Considering Becoming a Member

[smil8620]

Hello Everyone,
I just returned yesterday from a 12 day vacation to WDW with my boyfriend and his family. During our trip we went to the informatin session about becoming a DVC member at Saratoga Springs. My boyfriend and I are very interested in becoming members since it sounds like an excellent way to save money on future vacations and allow us the opportunity to do the kind of travelling we are both hoping to do in the future. We loved our time at Disney and would love to return in the future just the 2 of us and with a future family, but we're also looking at using the membership to travel literally around the world using the world passport and concierge collections.

We are however, both very young (I'm 23 and he's 22) and and not exactly swimming in money (I just graduated university and he still has one year left). We're more than likely looking to purchase only 160 points for right now just 'cause that's probably the max we can afford at this point. Right now Disney is offering an incentive where if we purchase within 3 days of our tour (which is Tuesday) we receive an entire year's worth of points while only having to pay one month's worth of dues. We are however somewhat hesitant about making such a large investment at such a young age, especially so quickly. My aunt has had a horrible experience with a timeshare in Florida, and although I know that DVC is not a traditional timeshare in any way I want to make an informed, rational decision since we don't have a lot of money to 'throw away'.

So I guess what I'm wondering is would you recommend that a young couple invest in something like this? Is there anything that you know now that you wish you had have known before you became a DVC member? It seems like a lot of ppl on this board love the benefits and vacations at Disney properties, but has anyone had any experiences using the other collections? Have they been positive/negative? And also, are there any hidden fees or costs associated with the membership? We'll be financing over 10 years and we're aware of the annual dues and the fact that they will increase each year, but are there hidden costs we should be aware of? I want to know exactly how much this is going to cost us - the bottom line. Finally, has anyone had any experience selling their contract? If something happens 5 years down the line, how easy will it be for us to get out?

In general, this is a pretty open ended question. I'm just looking for as much unbiased information about the membership as I can find in the next 2 days to help us make the best decision we can. So ANY information, recommendations, or suggestions that you have from your experiences or things you've learned would be much appreciated!!!

Thank you all in advance!!

 

[Scraper]

I wish I would have invested when I was younger. We purchased 175 points and they gave us one years worth like your offer. We try and bank about 80 points a year. We were able to stay 3 times on our points and still bank 80. however we are not locked into when we vacation and stay the weekends at value or moderate resorts. It would be hard to say if it would be a good investment for you. Your income,and your vacationing habits would come into play. Good Luck

 

[Steamboat Bill]

I would only advise doing this if you have ZERO debt or LOW interest loan payments.

In other words, if you have any credit card debt or school loans, I would probably wait. A house and car do not count as you NEED both.

You can always RENT points on this board for $10-$11 per point for a year or two just to get the feel.

Here is the math:

If you buy: $4 per point maintenance + $? (yearly financing costs divided by points) = $ ?? price per point it will cost you.

If this number is LESS than $12, then buying makes sense, if it higher, I would advise renting.

The BEST valus of DVC is using it at DVC resorts, I find the hotel, cruise, II trades, are not worth the points.

My above math also does not consider that your purchase MAY INCREASE in value in 5 years and you could sell for a profit as many members who bought in 2001 for less than $75 per point. This is a great bonus of DVC TS vs something your mother bought.

Selling is surprisingly easy and fast and you would lose about 15% if you sold in a year or two. I think in 5 years, you could sell for what you bought it for.

*** Please post your financing terms from DVC ***
This is purchase price, interest rate, term of loan, etc. Also post your anticipated monthly payments.

 

[Steamboat Bill]

At the risk or being nosy: Are you married?

If not...I would NOT reccomend a joint purchase. If you are engaged...put this on your gift registry asn the only gift you want and have people contribute cash towards your DVC purchase. Now that would be a great wedding present.

 

[rinkwide]

...So I guess what I'm wondering is would you recommend that a young couple invest in something like this? Is there anything that you know now that you wish you had have known before you became a DVC member? It seems like a lot of ppl on this board love the benefits and vacations at Disney properties, but has anyone had any experiences using the other collections? Have they been positive/negative? And also, are there any hidden fees or costs associated with the membership? We'll be financing over 10 years and we're aware of the annual dues and the fact that they will increase each year, but are there hidden costs we should be aware of? I want to know exactly how much this is going to cost us - the bottom line. Finally, has anyone had any experience selling their contract? If something happens 5 years down the line, how easy will it be for us to get out?...

How about a nice Spider instead?

 

[Plutofan]

The best value for DVC is staying at the DVC resorts especially if you avoid Friday and Saturday nights which are usually twice as many points as the other nights. Based upon my experience you do not get a good value going outside of the DVC resorts. When we planed out our Disney cruise were we only getting a value of around $7 per point versus cash. If you add up your up front cost + dues + financing costs (or lost income on your initial investment) it will probably be greater than $7 per point. Personally if you can not get a low interest rate loan or pay cash then I would wait especially since there are going to be some new DVC resorts announced in the next few years.

 

[smil8620]

The purchase price for 160 points is $16,160 ($101/pt). We're looking at putting the minimum 10% down ($1,616) meaning that $14,544 would be financed over 10 years at 10.75%/yr. Therefore anticipated monthly payments are $198.29 plus yearly dues of $636.93 plus the one time closing cost of approx. $200.

On a side note, our sales rep quoted us that annual dues normally increase by about 2-3% per year. Is this an accurate figure based on past experiences?

 

[las3888]

I think I have seen dues go down a few times, but in general, dues have not fluctuated much.

What we did, and while we were no spring chickens, just wary about investing so much, we bought a resale contract for I think 100 points through The Timeshare Store (see link on this board). There are other resellers out there as well (search on internet).

We just really didn't want to commit to 150 points when we figured we would be staying in a studio alot until our DS came along .

It was a great way to get our feet wet, but we paid cash. I am not sure what the various ways of financing are through resellers.

Anyways, I thought I would throw that out there as an option...the price would obviously be lower (you are buying less points), and you can ALWAYS add on once you are a DVC owner. You can buy even less points if you want...but the contracts are a little harder to find.
Good luck!

 

[Steamboat Bill]

You would be spending $3,013 per year for 160 points.

That is $18.83 per point.

You can RENT points for $10-$12 per point = $1,760 @$11pp.

Thus, you could save $1,253 per year buy NOT buying...

Here are the rental posts:

http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29

I wish I could get 10.75% interest like Disney....

 

[Scraper]

WOW 10.75% is high. Would there be some other way for you to get financing. I just could not go with a rate that high.

 

[smil8620]

Thanks for all your input! My boyfriend and I agree with you all that now is not the right time for us to buy a membership but we will keep it in mind for the years to come!! Thanks for all your responses!

 

[toesmom]

I wouldn't purchase this jointly unless you are married. It is a huge investment, which you obviously could sell if you needed to, but it's like buying a home together in my opinion.

Who knows where you will be in 4-5 years... 22 is young, a lot of things change between 20 and 30 years old.

If you did decide, make sure you document how you would handle DVC should you separate in the future.

 

[bwvBound]

Offered gently but seriously ... I'd suggest buying a home (house or condo) comes before buying vacation timeshare.

 

[minniemomof3]

Thanks for all your input! My boyfriend and I agree with you all that now is not the right time for us to buy a membership but we will keep it in mind for the years to come!! Thanks for all your responses!

I noticed by your signature that you are from Canada. One thing I wanted to mention was that the Canadian dollar is very strong right now, which makes DVC a lot more affordable to Canadians. We decided to purchase DVC for this reason, we decided to go the resale route, this allowed us to purchase a small contract. Strong dollar, small contract worked for us! Now we just have to pass ROFR.

 

[Steamboat Bill]

Wow..this has been an amazing post.

A new user posts a question an buying DVC and gets 14 replys in 4 hours.

In addition, she may have saved thousands of $ by reading these answers and deciding to postpone her DVC purchase.

Of course, she may also loose out on the capital appreciation and when DVC is $150 per point in a few years, she will kick herself for listening to us....

 

[Steamboat Bill]

I anyone else surprised by the 10.75% interest rate?

 

[jerry557]

I anyone else surprised by the 10.75% interest rate?

Not really...
Interest rates are going up and up right now in Florida. You would be extremely lucky to get a mortgage in Florida under 7%. I have a buddy who works with mortgage loans and he's starting to see more and more above 8%. And car loans have also started to go up. My brother couldn't get a car loan under 9% and his credit isn't that bad.

The economy appears to be heading into a recession right now. At the very least, real estate is slowing down. So interest rates across the board are going to go up over the next few years.

 

[Entropy]

Don't do it.
It sounds like fun but in your situation your money would be better spent elsewhere.
Buy a house. For most people, a home is the best way to grow wealth and establish a solid credit rating.
Put your disposable income into whatever the Canadian equivalent of a 401-K is. A little money in there now will grow big-time through the magic of compound interest.
Visit WDW and stay in the budget resorts. You'll save a bunch, your kids won't know the difference and you'll still have a great time. When the kids get a little older, reconsider the DVC purchase when you have some liquid assets saved.