Feeling overwhelmed looking at DVC options

[AstroBlasters]

We put down a down payment for 200 points and got a use year of April 2023.
We love Grand floridian...especially during christmastime. We wanted to be near magic kingdom and just fell more in love with it during the ro tours. I kept hearing around that the GF was the most in demand, so I thought make that the home resort so that when we Wang to get in during xmas and stuff like that, we'll have the chance. But maybe it's not in demand as I thought...I looked at a few of these websites with availability tracking and it seems like it's pretty okay 7 months out too.

The last question is where things get tricky. All my trips to WDW were in the fall. I personally prefer things like the cruises over park days because parks are soooo crowded. My boyfriend prefers lounging at a resort with options to go into parks if he wants. We live near a major airport hub, so flights to Orlando aren't a problem and can be pretty cheap. We hadn't explored what a new normal would look like. His work is almost impossible to plan around so everything he's done has been "last minute" style. I'm more of a planner. He's a "long weekend" kind of guy and I'm more of a "5 days pto minimum" girl. Soooo some work to do there yet

You might find this interesting: https://dvcrentalstore.com/members/cruise/

 

[AstroBlasters]

Sure, if your estranged husband cancels your trip and steals all the points, the divorce court handles it, just like if he took the car or whatever else.

If you're not married, well, good luck.

I think it’s important to point out that the caution about buying real estate/ time share while not married is based on the experience of the people on the board and not because of a moral judgment.

While not a perfect solution, I would recommend that they document how much each party contributed to the down payment/purchase price, how much each party will contribute to the potential financing and maintenance dues, and how the property would be broken up in the event of an end to the relationship.

Examples could be:

a) Sally agrees to purchase x points from John based on the average resale sales price according to published prices from 2 resale firms. This could be in the form of cash or an equivalent transfer of property of agreed equivalent value.

b) We both agree the contract will be sold and the proceeds split x% to Sally and x% to John based on the contributions to the purchase price and ongoing maintenance dues.

Get the document signed/notarized and hopefully it will sit in a filing cabinet and never see the light of day.

 

[Ohmymonty]

OP, could you explain what you mean by this? Apparently everyone else on this thread understood, but I didn't. Are you saying that you haven't gotten married yet because you spent the money you might've spent on the wedding but instead purchased a house together? Thank you for explaining.

I'm guessing you and your bf have quite a bit of disposable income, since this is a huge purchase you're talking about, somewhere, I'm guessing, between $40K and $80K. Perhaps this isn't a lot of money to you. It seems like it to me, but I realize everyone's financial situation is different.

Yes, we purchased a house together instead of paying for a wedding. So many things in our area were doing some price gouging to capitalize on all the people who didn't get celebrations over covid and we decided if we're gonna shell out serious cash, let's get a house.

Prior to even meeting him, I purchased a condo and was doing renovations myself while quarantining. So then we got the house and I sold the condo. That's where DVC comes into play. We were lucky in that we sold way over asking, so we ended up with a bit of extra cash. So it's not that it's not a lot of money to purchase DVC, we just happen to be cash rich right now and in a good spot with our jobs. Knock on wood and all that.

 

[Miffy]

Yes, we purchased a house together instead of paying for a wedding. So many things in our area were doing some price gouging to capitalize on all the people who didn't get celebrations over covid and we decided if we're gonna shell out serious cash, let's get a house.

Prior to even meeting him, I purchased a condo and was doing renovations myself while quarantining. So then we got the house and I sold the condo. That's where DVC comes into play. We were lucky in that we sold way over asking, so we ended up with a bit of extra cash. So it's not that it's not a lot of money to purchase DVC, we just happen to be cash rich right now and in a good spot with our jobs. Knock on wood and all that.

That's fantastic. I'm glad to hear about everything. And I totally understand why you want to buy DVC. I love WDW and Disney too. I just never had the resources to buy in and, as it turned out, it was probably a good thing I didn't because I got divorced and the DVC purchase might've been a huge problem then. BTW, I'm remarried! Happily!

Knocking on wood for you. You sound like you've got your head on straight. I'm sure you'll make the right decision.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Yes, we purchased a house together instead of paying for a wedding. So many things in our area were doing some price gouging to capitalize on all the people who didn't get celebrations over covid and we decided if we're gonna shell out serious cash, let's get a house.

Prior to even meeting him, I purchased a condo and was doing renovations myself while quarantining. So then we got the house and I sold the condo. That's where DVC comes into play. We were lucky in that we sold way over asking, so we ended up with a bit of extra cash. So it's not that it's not a lot of money to purchase DVC, we just happen to be cash rich right now and in a good spot with our jobs. Knock on wood and all that.

The more you share about your personal situation, the stronger I feel that you made a good decision with your VGF purchase.

 

[kboo]

I would say that most buyers eventually become afflicted with a medical condition called “add-on-itis” where they add on points to upgrade the size of accommodations (studio to 1bd Villa) or have more days to stay on property.

There is also a mental health benefit of not feeling the need to “maximize every second” to justify the cost of lodging if you know you will be coming back again. Add on the ability to get discounted annual passes and discounted food and merchandise and it really does fundamentally change the “feel” of the trip.

Once we realized we would be back, we mellowed out a lot on our Disney vacations. Originally bought in in part to "force" both of us workaholics to build in real vacation time with our young kids instead of tagging along to each others' conferences. Now, the kids are old enough that DH can sleep in/do some work while I take the kids out and we can sometimes switch off. Last trip the kids and I closed down EP and MK at evening magic hours. We rode Guardians 3x in 1 day!!! I logged 27,000 steps in 1 day! DH likes pool time, he likes to sleep in and take it easy. My kids prioritize rides. We all love good food. Everybody gets a little of what they want on our trips.

We love Grand floridian...especially during christmastime.

So do we. That's why we added on more points this time - our prior resale points are unrestricted, but this add-on allows us a lot more flexibility for Christmas break at WDW. By the way, I don't recall if you have kids or not, but the whole month of December leading up to Xmas is gorgeous - we have yet to go to a MVMCP although we've seen the fireworks from our balcony at VGF. And the crowds are usually not bad at all until 12/26 - 1/1.

ETA: The deal you locked into is a good one. Earlier I did say that there are plenty of resale contracts out there, and that remains true. But for direct benefits and especially if you love VGF, the money you'd save on a resale VGF is negligible, and you definitely need direct points for Christmas time.