Home Prices & DVC Membership

[jersey shark]

Just a quick question...a previous thread found a disproportional number of DVC members from New Jersey (& New York).

Do you suppose people here (in the land of relatively high home prices...I'm in Bergen County, New Jersey where $750 K does NOT buy a spectacular home!) view the DVC prices as more of a "bargain" since the $15 K it takes to buy into DVC for 175 points or so may not even be as high as one's annual property tax bill here.

On the other hand, living in the midwest someplace where you could be living in a very nice $175 K home...the $15 K in my example above is proportionately much higher to you folks.

Interested in your thoughts, I hope not too many of you out there in the NE are temporarily stranded in the snow (as I am).

 

[DiznEeyore]

We're in the midwest, but let me tell you, $175K wouldn't buy a whole lot here. Maybe in northern Michigan, but not here in metro Detroit. Home prices here are absolutely ridiculous, and the market is suffering because it's so overpriced.

Dh and I refuse to be house poor so we live in a very modest area. We haven't done anything to our home except keep it up and add some new windows. It boggles my mind to think that if we were to sell now, the buyers would pay double what we paid 10 years ago.

I guess I'm saying DVC isn't a "deal" to us personally, but maybe it is to someone who lives in a quarter-million dollar house!

 

[sitchu2]

I live in south central jersey on the shore Pt.Pl.area, and house prices here have more than doubled since we moved here 4 years ago.

I refinanced, got a lower intrest rate, kept the same payment that I started with and paid off all 550 dvc points!!!!

I would still make over 100 k if I sold today at todays prices.

With a bad stock market, thank goodness for real estate.

 

[msdis]

I think you are very correct in your assumption. We live in the poorest state in the nation with the lowest per capita income and highest overall taxes. We know our home which is probably a little above middle of the road ($175,000) would easily cost 3-4 times as much in a lot of other areas of the country. But when we look at how many months/years take home pay it cost us for DVC I am sure it took a lot longer to earn than the average DVC'er. DVC is not cost sensitive in the same way the ratio between wages/cost of living is in the real world. For some it is an easy purchase while for others it truely is a luxury.
We are more like DiznEeyore -we are very fortunate to be able to have DVC, which most around us could not afford.

 

[PamOKW]

I don't think it's so much the comparison of the property values as it is the level of income that may play into the decision. Also, there is a "connection" between Florida and the Metro NY area that doesn't exist as strongly as to some other areas. It's already an established vacation destination and with greater disposable income than some other areas, it makes sense to purchase DVC.

Of course, there are also a lot more people concentrated on the East Coast, too.

 

[jaysue]

In our case it was the combination of a 3hr at most flight to Florida from Toronto plus the rising value of our real estate combined with low interest that made us comfortable with the small leverage we added to buy DVC

Our property is worth about $575K (Canada) plus my parents have a condo in FLL so we start and end our trips there to have some "free" dates on both sides of our WDW/VB trips plus of course use of their car as well

We view the annual dues as a more significant expense than the original capital purchase

thanks
jaysue

 

[WOW]

Interesting thoughts!!!!!!

We too live in Bergen County, NJ and while we are not wealthy, DVC always seemed like a bargain to us. I guess it is the NY Metro mentality. First of all, we are about 2 1/2 hours away by plane, which is definately a plus. We can usually get great air fare from Newark to Orlando. But, the cost of living in this area is absolutely ridiculous!!!!! When you have a family of 4 living in a decent (decent, not opulent) area and the real estate taxes are average $6,000/$7000, car insurance can make you go broke, and your house is worth about $400,000 (built after WWII and certainly not large homes) which makes no sense.
They don't take care of the roads when it snows (this weekend is a perfect example) and the traffic is horrific.......Wonder why we need to vacation at DVC so often???????? We are a little concerned a about the annual payment though. We have 600 points and we pay around $2000, which is affordable now, but could become a little harder to take down the road.

THIS IS WHY WE LOOOOOOVE DVC.

 

[Cruelladeville]

Interesting thought, and you may be correct, since most people tend to buy houses that are inline with their income, DVC would seem more expensive to us in the midwest, outside of the cities, at least. I am in northern Michigan, and am wealthy by the standards up here. If I lived in Chicago I would be barely middle class, I think. I live at the lakeshore in a $180,000 Italianate built in 1873, with about 4000 square feet. Around here, that's a mansion, but for most people in the US it's an old house that's nothing but a money pit. DVC was a big investment for us. It's been worth every cent, I often think I live from vacation to vacation, like a drug addict lives from one hit of his drug to the next. It is just slightly more socially acceptable, except on this board