DVC - How Did You Do It?

[SeptemberGirl]

Hi. My husband and I have seriously considered buying a DVC. We know about resale, thanks to these great boards, and we have talked to a guide, also. We don't have any other questions other than the trickiest one of all - money!

My question is this, for all your owners: It's a big investment - how did you do it?

Did you finance? Take a home eq? Use an inheritance or super big bonus? Save up? Buy small and add on? SAHM got a part time job? How did you make the money work?

This is obviously personal and none of my business, but it's also the sort of thing you can't ask people face to face. Any candor is appreciated!

 

[Inkmahm]

We used part of my annual bonus for the intial purchase at BWV. Then we just added on VWL because we wanted it, and had the money in savings. Bonus money again for the AKV add on this year. I wouldn't buy DVC if I had to finance it, personally.

 

[mrs pooky]

We used home equity, but actually paid for the DVC with 2 credit cards, one Starwood for a few free hotel rooms(we usually stay over at the airport the night before a Disney trip), and the rest on our Disney Visa, so Disney ended up giving us $ for buying the DVC.

Then we paid off the cards with out home equity credit line.

And should be going on our first DVC trip in January!

 

[ktbugsmom]

We bought a re-sale with 100 points to start and then added on 50 points from Disney last year. I don't do "debt" - so both were big checks. But, I work full time and teach part time to support my Disney habit. My teaching money paid for the 100 points. When we did the add on, I got a small inheritance and used some of that to do the add-on.

I hope that helps. We have never regretted our purchase... and if I ever get another inheritance (or win the lottery) - I will be adding on more points! Hubby says the teaching money now has to go into retirement accounts and college funds... probably a wise decision.

 

[byoung]

We where lucky enought to be able to pay in full.

 

[ACDSNY]

We paid over half in full and financed the balance. Disney was getting our money every year anyway, now I just don't feel as quilty about it.

 

[tiggerrr]

We didn't have the option of doing the deal from home or over the phone - we had to do the deal while we were at Disney. So we accepted Disney financing, went home, paid off with Credit Card for the reward points and then used a home equity loan to pay the Credit Card. A little convoluted, plus we paid a small fee for the Disney Financing. (On the plus side we made it all back and more on the foreign currency exchange between the time we bought it and when we paid it off.)

 

[LocustPoint]

I financed my initial purchase. I was young and single at the time and had no other debt.

 

[ChelleinNC]

We financed with Disney. After thinking long and hard and doing all the numbers we realized we were spending more for our vacations by not having DVC. Then I realized my car loan is about to be paid off and will more than cover the monthly payment for dvc, so we went ahead and did it. As much as I liked to think the car payment money was going to pay off other things, I knew that in reality it would likely disappear on other things so it might as well pay for my Disney addiction.

 

[MrsNick]

I have a "holiday club" account and a "vacation club" account ($$ gets deducted from each paycheck and is deposited automatically to these accounts). Much to my chagrin, the money in the "vacation club" account always got used for financial crises that always seemed to occur right around the time that it matured so although over the years I probably saved enough to buy a membership outright, that isn't how it worked out.

So, two and a half years ago, I took the amount from my "vacation club" account and used that as a down payment, and financed the balance. The amount we pay per year on the loan is less than I have paid for past vacations, and it is deducted monthly from our checking account, so I don't really miss the money. For the first two years, the money to pay the loan (and dues) came from my personal individual savings account. At the beginning of the year, I switched to have the payments come from our joint checking account. The family uses the membership so, I figured it was a family expense and not a personal expense

My monthly loan is about $120 per month (about $1440 per year), or less than $28 a week. My DH p****es away at least double that amount on lunches out at work each week sad2: no matter how hard I've tried to break him of that habit).

Our dues run slightly over $600 annually, or about $50/month (less than $12 a week).

So for a total of slightly more than $2000/year (or $40/week ), we have had some quite lovely vacations via DVC.

Basically, I just made a concrete commitment to having an annual vacation, so that we would take some down time. Before DVC, we often talked ourselves out of vacations because of the cost. Additionally, I don't stress out over money if we have a few nice dinners out on vacation since I'm not concerned with paying a hotel bill.

Now, we are forced to take one good vacation a year, and that is very important since both DH and I work at highly demanding jobs and have a very real need to be able to take a step back. In addition, vacation is the only time I really have an opportunity to see DH since I work first shift and he works second shift.

The responsible side of me (doh! ) has made the decision not to do any add-ons until the loan is paid off. DVC points will be there for us when we are ready .

 

[Donald is #1]

I used for savings for my initial contract. But when I added on 1.5 months later, I ended up financing the add-on through Disney. I financed it over 5 years, but hopefully I will pay it off eariler.

 

[chalee94]

i started very small, with a resale contract for 40 pts. i figure 5 nights a year at OKW in a studio will give me an idea of whether to buy more down the road...probably at AKV or CRV.

that way it's not a huge commitment: $3800 for the contract and $14.66 a month in maintenance fees.

you may want to check the thread below also...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1532408

 

[Goofyzgurl]

We financed and I'm going to pay it off this year. It's a big investment in your vacation, but I've never regretted the decision. Like a lot of others you'll probably hear, I only regret not buying earlier and more points.

 

[wildernessDad]

I've been using my extra teaching money to pay for it. I took a Disney 10-year loan and paid it off in less than 2 years with the school money.

 

[mbhoxsie]

Back when we bought, you could "rent" half your first year's point balance back to Disney for about $10 a point...

It wasn't a bad promotion since normally people first got into the club while vacation down in WDW anyways and most people only went once a year anyways...

That money went against the down payment so we didn't have to put as much down...

I'm fairly suprised Disney hasn't bought it back, but they seem to be doing well selling points at $100+ per...

When we bought, points were between $62 and $67...

 

[DisDaydreamer]

I have a "holiday club" account and a "vacation club" account ($$ gets deducted from each paycheck and is deposited automatically to these accounts). Much to my chagrin, the money in the "vacation club" account always got used for financial crises that always seemed to occur right around the time that it matured so although over the years I probably saved enough to buy a membership outright, that isn't how it worked out.

So, two and a half years ago, I took the amount from my "vacation club" account and used that as a down payment, and financed the balance. The amount we pay per year on the loan is less than I have paid for past vacations, and it is deducted monthly from our checking account, so I don't really miss the money. For the first two years, the money to pay the loan (and dues) came from my personal individual savings account. At the beginning of the year, I switched to have the payments come from our joint checking account. The family uses the membership so, I figured it was a family expense and not a personal expense

My monthly loan is about $120 per month (about $1440 per year), or less than $28 a week. My DH p****es away at least double that amount on lunches out at work each week sad2: no matter how hard I've tried to break him of that habit).

Our dues run slightly over $600 annually, or about $50/month (less than $12 a week).

So for a total of slightly more than $2000/year (or $40/week ), we have had some quite lovely vacations via DVC.

Basically, I just made a concrete commitment to having an annual vacation, so that we would take some down time. Before DVC, we often talked ourselves out of vacations because of the cost. Additionally, I don't stress out over money if we have a few nice dinners out on vacation since I'm not concerned with paying a hotel bill.

Now, we are forced to take one good vacation a year, and that is very important since both DH and I work at highly demanding jobs and have a very real need to be able to take a step back. In addition, vacation is the only time I really have an opportunity to see DH since I work first shift and he works second shift.

The responsible side of me (doh! ) has made the decision not to do any add-ons until the loan is paid off. DVC points will be there for us when we are ready .

Very nice post.. very much on target...

 

[MrsNick]

Very nice post.. very much on target...

Aww, shucks!

 

["Got Disney"]

we finaced also 400 pts for 10 years. Will pay off on 5 years or less. At least all the interest can be writen off so it is not as big of an ouch

 

[Amy5000]

Since you want candor:

We recently purchased a small 100 pt (fully loaded) resale contract at SSR. We anticipate staying in studios. We paid cash out of our savings. I would have been uncomfortable financing a vacation purchase like this. B/t/w, I don't have a problem with those who would choose to finance it. I just know I would have a harder time enjoying it if I was worried about paying for it. Since I'm a worrier...that knocked out financing for me.

Financial concerns (or just $$) played a significant role in considering our purchase. Although I think BCV, BWV and VWL are lovely resorts, they are generally more points for a week than SSR (other than BWV SV) and their points are more costly. Many cost more per point for fewer years. Basically, I thought they were great resorts, but was not willing to pay additional amounts for the pleasure of owning there vs SSR. OKW was a close 2nd, but SSR had more years, lower dues, and was closer to DTD. I figured SSR might do better if we have to sell it down the road since it has more years.

Basically, we paid cash...and we also were somewhat conservative in our purchase. (That's our personality...many will do otherwise and enjoy their DVC just as much). Hopefully, if we really end up enjoying DVC and we can afford to, we'll add on more points in the future.

Good luck. Amy

 

[bnlbebes]

DW and I took out the 10 year Disney loan after the first year of marriage. Although many posters here will disagree, we looked at DVC as an investment. We have never been sorry for our decision having used the points toward a vacation at least once a year, and we had only 150 points for awhile, 202 now. We have never made an attempt to pay ahead, just paid as we went, and we are now less than a year from the end of the loan.

Now it's time to figure out how we're going to pay for the GCV add-on.