Considering Buyin into DVC and am looking for some information.

[crisi]

I was considering "renting" out some of the points annually to try to cover some or all of the maintenance fees.

Many of our family trips will be to WDW, but we would like the flexibility to use those points at other locations as well. From what was presented, DVC has several other destinations that would suit our needs, at reasonable point values. So I'm a little confused by those who say not to BUY in if you are going to use them at other locations occasionally, or even frequently for that matter.

I do the value of the limited ownership time period, from the perspective of keeping the place up.

Thanks so far, please keep the info coming though.

Britt

The bottom line here is that if you think using your points for these options are a good deal, its a good deal. There are a few things you should be aware of.

There are cheaper timeshares available that trade as well or better than DVC. DVC is really difficult to trade into however. Several DISers have two timeshares, DVC for their Disney trips and a different timeshare for their trades.

Disney point options other than DVC are renegotiated each year. Point values change (and usually go up). So if you are buying to cruise, this may not be the best option.

On renting to cover dues....my own calcuations are that at a $10 a point rental rate and current buy in costs + dues, you can't make money after taxes on renting your points - people purchasing now to rent are barely covering their costs on the points they are renting, much less making enough to cover dues on personal use points. But that has assumptions around $10 a point and the time value of money. If you do try this, buy 150 points as your first contract and buy an additional contract for your rentals, that way you can sell one contract if you decide the rental business isn't for you.

 

[texdisneygal]

On renting to cover dues....my own calcuations are that at a $10 a point rental rate and current buy in costs + dues, you can't make money after taxes on renting your points - people purchasing now to rent are barely covering their costs on the points they are renting, much less making enough to cover dues on personal use points. But that has assumptions around $10 a point and the time value of money. If you do try this, buy 150 points as your first contract and buy an additional contract for your rentals, that way you can sell one contract if you decide the rental business isn't for you.

We also came up with approx. $10-11 per point being the "actual" cost per point per year in light of the time value of money, lost interest, etc.

Using this number, the reason that many of the exchanges are not a "good value" with the points is that for many of them you can pay cash for the reservation for less money than the cost of using your points.

 

[Cruelladeville]

3) How hard is it to sell DVC points?

I have sold two contracts, and neither one took longer than a month to sell and I had the money in my hands.

5) Does the fact that they "Expire" bother anyone? Sounds kinda like a scam.

It's called "right to use", and it's like paying for your vacation in advance.

6) When "Renting" points can you rent from several people for your trip, or do you have to rent them all from a single person?

You can rent to as many people as you want, as long as you are not transferring points. If you transfer points into or out of your account, you can only do that once per year. It's easy to rent. Once you have done it a time or two, people find you. I haven't advertised for several years, but people find me because other members refer them to me. The money works well to give you airfare to Florida, or pay your dues for the year.


8) What are the advantages of DVC over off-site timeshares?

.

Staying on-site is the main advantage. If you don't mind staying off-site, buy a resale of Marriott for about $6,000 or Mystic Dunes for about $5000, both of which are luxury resorts off-site that are near Disney. I own Marriott, which I use when I just want to enjoy the Florida sunshine. Both resorts are very near Disney, and you can get there in about 10 minutes, and both can be traded in II for other resorts around the US. I bought both my timeshares off the internet, from the TUG board, and from eBay. If you are not a saavy buyer from eBay, think carefully before doing this. My first time, I was scammed, and learned a valuable lesson to use a closing company, always. TTS above sells Marriott for a little above the price I mentioned, but they are completely safe.

 

[mbrittb00]

I'm still a little confused on the Use Year, and how it effects when you have to bank to get 100% and when you loose points, etc. Considering that we will typically be traveling in the September/October what would be the best use year(s) for us to have.

Another question. If you bank your points, can you still use them later in that use year, or do you have to wait until the following use year to use them?

 

[mbrittb00]

Are the Maintenance fees for all the DVC properties the same? Are all the ones on Orlando the same?

 

[Cruelladeville]

All dues are different, each resort has their own. To make it extra confusing, at Marriott, those with Premium weeks pay more dues than the rest of us do!! It's the same with DVC, each resort has different dues. It doesn't amount to much, unless you are planning to buy 500 pts. so I wouldn't worry about it. If a few dollars is a deal-breaker for you, then a timeshare isn't for you. My Marriott runs $840 per week, Mystic Dunes is $600 per week, it just depends upon the resort. DVC dues are based on pts. but cost about $4 per pt, so 150 pts runs about $600 per year, and 200 pts costs about $800 per year. When you are looking at TTS for timeshares, cost of dues is usually listed, and if the pts (or the week) is available for 2007, then you will usuallly have to reimburse the seller for 2007 dues.

 

[crisi]

I'm still a little confused on the Use Year, and how it effects when you have to bank to get 100% and when you loose points, etc. Considering that we will typically be traveling in the September/October what would be the best use year(s) for us to have.

Another question. If you bank your points, can you still use them later in that use year, or do you have to wait until the following use year to use them?

You don't want to be using your points late in your use year - which means that with September/October travel, August would be a good use year.

Banking is a final transaction. Once you bank your points you can't use them until your next use year. You really should understand banking and borrowing and use years WELL before you go into a point rental business. If you are renting points to pay for dues, you'll have multiple reservations in play at any given time, and that can complicate the whole thing a lot.

 

[mbrittb00]

. . . If a few dollars is a deal-breaker for you, then a timeshare isn't for you. . . .

A few dollars is not a deal-breaker, I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't run into something like one resort's MF being twice another's.

I have been looking at some to the timeshare selling sites that sell DVC, and found a curosity. It seems that the older properties (OKW, BWV, BCV, WLV) are NOT selling cheaper (and in many cases more expensive) than the SSR even though they have 12 less years until expiration.

Britt

 

[mbrittb00]

Still trying to gather info. Thanks all so far for the great information.

Many times we don't plan our WDW vacation until about 6-7 months in advance (typically going in Sept/Oct time frame). Typically we would be looking to get a 2BR, would there still typically be rooms available?

Also, one of the timeshare selling sites I found (one that list the points necessary to book a room), listed two different set of booking points, one for standard, and one for preferred. Can anyone tell me what the difference is?

Thanks,

 

[Deb & Bill]

Still trying to gather info. Thanks all so far for the great information.

Many times we don't plan our WDW vacation until about 6-7 months in advance (typically going in Sept/Oct time frame). Typically we would be looking to get a 2BR, would there still typically be rooms available?

Also, one of the timeshare selling sites I found (one that list the points necessary to book a room), listed two different set of booking points, one for standard, and one for preferred. Can anyone tell me what the difference is?

Thanks,

Only the BWV has two sets of points -standard (about 20% of the resort with the main drive as the view) and preferred (20% of these are BW view - a separate booking category and the other 60% are water/pool views). AKL will have a few different booking categories, but that information is still coming out. All other resorts only vary by the size of the villa or the season. If you can't book any sooner than 6-7 months out, home resort advantage would not be needed by you. But, you also won't get some of the more prized locations/room types/etc during the hot booking seasons (holidays, Food & Wine Festival, school breaks, cheap points time -early Dec).

 

[mikesmom]

A few dollars is not a deal-breaker, I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't run into something like one resort's MF being twice another's.

I have been looking at some to the timeshare selling sites that sell DVC, and found a curosity. It seems that the older properties (OKW, BWV, BCV, WLV) are NOT selling cheaper (and in many cases more expensive) than the SSR even though they have 12 less years until expiration.

Britt

Location, location, location. BWV and BCV are a walkin to Epcot and MGM. VWL is a quick boat ride to MK. They are all relatively small compared to the other resorts and tough to get a ressie much of the year without the 11 month owners advantage. OKW has HUGE rooms and relatively low point costs - it was built first and DVC didn't know they didn't have to give us that much for our money. You are probably finding that OKW is about the same - BWV,BCV and VWL could be the same price or higher. Prices go up where the market demand is high.

 

[LisaS]

You can find a chart of the dues per point at each resort here: http://personalpages.tds.net/~rb/DIS/DVC/DVCDuesHistory.htm The annual increases are also listed.

 

[Dean]

Back to the DVC vs. Other timeshares in Orlando question. The main advantages of DVC (other than the fact that it is Disney) are:

Staying on property (although Farifield does have Bonnet Creek with is onsite)
Early Entry to the parks.
Free Parking at the parks.
Minor discounts at various shops.
Disney Upkeep (they do have a reputation to uphold and will be getting them back).

What am I missing?

You're missing that some of these off property resorts are actually nicer in many ways than the DVC resorts, have larger units, often are much cheaper both up front and yearly, are more flexible in many ways other than number of days for a stay and the like.

I have been looking at some to the timeshare selling sites that sell DVC, and found a curosity. It seems that the older properties (OKW, BWV, BCV, WLV) are NOT selling cheaper (and in many cases more expensive) than the SSR even though they have 12 less years until expiration.

A couple of thoughts. First, don't be fooled by the listing price, it is often much different than the sale price. Currently DVD is controlling prices more than most times in the past by using ROFR. And the largest one that location is likely FAR more important currently than the expiration. I believe AKV will change that to a degree and it's announcement with a later expiration will drive prices down faster than if it had not been announced.

 

[ccigliano]

Believe it or not - some of the Marriott's in Aruba do expire. Mine is fee simple. I think the first ones had expiration with the option to extend and supposedly Marriott has every intention to extend it another 60 so they say.

 

[Dean]

Believe it or not - some of the Marriott's in Aruba do expire. Mine is fee simple. I think the first ones had expiration with the option to extend and supposedly Marriott has every intention to extend it another 60 so they say.

The way I understand it is that Aruban law makes them 60 year auto renew leases where the government would have to buy the resort if they didn't renew the lease. But given timeshares in general, the fact it's another country, and how quirky the Aruban laws are, I'd assume 60 years and no more. There is one timeshare that is deeded that I am aware of but it is not on the ocean.

 

[jgus]

With Marriott, the properties out of the country are long term lease. The US properties don't have an end.

 

[mbrittb00]

You're missing that some of these off property resorts are actually nicer in many ways than the DVC resorts, have larger units, often are much cheaper both up front and yearly, are more flexible in many ways other than number of days for a stay and the like.

I guess I had always assumed that DVC properties were at least comparable to the off-site properties. Also from looking at TTS (not DVC) it many of the timeshares listed have Fixed and Float weeks. I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to timeshares. I thought that most timeshares these days could be used at anytime during the year.

A couple of thoughts. First, don't be fooled by the listing price, it is often much different than the sale price. Currently DVD is controlling prices more than most times in the past by using ROFR. And the largest one that location is likely FAR more important currently than the expiration. I believe AKV will change that to a degree and it's announcement with a later expiration will drive prices down faster than if it had not been announced.

Ok so if the list price isn't the sale price, how do I determine the sale price. I know there will be closing cost that have to be paid, but what else?

I understand that DVC can exercise ROFR on sales they think are too cheap, but it can't hurt to try.

Do you believe that the AKV having a later end expiration will actually lower the resales of the existing contracts? What about the price directly from DVC? The guide we had at our DVC tour said that all the prices would be going up to $104 yesterday (Monday March 5th) with the introduction of AKV.

Thanks.

 

[mbrittb00]

I'm all most here. Just a couple of more.

If one year I end up not having enough points for the room I want, can I rent them from another member and use them myself or would that other member have to make the reservation and I would have to link it to my stay? Say for some reason I only have 240 points available but I need 250 for the stay I want. Can I just rent those additional 10 points?

Another question about use years. Since we typically travel in Sept/Oct, it was suggested that an August use year would be good. Is it typically good to look for a use year where the majority of your traveling will be during the first 6 months (i.e. before you have to decide to bank) ?

Back to the questions of non-DVC properties. The primary properties I have been able to find in Florida are Hilton Grand Vacations, Marriott Vacation Club, and Fairfield. Can anyone that uses one of these / has one of these, give me a little info on how they work. Are they points based systems as well? Can you bank and borrow like DVC? Are they typically fixed weeks? Cost comparison?

At this point it is likely that we will end up buying into DVC but I just want to make the most informed decision I can.

Thanks for everything.

Britt

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you are short points one year, you can borrow from the next year or try to find another member to transfer the points to you. You can't just "buy" the additional points. You can only get one transfer in or out each year. So that might make it tough to just get a couple of points. Hundreds of points? Yes. A few? No. Plus, technically, there is not supposed to be any compensation for point transfer according to the POS. Another member could make the reservation for the extra day or two for you and you would have to link those days. Or you could get a cash reservation from MS if it was available. Sometimes you can get a 25% discount on these, but not always.

 

[Dean]

I guess I had always assumed that DVC properties were at least comparable to the off-site properties. Also from looking at TTS (not DVC) it many of the timeshares listed have Fixed and Float weeks. I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to timeshares. I thought that most timeshares these days could be used at anytime during the year.

Timeshares come in all varieties with all types of pluses and minuses. Some are points, some are fixed, some are floating within a season. Given the variety of situations, it's hard to make a lot of general statements. There are certainly other resorts in the Orlando area and otherwise that if made part of DVC and moved on property that many would judge to be at least equal if not superior in many ways to any of the current DVC resorts. It really depends on what's important to you. Is it unit size, unit amenities, pool and other recreation amenities, theming, etc,

Ok so if the list price isn't the sale price, how do I determine the sale price. I know there will be closing cost that have to be paid, but what else?

For DVC ROFR is likely your best guide. For non DVC, all bets are off. I've had offers of 5% of the asking price accepted on more than one occasion. One can usually get a feel for a given timeshare but there is a lot of variability.

I understand that DVC can exercise ROFR on sales they think are too cheap, but it can't hurt to try.

That's true to a degree. When I bought my BWV contract I was clearly $4 per point below the ROFR price. Enough so that one of the resellers was concerned enough to call DVC and ask why. They really shouldn't have given them the info but they did. In my case it was something about a conflict of interest with a foreclosure but I never totally understood it myself. However, it's likely a waste of time to go much under the clear ROFR price at present as things have certainly firmed up in the last couple of years with a more defined ROFR cutoff.

Do you believe that the AKV having a later end expiration will actually lower the resales of the existing contracts? What about the price directly from DVC? The guide we had at our DVC tour said that all the prices would be going up to $104 yesterday (Monday March 5th) with the introduction of AKV.

I absolutely believe that AKV , esp. having a later expiration, will lower the prices over time of the 2042 resorts quicker and faster than they would have otherwise without AKV. The same could be said about SSR but to a much less degree mostly because the desirability of some of the resorts will overcome the expiration date issue. But they will still have value for some time, just modestly less than they would have if there had been no new resorts