After my first trip to Disney in 8 years, and the first time with a child, I am seriously considering becoming a DVC member. As a financial analyst, I decided to "run the numbers". I did this, and I came up with a cost of <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0 per point per year. And this was before I had ever heard of renting points or Disney's Magical Beginnings.
Here's how I derived this:
Disney is now charging $72 per point, with a minimum purchase of 150 points. I can take <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0,800 and purchase 150 points, or I could decide against it and use that money to pay down my debts. Assuming I'll always have some debt at an interest rate of 8% (car loan, student loan, whatever), if I buy into DVC instead of paying down my debt I'll pay $864 extra in interest on my debt (<MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0,800 * 8%) every year. If you have a bunch of credit card debt, your "cost" is even higher. If you only have a 7% mortgage out there (which is deductible for many), your cost is less. But I use 8% as the average rate of interest that one might avoid.
Alternatively, I could invest the <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0,800 in the stock market. A common rule of thumb for long-term investors is a 12% market return. After taxes this is about 8%. You're giving up $864 in earnings you could have made. This is your "opportunity cost" of parting with the <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0,800.
Next, I assume that 10 or 15 years from now I can probably resell my points for $72 each. By then Disney will probably be charging $90+ (2% increases a year or so), resale will be in the $70's maybe. So if I decide to do this for just 10-15 years, my cost is only my extra interest paid on my extra debt or the foregone earnings.
Next, I have to pay upwards of $450-$600/year in maintenance fees, depending on the resort ($3-4 per point * 150 points). Next year this will probably be 3% higher, etc. 10 years from now, the cost will probably be $600-$800 (3% increase per year). So from an average of $525 in 2001 to about $700 in 2011. On average, this means about $615 per year.
So my annual cost is about $864 in foregone earnings or interest paid because I spent <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0,800 on the DVC instead of paying down my debts or investing the money PLUS $615 per year in maintenance fees. This totals <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[,479. Lets round it off to <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[,500.
So to get 150 points per year for 10 or 15 years (then sell out - making assumptions out 40 years gets dicey.), my cost per point per year is about <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0/point.
That means the cost for me to stay at a 1-BR BWV in May in a pref. view room for a week averages out to about $360 per night (252 points * <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0 / 7 nights). Better than $415/night + tax Disney is charging "the public". And it should be better, I've committed to spending about <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[,500 per year for Disney lodging.
And it means I can get a "studio" room during the week for only $80-<MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[10. True the "public" can't get that offer, but a DVC member's "cost" for those points IS about <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0. And I don't think it is a coincidence that Disney offers that rate. Companies do this sort of analysis all the time.
Basicilly, people selling their points at <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0 per point are getting what they paid for them, and they may have gone to waste if they didn't sell. What the "renter" gets is the low average cost the member achieved by buying so much lodging in advance. The price to the renter is the effort required to track down these points.
As you can see, I'm a "numbers guy". Hope this is of some use.
yes cheaper than disneys price, because you have committed to <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[,500+ per year.
Here's how I derived this:
Disney is now charging $72 per point, with a minimum purchase of 150 points. I can take <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0,800 and purchase 150 points, or I could decide against it and use that money to pay down my debts. Assuming I'll always have some debt at an interest rate of 8% (car loan, student loan, whatever), if I buy into DVC instead of paying down my debt I'll pay $864 extra in interest on my debt (<MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0,800 * 8%) every year. If you have a bunch of credit card debt, your "cost" is even higher. If you only have a 7% mortgage out there (which is deductible for many), your cost is less. But I use 8% as the average rate of interest that one might avoid.
Alternatively, I could invest the <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0,800 in the stock market. A common rule of thumb for long-term investors is a 12% market return. After taxes this is about 8%. You're giving up $864 in earnings you could have made. This is your "opportunity cost" of parting with the <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0,800.
Next, I assume that 10 or 15 years from now I can probably resell my points for $72 each. By then Disney will probably be charging $90+ (2% increases a year or so), resale will be in the $70's maybe. So if I decide to do this for just 10-15 years, my cost is only my extra interest paid on my extra debt or the foregone earnings.
Next, I have to pay upwards of $450-$600/year in maintenance fees, depending on the resort ($3-4 per point * 150 points). Next year this will probably be 3% higher, etc. 10 years from now, the cost will probably be $600-$800 (3% increase per year). So from an average of $525 in 2001 to about $700 in 2011. On average, this means about $615 per year.
So my annual cost is about $864 in foregone earnings or interest paid because I spent <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0,800 on the DVC instead of paying down my debts or investing the money PLUS $615 per year in maintenance fees. This totals <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[,479. Lets round it off to <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[,500.
So to get 150 points per year for 10 or 15 years (then sell out - making assumptions out 40 years gets dicey.), my cost per point per year is about <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0/point.
That means the cost for me to stay at a 1-BR BWV in May in a pref. view room for a week averages out to about $360 per night (252 points * <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0 / 7 nights). Better than $415/night + tax Disney is charging "the public". And it should be better, I've committed to spending about <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[,500 per year for Disney lodging.
And it means I can get a "studio" room during the week for only $80-<MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[10. True the "public" can't get that offer, but a DVC member's "cost" for those points IS about <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0. And I don't think it is a coincidence that Disney offers that rate. Companies do this sort of analysis all the time.
Basicilly, people selling their points at <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[0 per point are getting what they paid for them, and they may have gone to waste if they didn't sell. What the "renter" gets is the low average cost the member achieved by buying so much lodging in advance. The price to the renter is the effort required to track down these points.
As you can see, I'm a "numbers guy". Hope this is of some use.
yes cheaper than disneys price, because you have committed to <MESSAGE_BODY><![CDATA[,500+ per year.