DVC-How did you finance

[tinker&belle]

We just stumbled upon the information about DVC, and it seems like it might be a viable option for us sometime in the future. My question is, what is the best way to finance it? Did anyone use home equity, home line of credit, Disney finance? At what rate? Although we won't be doing it immediately we were toying with the idea of looking around SSR and BWV on our trip in Aug, just to check them out before we consider buying into them.

Also, are the fees paid yearly or monthly?

 

[TinkGirl]

We put down 20% (a portion of this was from DVD--the incentive at that time). We put the rest on a 0% finance charge credit card and have been working to pay off as much as we can. Disney will set up financing with monthly payments--I think the interest rate is 10%. You can opt to pay your dues in one chunk in January or to have monthly payments electronically taken from your bank account. Lots of people do pay for this with home equity loans, too.

 

[Para2176]

We originally financed through Disney because we did not have to make a payment for a few months. We then paid the entire balance with the Disney Visa card (get the points if you can). You can then use home equity line to cover the purchase (lower interest rate) or pay it off. The Disney financing is not that bad, but you can do better if you want to look around. There are a couple different options available to you.

 

[Disneyrsh]

The fees are paid once a year-we just paid ours.

The financing question's kind of a bugaboo, it's all about what risk you're comfortable taking on, and how much debt. For us, we're not comfortable with debt, so we paid cash for it.

We drive cheap cheesy cars, so we can afford dvc. We're kinda weird that way. But there's no one right answer to your question, I think...

 

[dsneygirl]

We used our line of credit. It will take about 2 years to pay off but interest rate is pretty low and we figured we'd travel to WDW at least once a year anyways so might as well start enjoying DVC. I could not stomach the Disney financing rate.

 

[shellbelle1971]

We would not finance a purchase like DVC. We see vacations as a use of discretionary income, not something to go into debt over. A wise man said about interest..."Those who don't understand it pay it. Those who do collect it."

BUT...

Once we made the decision & had enough $ to buy, we put the whole thing on our Delta American Express card and paid it all off at the end of the month. It was enough frequent flier miles to give us a free ticket. You might consider putting it all on whichever card makes the most sense for you...Disney Visa gives you back Disney Dollars, Discover pays cash back, or (for us) frequent flier miles are as good as cash.

 

[shellbelle1971]

P.S., Tink, once you do check out DVC, you may suddenly find you *need* to purchase! The accommodations are SO wonderful, it makes going back to a "regular" hotel room seem completely unacceptable. (Or at least it did to me.) So if you know you don't want to buy in for a couple of years, I suggest waiting that long to look into it...it takes almost superhuman self-control to not purchase when it's right there in front of you and looks sooooo good!

 

[browniemtb]

As far as financing goes there really is no best way...its what ever works for you. Home equity works and the rate should be around 7%. We finaced through Disney with 20% down for 10 years. We will pay the note off with in 5 years......no longer. Just crunch some numbers and see how it works.....If you have a Disney Credit card you can get some free financing for some of the down payment...and get Disney dollars too.
Brownie

 

[KelNottAt]

We used a fixed-rate home equity loan. The term was 60 months; we paid-off in 40 months.

 

[PinkTink63]

We would have liked to pay cash for it, but that just wasn't going to be possible. We put it on our mileage card and then transferred it over to a 4.9% card. Disney gets our money every year anyway!
We have the dues taken out of our checking account monthly, so we don't really notice that cost.
Once you stay at DVC, you'll decide whether it's right for you. We did!
We feel that life is too short to miss out on!
By the way, we loved the BWV. We stayed there last summer and had a great view!
Good Luck!
Stephanie

 

[DisFlan]

We paid cash. We didn't feel DVC was the type of "necessity" we felt comfortable financing in any way. A house or car, yes. DVC, no.

I realize others are comfortable financing a vacation cost, but we weren't. If we do an add-on, we'll pay cash for that, too.

DisFlan

 

[krdisneybound]

Initially we paid cash for ours, as well as the add on. Can't justify financing with interest, if you have the $$'s. Every family is different and must decide what is best for them.

 

[vascubaguy]

My first purchase into DVC was a small 40 pt OKW contract, which I paid cash. My add-on at SSR I used a rewards credit card to get the cashback bonuses and 15 month 0% interest deal. I should have it paid in full before the promo on the credit card runs out, if not, I'll pay it off with my home equity line of credit.

I think the financing option is very feasible and does make sense for many people. There are many of us that can "afford" DVC, but don't have thousands just laying around. Many of us still take the vacations, so why continue to spend all of that money on accommodations when we can apply it towards DVC and still get the accommodations!

Just my thinking.....

 

[Disney Doll]

We financed our first contract. We took out a 10 year loan, because it had the lowest monthly payment. Our thought was that all we had to pay was the low monthly payment, but if we wanted to pay it off faster, we could make a larger monthly payment. We did, in fact, pay it off fairly quickly. The second contract we bought we paid for with cash.

I have also heard folks that have used a home equity line of credit. I have heard of folks who have used a credit card with rewards then paid it off the next month either with cash or a home equity line.

We have the dues withdrawn from our checking account monthly as well.

 

[Daitcher]

Home equity for a luxury purchase???? Sounds like a ticket to the poor house. Hold off the purchase until you can pay cash. If you can't pay cash for the buy in, you cannot afford it. Not a popular stance on here but it is the truth. WDW trips are not cheap even with the paid for lodging. Do yourself a favor and wait. If you really want to buy in you'll find a way to save the money. If not you'll be glad you didn't buy in.


DAVE

 

[Daitcher]

My first purchase into DVC was a small 40 pt OKW contract, which I paid cash. My add-on at SSR I used a rewards credit card to get the cashback bonuses and 15 month 0% interest deal. I should have it paid in full before the promo on the credit card runs out, if not, I'll pay it off with my home equity line of credit.

I think the financing option is very feasible and does make sense for many people. There are many of us that can "afford" DVC, but don't have thousands just laying around. Many of us still take the vacations, so why continue to spend all of that money on accommodations when we can apply it towards DVC and still get the accommodations!

Just my thinking.....

Here is my thinking...... If you can "afford DVC" then why can't you pay cash? If you aren't saving or have no savings to speak of then you have no business buying into a timeshare. I use this term all the time, it is a luxury purchase. It should only be for those with disposable income. Also paying cash for things really helps you decide what is important. It is far to easy to just make another bill. You'll really know you want it when you hand over a check to DVC for $30,000. Wait everyone until you've saved the money, believe me it will be far more satisfying that way than paying thousands of dollars in interest for a non neccesity.


DAVE

 

[vonderbar]

I chose to finance my two contracts with Disney. I felt it was easier, since I was already at the DVC office. They gave me approval right on the spot and made the payments very affordable. The payment are taken directly out of my checking account, twice a month. One pay check takes care of one loan and dues and the other takes care of the other loan and dues. I don't feel the pinch and never have to worry about being late with any payments. I can also pay these loans and dues off at any time. I have never been sorry to have purchased DVC and hopefully, can purchase again soon.

 

[loveswdw]

I didn't spend $30,000 for my DVC thank goodness! We only have 150 pts! Yes, we financed ours through Disney (5 years) and are very happy with the payment. I don't believe that we would ever be in a situation where we could plunk down that kind of money for DVC (unless I hit the Powerball on Wed!). My DH and I don't have those big paying jobs (he's a deputy sheriff, I'm a graphic designer) for a big cash plunkdown. We decided to buy in before we had kids because we knew once that happened we'd never have the money to buy in. So glad we did-- I love the 1 bedrooms for us now with our DS2.

I agree with vascubaguy-- if I'm spending the money on a vacation anyway I might as well go ahead and get something in return--38 years of accommodations. We were already spending more than $1,000 per year on hotel stays and that was in moderates. We saw it as a win/win for us.

I think you have to go with however you are comfortable. What works for one doesn't work for all.

 

[Disneyrsh]

Here is my thinking...... If you can "afford DVC" then why can't you pay cash? If you aren't saving or have no savings to speak of then you have no business buying into a timeshare. I use this term all the time, it is a luxury purchase. It should only be for those with disposable income. Also paying cash for things really helps you decide what is important. It is far to easy to just make another bill. You'll really know you want it when you hand over a check to DVC for $30,000. Wait everyone until you've saved the money, believe me it will be far more satisfying that way than paying thousands of dollars in interest for a non neccesity.


DAVE

Dave Ramsay, is that you?!

 

[brivers222]

Here is my thinking...... If you can "afford DVC" then why can't you pay cash? If you aren't saving or have no savings to speak of then you have no business buying into a timeshare. I use this term all the time, it is a luxury purchase. It should only be for those with disposable income. Also paying cash for things really helps you decide what is important. It is far to easy to just make another bill. You'll really know you want it when you hand over a check to DVC for $30,000. Wait everyone until you've saved the money, believe me it will be far more satisfying that way than paying thousands of dollars in interest for a non neccesity.


DAVE

So I take it you purchase all your cars OPP also?

I don't think a lot of people have that kind of money to just cut a check to Disney up front and I don't think that should be the end all reason why or why not to purchase a time share.

I find the Tax Deductions quite nice actually for myself.