Do the HOA/MF fees keep you from buying more?

[moredisneyplease]

So I'm nearly done paying off my DVC (150 at SSR) and I know that I will at least double this by the end of the year. Ideally I'd love to have a million DVC points so my vacation options are endless but whats keeping me from dreaming beyond 300 points are the yearly HOA/MF fees. Its going to be amazing when all points are paid off and i'm vacationing for "free" for the rest of my life but if I buy a whole bunch what if we hit hard times in the future and have to find a way to pay hundreds a month in dues?......these kinds of thoughts keep me from dreaming big. Here are my questions

1) Do the dues keep you from dreaming big?
2) Do any of you own a lot of points, rent out enough to cover those yearly fees, then use the rest of the points for yourself? this is my "solution" but then here's my next question...
3) Will the dues go up through out the years or are they fixed? if the prices do go up and up through out the years then eventually i might have to rent out all of the points just to cover the dues!!

thanks for your thoughts!

 

[DVC Mike]

The dues are not fixed and they typically go up between 2.5-4.5% each year.

Annual dues cannot be increased by more than 15% from the proceeding year without the approval of a majority of owners.

Here is a history of annual maintenance fees:

Year OKW BWV VB VB(sub) HH VWL BCV SSR AKV
2008 4.56 5.04 6.04 4.71 5.16 4.87 4.80 4.21 4.71
2007 4.40 4.85 5.63 4.39 4.98 4.73 4.63 4.12 4.62
2006 4.24 4.69 5.27 4.12 4.34 4.61 4.48 3.98
2005 3.86 4.41 4.87 3.84 3.86 4.35 4.27 3.83
2004 3.68 4.25 4.67 3.67 3.70 4.22 4.18 3.80
2003 3.49 4.11 4.37 4.37 3.69 4.05 3.97
2002 3.22 3.92 4.17 3.33 3.49 3.80 3.77
2001 3.13 3.83 3.98 2.70 3.32 3.63
2000 3.16 3.94 4.07 2.87 3.25 3.62
1999 3.16 4.02 3.99 2.82 3.18
1998 3.17 3.94 ---- 2.76 3.20
1997 3.14 3.84 ---- 2.90 3.16
1996 2.99 3.70 ---- 2.82 3.16
1995 2.84
1994 2.70
1993 2.63
1992 2.56
1991 2.51

 

[JimMIA]

1) Do the dues keep you from dreaming big?

No. What keeps me from dreaming big is that I don't want more points than I need. I'd rather put that money toward other family needs.

2) Do any of you own a lot of points, rent out enough to cover those yearly fees, then use the rest of the points for yourself? this is my "solution" ...

I'm sure some owners do use that strategy. However, I would never purchase points with the intention of renting them out to cover dues. While renting is permitted by the POS, DVC can and will put restrictions on renting. In the last couple of years, they have become more and more aggressive in dealing with "commercial renting." I would not want to be in a position where I had points I didn't need and have the rental door slammed shut on me.

Again...there are probably better places to put the money involved -- either by buying other things you really need, or other investments which would yield a better return. If you are talking about buying points at today's prices, and financing the purchase, you'd better take a real hardnosed look at the numbers. The math is very different if you paid $55-75 cash per point, compared to $100 per point + finance charges! Financing a purchase primarily for the purpose of renting the points is a real low-return equation, IMHO.

 

[CarolMN]

Dues aren't limiting us - but time certainly is. We're both still working and paid time off is definitely a limiting factor. Not all of our vacation time is assigned to Disney - we still have family obligations as well as a desire to travel to other destinations besides Disney.

That said, I think we have the right amount of points even if time weren't a limiting factor. We're content to visit WDW once or twice a year, usually in the Adventure or Choice seasons.

I'm with Jim - no way would I want to depend on renting to cover my dues. Too risky - Disney controls too many of the variables. And even more importantly, I would not want to take on debt to finance vacations, especially in this economy. My opinion. Other may differ and that's OK with me.

 

[LisaS]

3) Will the dues go up through out the years or are they fixed?

Over time, your dues will be your biggest expense. Assuming an annual increase of 3.5% your total dues from now until your contract expires will be 3 to 4 times your initial purchase price. You might pay $15,000 for your contract and $55,000 in total dues over the lifetime of that contract.

 

[Deb & Bill]

It got to the point where we were paying over $200 a month just on monthly dues. We sold off two contracts and are currently at a point where we can get either one very nice vacation a year OR two shorter ones depending on when we go. I see monthly dues plus the increasing price of points as a factor that will slow down DVC at some point. Lots of potential members don't even look at the dues when they are looking at buying points. In the long run, you are going to pay a bunch more on dues than the initial buy in.

 

[DeeCee735]

The biggest contributing factor for NOT buying more points is time. The second is vacation money. We are currently both working (and will be for a longgggg time with twins in college), so we are limited in how much time we can use for vacationing. We also have to take into account that just because the dues are affordable, and the accommodations are "free" (we bought up front, no financing), vacationing still costs money. Travel, air or car - with the price of gas I don't think there's much difference anymore - food or DP costs, TICKETS - ouch - and some spending money.
As the kids get older, there's always someone else coming with us - a boyfriend, girlfriend or cousin, etc. Although DVC (WDW OR HH) is usually the place we go to most, we like to get in a 3 to 4 night trip a couple of times a year closer to home, such as Boston, Connecticut, Cape Cod, and that's time and money too.

I have to say that our 235 points serves us perfectly and the maintenance fees fit comfortably into the budget, so we're sticking with this amount.

 

[JimC]

1. I have enough points for what I need for the time I have available to travel.

2. Buying more to regularly rent with the intent to generate sufficient cash flow to offset the dues on the points I use is not in at least the spirit, if not the permissible use of the membership. I also do not want to spend time renting points and arranging other people's holidays.

3. Dues do go up and you should buy expecting that they will rise consistent with the general operating and refurbishment costs of the resorts.