DVC Resale Vs. Renting

[DVCSunDevil]

Renting is the way to go if you are only occasionally going to WDW. If you plan to visit WDW at least once every other year then owning is the way to go. Don’t forget, you can rent your points if you aren’t going to use them in a certain year…and make money compared to being the one overpaying to rent the points.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Agreed. To each their own, however, it would be hard for me to see much (if any) benefit to making such a purchase under the financing terms that are offered. I would think the only feasible way to involve financing would be by using something such as a HELOC. Not saying that is financially responsible, however, when considering financing options, one could probably attain 50ish+% cuts on rates. Our only outstanding debts are home and 1 vehicle. Not paying the house off anytime soon, and while I suppose the smartest thing to do financially would be to pay off the auto loan, it has a low interest rate, making the capital more valuable than the outstanding loan in my opinion. Your points are well-taken though, and that is sound advice.

Some people will do a 0% for 18m credit card offer with a one-time 5% financing charge. It can be useful if you are trying to get a certain number of points and have to wait for a bonus or RSU vesting.

 

[Chili327]

Renting is the way to go if you are only occasionally going to WDW. If you plan to visit WDW at least once every other year then owning is the way to go. Don’t forget, you can rent your points if you aren’t going to use them in a certain year…and make money compared to being the one overpaying to rent the points.

Agree, much better to be the rentee than the renter.

 

[jshadd]

Speaking of books, I recently purchased the DVC Field Guide put together by Jimmy Shaddock https://www.dvcfieldguide.com/ and found it to be super valuable. On his website he also has availability tables which can really help answer some of your questions as to what may be available at any given point in time, which I find more useful than the blanket statement of "availability at 5-6 months isn't bad". It depends on what time frame you're looking at for your visit.

I bought a loaded contract resale, 250 pts with 180-ish from the previous year. Work intervened with my planned usage and I will end up using something like 140 points this use year which left me with 290 points that I rented out. Renting out 290 points ended up covering more than 1/4 of my purchase price, or a few years of dues if you want to look at it that way. Of course renting out points is not a guarantee but it's at least useful to know that the option is there.

Thank you

 

[MICKIMINI]

A different perspective as a renter of DVC points when I have extra. At this point I only work with families I have worked with in the past. I met these wonderful renters who contact me here on disboards when I had points for rent.

We have established a great trust with these families and the benefit to us is they are honest, don't trash the rooms and return on a regular basis. I can't think of any cons.

The plus for them is they just contact me and I make the reservation trusting them to send payment (I always get nice notes with payment) sometimes do a waitlist and/or stalk for additional nights. I am flexible with their needs. I once gifted a 1 BR when I had a few extra points for a one night stay. They don't need to worry as we have developed that mutual trust. I am sure some of my renters can afford to buy a resale but just haven't jumped in yet. I enjoy working with all of them!

Point being is if you can find a DVC owner who tends to have extra points and you can establish a working relationship with, it is far better IMO than renting from a business and you don't have the commitment to MF's until you are ready to buy.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[bakerworld]

We're a family of 5, kids are 8,6, and 2, and we just took our 1st Disney trip last February. I'm 33 and it was my 1st ever trip, so I tell my kids they are lucky! Ha. Anyway, we stayed at Port Orleans and had a blast, so we certainly foresee many future trips, which has led me to research all options. Looking for something in the neighborhood of 150-200 points, and really like the idea of being on the monorail.

When we were in your situation we stayed in the Fort Wilderness Cabins (trailers). This worked for us. We were spread out enough, the bathroom was huge so I wasn't cramped in a cubicle with 3 kids and my husband 'helping', the cabin had a kitchen and there was an outside sitting area to have my AM coffee in peace. We mainly went to MK so the boat dock was our friend. We always enjoyed the Hoop-de-Do and the Polynesian Luau (gone now) which was accessible via a boat. The boats were like another 'ride' the kids always enjoyed. None of them like Epcot and Hollywood Studios (MGM back then) was too loud for the younger ones.

Our first two WDW vacations were 18 months apart (trailers) and then we had a 3 year break (Dixie Landings which now, I think, is Port Orleans) followed by a 2 year break (Carribean Beach), the next year our oldest was in College program (OKW & Poly), followed by a 3 year break (actually two separate vacations - girls trip at Carribean with College graduate followed by 'family trip' with the 'younger' two at Wilderness Lodge). The family trip convinced us it was time to cut the kids out of our WDW trip as neither wanted to go to the parks.

We did check into DVC over the years but didn't feel we went frequently enough. Plus I really disliked the parks were only accessible by bus (DVC options OKW & Wilderness Lodge). Post that last strange family trip were I had to bribe our son to vacate his bed by noon we started going on our own and staying at Beach Club. Since affordable BC could only be booked about 3 months out we finally looked at DVC again. Our focus was only on being able to walk to 2 parks. While we occasionally visited MK it changed from our 'go to' park to our 'eh park (too many families, too many short tempers and it's not pleasant watching them argue or the crying overwhelmed kids who need a nap! So that's a long way of saying we started visiting WDW in '92 but we didn't purchase DVC until '08.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[kboo]

Curious what @Jameson416 decided to do? Poly resale is definitely a possibility for you since studios sleep 5 and you can pretty comfortably be in a Poly/VGF studio for a while until you decide you want to spend more points for a larger unit.
About 200 points (I know!) will get you almost a week in a studio during Xmas or Easter weeks (once your kids are more reliably in school, you will be stuck with school break travel ... which is also why we take a big trip in late summer before school starts). Of course, 200 points will get you a longer stay in the summer. But know that as a "starter", 150-200 will be enough for an annual vacation in a pretty nice MK studio unless/until you decide you want to go more/less often in (larger?) units.

We started with BLT and VGF resale. I wouldn't recommend BLT for your family unless you are committed to enough points for a 1br or larger every time. As a plus, they'll be undergoing a refurb this year so this year might be a good time to pick up some resale points at a good price. BLT resale was our first contract and it was a great value, because we bought right after VGF, POLY and CCV started direct sales. The lower direct incentives on those resorts capped (I think) BLT resale prices. You may have the same benefit once the new Poly tower starts sales. Or new Poly points may have good incentives.

 

[kboo]

A different perspective as a renter of DVC points when I have extra. At this point I only work with families I have worked with in the past. I met these wonderful renters who contact me here on disboards when I had points for rent.

We have established a great trust with these families and the benefit to us is they are honest, don't trash the rooms and return on a regular basis. I can't think of any cons.

I almost never have extra points to rent, but I met a reliable renter here who occasionally pings me. If I had extra points, I would reach out to him. Likewise, my "need" for VGC points is a little relieved too because I have a DIS friend now who will rent/swap/transfer with me if/when I need. My sister moved out of the immediate LA area so I'm glad I didn't make that big commitment to VDH or VGC points.