Close to Buying into GVC Does my Logic Add Up?

[Drewski77]

My wife and I are getting close to buying into the DVC through a GVC Resale, but as I have always been hesitant to purchase a "time share" I want to see if my logic/numbers make sense to the experts of DVC here. I'm new to this so any feedback would be great!

Currently:

• Wife and I go to the Grand California once a year for 6-7 nights in a regular room that costs about $500 a night with tax. Total Cost: $3,000-$3,500 a year.

Potential Purchase:

• 160 Points for around $20,000 with $800 a year currently in maintenance costs.

After Purchase:

• Will use the 160 points for 7 night stay in a Studio Villa each September which costs 129 points, bank the remaining points for a 6 night stay in a 1 bedroom the following year, then back to Studio. Most times it will just be my wife and I.

Financials:

• We would purchase the 160 point contract with $20,000 in cash that is earning virtually no interest and I won't be investing in an alternative with these funds, it is idle cash.
• 
  
• I see it roughly taking 9-10 years to "earn" back our initial $20,000 through only paying the annual maintence fees vs $3,000-$3,500 (plus) per year paying cash for a room.
• 
  
• After the 9-10 years we will continue to have much cheaper vacations, and while our points might not be worth $20,000 anymore certainly they will hold some value VS the annual $3,000-$3,500 which would continue without any underlying "equity" in DVC points.

Non-Financial:

• With the studio and one-bedroom Villa we would definitely be staying in better accommodations than our usual Grand California room which is smaller and has a basic courtyard view.
• 
  
• We LOVE the Grand and Disneyland, so barring any unforeseen circumstances we will be returning every year regardless of owning DVC points, but I am excited by the prospect of being an actual owner of points at the Grand.

Conclusions:

I think it does make sense to buy into the Grand on the resale market for my wife and I, but again, I haven't been looking at this very long.

Please let me know your thoughts, and critique my logic if you see glaring holes. Thanks for any input you have, very much appreciated and I'll let everyone know what we end up doing.

 

[chalee94]

will you typically be booking 10-11 months out?

 

[Drewski77]

Yes, usually 10-11 months out. From what I understand if you try to reserve 7 months or earlier it gets difficult to secure a reservation.

 

[Minniesgal]

In my opinion a studio is not a "better room " than a regular hotel room. as it comes with housekeeping i think the regular room trumps the studio however, i agree a 1 bedroom is much nicer than a regular room.

 

[suebeelin]

Go for it. That was our financual analysis after staying at boardwalk for cash in 2010. We paid $400/night in early November.

We decided we had the cash doing nothing, plus our $1200 yearly maint fee meant staying in a 1bd for 7-9 days/yr with a full kitchen washer and dryer. Our break even was 8 yrs assuming we stayed every year at $400/night for 7 nights.

Our BWV has increased in price. We could currently sell at a profit. That means we only paid maintenance fees, assuming we decided to sell today. We have gone on 3 trips this far (with one trip where the timeshare basically paid for itself-- we invited friends and family for a total of almost 40 hotel room days --16k worth of hotel room days-- basically we rented 12 rooms at 2-5 days per room. Was awesome).

Five more trips and we break even. That's assuming we never resell our dvc property.

Gcv is notoriously hard to get. I think they only have 46 rooms. You definitely need the 11mo advantage for that resort (thus the premium on the resale market),

Good luck!!

 

[DVC Doctor]

I would definitely buy there and book at exactly the 11 month mark.

The resale value of VGC will probably hold or even increase in value over the next 10-20 years, so you are basically parking money for the purchase as more often than not, you will be able to resell for break-even or profit.

Once you figure the annual dues, you are saving about $2,700 per year vs paying cash.

So after 5 years, if you sell for exactly the same price you bought, you would save about $13,500

As crazy as this may sound, I would even suggest buying a larger contract so you can book a 1 bedroom every year (you will get spoiled by this once you try it) and in YOUR situation, you are really just parking money (i.e. the purchase) and paying annual dues.

This is a no-brainer buy situation.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I agree that it sounds like it makes sense for your situation. And unless something changes drastically with either Disney or DVC I think you may find the value has not diminished on the VGC points.

In my opinion a studio is not a "better room " than a regular hotel room. as it comes with housekeeping i think the regular room trumps the studio however, i agree a 1 bedroom is much nicer than a regular room.

The housekeeping is about the only point for hotel rooms. While I too love GC the rooms are quite "cozy". I like VGC better. And the 1 bedrooms are wonderful there.

 

[Drewski77]

Thanks for the feedback so far, glad to see I'm not way far off base.

Hard to find listings for GVC, guess that's why the points are keeping their value!

 

[sechelt]

The only suggestion I have is to break up the points into smaller contracts. If you should ever need to sell, heaven forbid, the smaller contracts will move faster and it gives you the option of selling just some of the points. With one contract, it's all or nothing.

 

[DVC Doctor]

The only suggestion I have is to break up the points into smaller contracts. If you should ever need to sell, heaven forbid, the smaller contracts will move faster and it gives you the option of selling just some of the points. With one contract, it's all or nothing.

While this is generally good advice, this mainly applies to direct purchases as it is hard to find the same resort, same use year, perfect amount of points in each contract, and then the perfect price with resale purchases, especially VGC (one of the hardest to find resales).

The original post was looking into 180 points and that in of itself is not significant to worry about breaking up into smaller pieces.

 

[disneynutz]

You are committing to a long term relationship with DVC and IMO there is the rub. DVC for what ever reason doesn't seem to treat their owners as well as they could, they call it a club but it really isn't. Website issues, booking issues, long phone hold times, a chat feature that only works for some topics, account issues, room refurbishments that IMO are less in design and quality than the original. There are also rule and policy changes that DVC decides to make as they see fit like the resale booking restrictions.

Often we get more info from posters here on the DIS than we do from Disney/DVC.

As owners we tend to roll with the punches and just put up with it. Voicing your objections usually is answered with a "thank you for letting us know, we will reach out to our business partner and follow up, have a magical day".

Bill

 

[DVC Doctor]

Often we get more info from posters here on the DIS than we do from Disney/DVC.

As owners we tend to roll with the punches and just put up with it. Voicing your objections usually is answered with a "thank you for letting us know, we will reach out to our business partner and follow up, have a magical day".

So true.

This post reminds me of this clip

 

[Drewski77]

You are committing to a long term relationship with DVC and IMO there is the rub. DVC for what ever reason doesn't seem to treat their owners as well as they could, they call it a club but it really isn't. Website issues, booking issues, long phone hold times, a chat feature that only works for some topics, account issues, room refurbishments that IMO are less in design and quality than the original. There are also rule and policy changes that DVC decides to make as they see fit like the resale booking restrictions.

Often we get more info from posters here on the DIS than we do from Disney/DVC.

As owners we tend to roll with the punches and just put up with it. Voicing your objections usually is answered with a "thank you for letting us know, we will reach out to our business partner and follow up, have a magical day".

Bill

Thanks for the input Bill. For you do the positives still outweigh the negatives of DVC Membership?

I see this potential purchase as a way to stay at the Grand California every year with a high upfront cost but lower over time. I would agree that this site and experienced posters like yourself offer much more information than anywhere else, thanks.

 

[DVC Doctor]

For you do the positives still outweigh the negatives of DVC Membership?

Yes, see my answer Below

I would definitely buy there and book at exactly the 11 month mark.

This is a no-brainer buy situation.

Yes, see my answer Above

 

[miTnosnhoJ]

Your logic makes sense. When I looked at it, I could never make the numbers work because I can always stay off site for less money. If I don't join, we don't have to come every year, might go somewhere else, etc. etc.

So for me, the question became like joining a country club. When you join a country club, you are not buying "cost savings for playing golf". You are buying access to a course you enjoy (and hopefully people you enjoy) and the opportunity to spend even more money on cart fees, lessons, clothing, dining minimums, assessments, etc. Playing a public course will always be cheaper.

You are not really buying "savings" at DVC. You are buying the opportunity to spend even more money even more frequently on park tickets, travel, dining, etc. In our case, our answer was "Yes, this is a club that is worth joining for us. We will love it. We can afford it."

So far, so good.