only different in the context of the restrictions which do not remove anything of value IMO, it's basically logic vs emotion. Actually DVC did knowledgeable members a service by adding the restrictions because it drove prices down somewhat. The issue isn't whether there will be retail vs resale buyers but rather the reasonableness of doing so. There are always buyers who aren't fully informed and make emotional decisions. I have a friend who I sent on a free trip a few years ago (non DVC timeshare) but I didn't warn him off on the timeshare sales. He bought retail and even though I made sure he was aware he could get the same points for a few hundred $$$ vs the 5 digits he paid, he didn't cancel and kept it. I felt I'd done all I could do because it was his decision to make. If buying DVC retail is the worst financial decision any of us make, we're in pretty good shape but the fact remains it's a poor decision in the situation I qualified. Also, the idea that $5-10K difference up front doesn't move the needle long term is simply wrong, IMO.
Yes, thanks, freudian slip.
If you can plan at least 7 months out and afford it, DVC is likely a good choice for you given your visit history. However, getting a contract through for a May trip is iffy at best. Also, you would not want to buy more points that you need long term just for a single larger trip this December. VB has MUCH higher fees so buying there is not reasonable mostly for WDW usage, same for HH. SSR is likely to be your best value ifyou decide to buy. If you can afford to go twice a year staying moderate and deluxe, I'd be surprised if you can scrape enough together to buy in for resale at say SSR. I would not recommend financing but there are a couple of companies that will do so plus you might check with your bank or CU.
Don't assume one points system works the same as another. I can't speak to Hyatt very well other than that when we looked at it a few years ago I seem to recall the banking/borrowing of Hyatt was fairly limited. Maybe there's someone here who owns both and can contrast them better for you. VB is cheap for 2 main reasons, it's not at a park and it has VERY high maint fees. You would pay more in 5 years for VB than for SSR or OKW, the same principles hold for HH but it'd take a little longer.
While I agree that maint fees are likely to be the largest long term cost AND risk for most people, I'm not sure it's really as different as many think. It's certainly not as simple as taking the remaining RTU and dividing into the up front costs. You've really got to assume you took the up front costs and invested it. Even if you want to depreciate the up front amount using a portion plus the maint fees you would have paid if one owned for cash vacations, I'd say money market rates for half and long term investment rates for the other half are the worst case scenario. Over the life of a contract the numbers (up front "costs" and cumulative many fees) will not be nearly as different as one might think and for a property like VGF or BLT or even SSR (lower dues), the true cost up front will likely be larger than the fees over the life of the RTU depending on your assumptions of course.
One of the biggest DVC resale brokers (The Timeshare Store) is a board sponsor. Scroll up to the top of this page and you will see a row of "Sponsored Links" for TTS (DVC-Resales.com) including one that takes you straight to their current listings (DVC Resale Listings).
