Florida Vacation Home vs. ~$150k of DVC

[chalee94]

I was hoping to achieve something close to 2 months of vacation stay per year with this amount. We'd probably opt for 1 or 2 bedrooms, and are fine with staying in the lower point resorts like SS or OKW. Any thoughts?

I'm not sure if you are planning to visit the parks most every day of the 2 months per year, but even SSR and OKW have a big onsite premium built in.

Trading in or renting getaways for offsite central FL timeshares would be much much cheaper if you don't need the Disney theming all day every day.

Or as Brian said, rent a pool home or something.

I am considering the same type of scheme for retirement but with only a small part of the yearly snowbird period being onsite at WDW.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Can you even buy a decent condo near WDW for $150k? If so, would it be more fun than DVC?

 

[ITGirl50]

Can you even buy a decent condo near WDW for $150k? If so, would it be more fun than DVC?

Of course you can’t and no it’s not. You pay a premium to stay on property. I have no desire for a vacation home in a condo off property. If we’re to buy a vacation home it wouldn’t be in Orlando area. We would buy in southwest Florida which would cost $1M for something nice.

 

[bbeagle]

renting a house or condo nearby Disney for two months would be even cheaper (probably by close to half the cost) as you are not paying the Disney proximity premium.

Renting a house for 2 months somewhere near Disney doesn't feel like 'home'. Disney feels like 'home'. There's always something to do, and you can just look out your window and see things happening.

Would you rather stay in a generic house somewhere - where you didn't know any neighbors, and you need a car to travel around? Nights are boring watching TV..... Or would you rather spend the day using Disney transportation or walking on trails around the Epcot resorts, and then spend an evening in Poly watching the fireworks and the water show from the beach with a Dole Whip and new people to talk to?

I would not like to rent a place for 2 months and feel like I was a transplant, I'd rather feel 'home'.

 

[BamaGuy44]

Renting a house for 2 months somewhere near Disney doesn't feel like 'home'. Disney feels like 'home'. There's always something to do, and you can just look out your window and see things happening.

Would you rather stay in a generic house somewhere - where you didn't know any neighbors, and you need a car to travel around? Nights are boring watching TV..... Or would you rather spend the day using Disney transportation or walking on trails around the Epcot resorts, and then spend an evening in Poly watching the fireworks and the water show from the beach with a Dole Whip and new people to talk to?

I would not like to rent a place for 2 months and feel like I was a transplant, I'd rather feel 'home'.

Would I rather be in a DVC Villa than a rented house off of I-4? Of course, if money doesn't enter into it. There's a VERY high premium to be paid for that bubble. We all willingly pay it for vacations, but for months at a time it's a lot different. I mean, if money is no object I'd be typing this from my mansion inside the WDW gates at Golden Oak. But alas, I'm only DVC rich, not Golden Oak rich

 

[happythoughts & pixiedust]

Renting a house for 2 months somewhere near Disney doesn't feel like 'home'. Disney feels like 'home'. There's always something to do, and you can just look out your window and see things happening.

Would you rather stay in a generic house somewhere - where you didn't know any neighbors, and you need a car to travel around? Nights are boring watching TV..... Or would you rather spend the day using Disney transportation or walking on trails around the Epcot resorts, and then spend an evening in Poly watching the fireworks and the water show from the beach with a Dole Whip and new people to talk to?

I would not like to rent a place for 2 months and feel like I was a transplant, I'd rather feel 'home'.

True, the experience of being at Disney vs. in a house off property is very different. Just addressing the OP's options of buying a vacation home vs. buying lots of DVC points. If they are open to being in a home off of Disney property, renting something should be in play, as it would probably be the most economical and flexible option if they are only looking to use it for 2 months a year.

I agree, I'd definitely rather be at Disney, but would seriously consider staying long term off property if I could save ~$3000/mo. that I could use to cover my annual pass and a good many dole whips to boot. Personally, if I was staying in Florida for 2 months, I'd arrive there in my own car, as I'd want the independence to go outside the Disney bubble once and awhile for shopping and the like.

 

[ITGirl50]

Would I rather be in a DVC Villa than a rented house off of I-4? Of course, if money doesn't enter into it. There's a VERY high premium to be paid for that bubble. We all willingly pay it for vacations, but for months at a time it's a lot different. I mean, if money is no object I'd be typing this from my mansion inside the WDW gates at Golden Oak. But alas, I'm only DVC rich, not Golden Oak rich

I always say I’m DVC rich not Golden Oak rich too!

 

[bbeagle]

Would I rather be in a DVC Villa than a rented house off of I-4? Of course, if money doesn't enter into it. There's a VERY high premium to be paid for that bubble. We all willingly pay it for vacations, but for months at a time it's a lot different. I mean, if money is no object I'd be typing this from my mansion inside the WDW gates at Golden Oak.

We were discussing people WITH the money to make either one happen.

I could stay at Disney for 3 months for about 2,000 points. $300,000 or so. if I bought a house for $300,000, it would be a much worse experience. Same cost.

In both scenarios, I’m only a snow bird, not living in Florida full time.

 

[BamaGuy44]

We were discussing people WITH the money to make either one happen.

I could stay at Disney for 3 months for about 2,000 points. $300,000 or so. if I bought a house for $300,000, it would be a much worse experience. Same cost.

In both scenarios, I’m only a snow bird, not living in Florida full time.

Just because someone has enough money to do both doesn’t mean they’re both equally good uses of money. And the scenario you gave is not the same cost, because you’re not factoring in dues, which would be about 16k per year. For 16k per year you could rent a very nice condo or house for 3 months and not have to pay the 300k up front. I’m not saying either way is right or wrong, but the costs are not even close to the same.

 

[ITGirl50]

Just because someone has enough money to do both doesn’t mean they’re both equally good uses of money. And the scenario you gave is not the same cost, because you’re not factoring in dues, which would be about 16k per year. For 16k per year you could rent a very nice condo or house for 3 months and not have to pay the 300k up front. I’m not saying either way is right or wrong, but the costs are not even close to the same.

I was curious about a cost of a condo near Disney. I saw one in Celebration for around $324k. The HOA is $729 a month! Plus you have to pay property taxes. So buying a condo is too expensive. So are you saying just rent a condo every year and not buy? I see short term Airbnb for $2500-$3000 a month. Which seems ridiculous for a 2 bedroom condo. The difference between this and DVC is that I kind of own DVC. So it does have resale value, that has gone up since we bought. Only our BRV will start going down in value in the next 10 years. Also, we can rent our points for cash for other trips. I know DVC isn’t a money saver, but it’s not a total money pit either.

 

[cbyrne1174]

If I wanted to stay that much in a year, I would honestly just see if the Getaways (Interval International) and Last Call/Extra Vacations (RCI) inventory met my needs. Orlando is so overbuilt that you can honestly find a decent place to stay for under $500/week most of the year without being tied to the maintenance fees. The next best thing would be to own a lot of Wyndham points. The 1 bedroom presidentials at Bonnet Creek can be had for about $650/week during the value season if you own a low maintenance resale deed like Grand Desert. Also, Wyndham is much easier to buy resale than DVC. You don't have to worry about ROFR. If you want to learn other timeshare systems, TUG is the best place for that. I learned every major system on that sight (Hilton, Marriott, Wyndham). There are A LOT of TUGers that are FL snowbirds on that website. Most of them flock to the beach resorts though.

 

[happythoughts & pixiedust]

I was curious about a cost of a condo near Disney. I saw one in Celebration for around $324k. The HOA is $729 a month! Plus you have to pay property taxes. So buying a condo is too expensive. So are you saying just rent a condo every year and not buy? I see short term Airbnb for $2500-$3000 a month. Which seems ridiculous for a 2 bedroom condo. The difference between this and DVC is that I kind of own DVC. So it does have resale value, that has gone up since we bought. Only our BRV will start going down in value in the next 10 years. Also, we can rent our points for cash for other trips. I know DVC isn’t a money saver, but it’s not a total money pit either.

This is why I said it doesn’t make financial sense to buy unless you will spend at least 4, and probably closer to 6 months there every year. (Unless you’ll rent it out the remainder of the time- which changes the math). At around 2 months per year renting is far more cost effective. $3k/mo sounds like a lot for a 2 bed condo, but it’s about half the cost of staying in a 1 bed at DVC as an alternative.

 

[BamaGuy44]

I was curious about a cost of a condo near Disney. I saw one in Celebration for around $324k. The HOA is $729 a month! Plus you have to pay property taxes. So buying a condo is too expensive. So are you saying just rent a condo every year and not buy? I see short term Airbnb for $2500-$3000 a month. Which seems ridiculous for a 2 bedroom condo. The difference between this and DVC is that I kind of own DVC. So it does have resale value, that has gone up since we bought. Only our BRV will start going down in value in the next 10 years. Also, we can rent our points for cash for other trips. I know DVC isn’t a money saver, but it’s not a total money pit either.

Yes i was talking about doing a monthly rental for 3 months a year, which another poster previously brought up as a comparison to having 3 months' worth of DVC points. I definitely don't think DVC is a money pit, I think it's great for people who love staying at WDW in the deluxe resorts, and plan their trips months ahead of time. I'm one of those people, and I'm an owner. You make a good point about the resale value and being able to rent out points. One would have to figure that in. I haven't done any in depth calculations, I'm just a lowly 2-3 weeks per year kinda guy and that won't be changing. Fun to talk about, though!