How do you afford it?

[acc82]

So, I know this question sounds obvious, but lemme explain. I've looked at the DVC cost and think getting a DVC would be so much better than a regular timeshare. However, it's 17,900 for the cheapest option - and I realize that can be financed. Similar to the price of a car - I can do that. however, the dues are a lot. Can they be added in to the monthly payments on the finance of the timeshare? How are these paid? It seems those are the ones that could easily 'break the bank' for us.

Also, I understand resale is an option for a cheaper timeshare. What resale companies do you go through? what's the price difference?

 

[lmshaggard]

So, I know this question sounds obvious, but lemme explain. I've looked at the DVC cost and think getting a DVC would be so much better than a regular timeshare. However, it's 17,900 for the cheapest option - and I realize that can be financed. Similar to the price of a car - I can do that. however, the dues are a lot. Can they be added in to the monthly payments on the finance of the timeshare? How are these paid? It seems those are the ones that could easily 'break the bank' for us.

Also, I understand resale is an option for a cheaper timeshare. What resale companies do you go through? what's the price difference?

Yes, DVC does allow you to pay your dues monthly. If you finance through them, they will just withdraw them like your payment. Have you talked to a guide yet? They can break it all down by month on paper to show you. We bought both of our contracts direct - there are positives to both ways. We just liked Disney direct better and have had an incredible experience! Also, there are incentives running all the time for different resorts, etc. I would definitely call and talk with a guide!

 

[hmillerbarilla]

We felt at first like it was a wash--DVC or our annual trips. It just affords us nicer accomodations. The breakdown cost of DVC was the same as us getting 3 moderate rooms once a year and we figured, why not make it the 2 bedroom?

Then looking at it closely over time, our trips will be "less" than the 3 moderate rooms would have cost us.

We always travel with extended family so that is why we always are getting so many rooms.

I agree with the PP. Talk to a guide. They are really helpful in showing you the costs.


Oh, and to answer your other question--the inital purchase we did was thru timeshare store. We then added on thru Disney for BLT. Resale went very smoothly, but the Disney transaction is very quick and easy.

 

[chalee94]

However, it's 17,900 for the cheapest option...

nope - one nice thing about DVC is that it's scalable.

i bought a tiny resale for less than $4000...and my monthly dues are $16. that won't get you far - especially if your heart is set on a MK view room from the BLT - but it's a place to start for some of us...

there's a link to the DIS sponsor's resales in the above right-hand corner of your screen. if you're just happy to be onsite, SSR and OKW have some pretty good prices (but if your heart is set on a specific DVC resort...i'd suggest buying there.)

 

[Havana]

For your mentioning of the cheapest option.
As of two weeks ago when we talked to our guide, he said we could buy in with as little as 50 points. It was a pleasant surprise to hear that.
We decided 50 points wouldn't give us the nights that we needed, so we bought 100.

 

[Sandisw]

You certainly can get in to DVC cheaper than what you mention. Disney is now selling new members contracts of just 100 points, so you can get in that way for around $11,000. You can get a 150 point SSR contract, for example, for around the same amount.

We bought last year and we compared our yearly trip costs for a trip to Disney to what it would cost if we owned DVC. We were not looking necessarily for a huge savings, but rather could we own and not pay more. Even with financing, buying in to DVC would cost us no more yearly than what we were paying. And, after we factored down the initial buy in cost, our yearly budge would go down.

We used TSS to buy our first contract, for only 50 points, to become members and then were able to add on at BLT direct since that is where we really wanted to own. Of course, the minimum last year was 160 so this path worked for us. If we could have gotten in with just 100, we would have just gone direct.

There is a lot to consider, but if buying in full force and the MF's are going to make things a bit tight right now, look in to starting small and adding on.

Good luck!

 

[camlace]

Can they be added in to the monthly payments on the finance of the timeshare? How are these paid? It seems those are the ones that could easily 'break the bank' for us.

Dues and monthly payments for your initial investment are two totally different financial transactions. Dues can be paid in a lump sum (due Jan/Feb...can't remember exactly, I do monthly) or they can be paid monthly. Some people like to earn the Disney Rewards points through Disney Visa and pay the dues in a lump sum on the visa, me I prefer to pay monthly...rather than a one time hit to my budget.

I have paid off my initial DVC investment, but still have my dues taken out of my checking account by EFT monthly.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

As others have mentioned, by buying resale you can get in for less money (in some cases much less, in others it's probably close to a wash) and can also buy an initial contract that suits your needs, budget, and preferred resort more closely than you may be able to by buying through DVC directly.

We just closed on the purchase of 250 resale points at BWV for $70 per point (thanks, TSS!). It was significantly less than we were quoted by DVC directly (they said they could get us the points we wanted, but it would be $105-$110 per point for BWV since it was sold out), but more importantly to us, we were able to get the resort we preferred. DVC is, logically, emphasizing the resorts for which they have lots of points right now, e.g. BLT, SSR, AKV, and not those that are sold out.

The dues are spread out monthly without any carrying cost, much like the escrow account on your home, which is nice, although it would be nice to have the option to prepay them for a discount.

 

[Crystal_27]

The great thing about DVC ownership is that you have a lot of options in terms of how you buy in (resale versus direct), the number of points you buy, the resort you buy into (which affect how much your MFs will be), and how you pay for it. If you are concerned about the cost, it might make sense to buy a smaller contract and just visit every other year by using banked and current points. But, however you decide to buy in, make sure that you can comfortably afford not only the payments, but the MFs, the travel expenses, the food, the tickets, and everything else that goes with a Disney vacation. Although DVC does help with the cost of vacations, Disney is still a very expensive vacation destination and DVC only covers accommodations. Good luck!

 

[DenLo]

So, I know this question sounds obvious, but lemme explain. I've looked at the DVC cost and think getting a DVC would be so much better than a regular timeshare. However, it's 17,900 for the cheapest option - and I realize that can be financed.

I believe the cheapest option right now is Saratoga Springs Resort for $90 per point. That's $14,400 for 160 points. There was a similar promotion for OKW but I believe that has raised to $101 per point. Definitely ask your guide, $3000 is a lot less money.

And if you really want to save money, buying resale makes sense. However, the financing is tricky. I don't know anything about it really, but I've heard the TimeShare Store will refer you to some finance company or you can get your own financing.

You can still do annual payments on the annual dues to Disney, you just decide each year and let the DVC know.

 

[disneynutz]

Buying a DVC interest makes sense if you are vacationing at Disney every year now and paying more than the cost of buying and maintaining a DVC contract.

I would guess that for most members their answer would be that they didn't vacation at Disney every year but they have decided to become Disney converts like us and make Disney their current vacation destination.

Bill

 

[crisi]

There are fundamentally four ways people afford things:

1) They have sufficient income - there was a poll on the DVC boards a few years ago. A LOT of people on this board have six figure household incomes.


2) They choose whatever it is over something else and have limited expenses. Some of us live in smaller houses than we can afford. Some of us choose not to dine out. A lot of us don't have kids or have kids who left the house already, paid off mortgages, and more free cash.

3) They do it "on the cheap" - a bunch of DVCers own small contracts (25 or 50 points) they bought resale and got a bargain on. They use DVC to save money (for us, DVC is a money pit because we spend FAR more with DVC than we'd spend without it - but our family can spread out). A few DVCers on this board inherited their contracts.

The above three can work in combination. i.e. you can have a good income, but skip the Mercedes and instead own DVC - and choose to buy a small contract resale.

4) They don't. Unfortuntely - especially over the past few years - we've seen people who really got in over their heads and were forced to sell at a loss or have their DVC contracts repossessed. Often they afforded it fine when they bought it, but you can't predict a major recession and job loss, or an illness in the family, or a divorce. A few were in over their heads when they bought it and when credit card minimum payments increased, or their mortgage payment hit its balloon, were sunk.

 

[ToddyLu]

We financed our purchase of 210 points at AKV. Our monthly MFs are around $80 and our monthly mortgage for the loan is $237. We got the preferred rate with Disney at 10.75%. I believe the resale loan company has an interest of 12.5% or close to that. We have already had a $7000 vacation for our first trip using 2 SV studios at AKV last Oct/Nov and will get 2 SV studios for this Dec. Another 2 years DVC will have just about paid for itself if we had paid cash for these accomodations. We were OK with our payment plan. The joy we have at WDW is worth the cost, simply put...

 

[LisaS]

however, the dues are a lot. Can they be added in to the monthly payments on the finance of the timeshare? How are these paid? It seems those are the ones that could easily 'break the bank' for us.

You are wise to take a hard look at the dues. They go up on average 3-3.5% each year. The total dues that you will pay will be greater than the cost of your contract. I ran some numbers 5 years ago when I was first deciding whether to purchase DVC. I bought a resale contract at BWV and my total outlay including closing fees and dues reimbursement was approximately $15,200. I estimated the total dues I will pay from 2005-2041 assuming a 3.25% annual increase will be nearly $54,000.

The cost to stay in a hotel room at WDW will also go up every year. Even if I'm paying over $2400/year in dues for my DVC contract in 2041 (last full year of ownership for BWV), I expect I will still be paying a lot less than it would cost to book a WDW hotel.

 

[JimMIA]

I'm glad to see someone taking a long hard look before leaping. We get way too many after-the-purchase threads that clearly tell us the purchaser had little idea what they were buying.

If I were in your position, I'd look at three questions:

The first is whether any timeshare is a sound choice for your family. The answer to that obviously depends on how often you vacation, what kinds of vacations you prefer, how far in advance you are able to plan vacations (and keep your plans without changing them) and many other factors.

Another big factor everyone should be thinking about for the next several years is "How might my personal financial situation change?" The resale market is glutted right now with many contracts people could afford when they purchased, but their financial picture chaged due to layoff, divorce, illness, or whatever.

The second question I would ask is how you plan to use a timeshare. I'm not very knowledgeable about the timeshare world generally -- we own only DVC -- but many people who are knowledgeable say DVC is not a great purchase if you intend on taking vacations elsewhere than the DVC resorts at WDW, Disneyland, Vero, and Hilton Head. There are other non-DVC options available for a fraction of the cost, and you can use many of them to exchange into DVC.

The third question I'd ask is what you expect to happen to your initial purchase expense. My personal opinion -- in this economic environment -- is that I would consider my purchase price what accountants call a "sunk cost." In other words, paid and gone forever. Many people purchase DVC expecting to get most of their initial purchase price back eventually, but we have seen dramatic declines in DVC resale prices over the last couple of years. And I don't see one thing on the horizon that will encourage those prices to stabilize, much less increase. To me, the days of DVC as a situation where you might expect to get a good portion of your initial expense back are on their way out.

DVC is a great timeshare program for people who use it almost exclusively for vacations at DVC resorts, but that doesn't mean it is for everyone.

And if I were buying DVC right now, I'd sure investigate the resale marketplace, where prices are MUCH lower than Disney-direct prices. Check the prices at The Timeshare Store (sponsor of the DVC boards) by clicking on their link at the top of this page and you'll see what I mean.

 

[jlovesee]

We are a great example of the fact that you don't have the be a three figure salary earner to afford DVC. Of course we also don't have hundred's of points either. We are also not in debt to Disney for one single cent. (and I would't personally). We save up cash for what we want, once we have that we buy the amount that we can afford.

We went the small contract route and bought 25 pts in 2007 (about $2,500 cost), then added on twice more to bring the total that we own now of 100 pts. so far we have had three trips with DVC. I love it. Our next big trip is in January for 7 nights in a BLT MK studio.


Jennifer

 

[nukker7]

We are a great example of the fact that you don't have the be a three figure salary earner to afford DVC. Of course we also don't have hundred's of points either. We are also not in debt to Disney for one single cent. (and I would't personally). We save up cash for what we want, once we have that we buy the amount that we can afford.

We went the small contract route and bought 25 pts in 2007 (about $2,500 cost), then added on twice more to bring the total that we own now of 100 pts. so far we have had three trips with DVC. I love it. Our next big trip is in January for 7 nights in a BLT MK studio.

Same here, I am in a contract now that doesn't close until next feb. This allows us to pack money away and pay cash. We were just lucky enough to find this contract and have it already pass ROFR. Now we just save and wait. (which is agony!!!)

 

[mdsd8700]

We just purchased after at least 10 years of thinking about it. We have small contract as well, just 100 points. Although we got 2009 points when we purchased from Disney, so we will be able to take two trips next year without borrowing anything so that was a nice extra I have no doubt that we will be adding on, but we are good for at least the next couple of years. We too didn't want to finance which is why it worked out well now (later in our marriage, than earlier) we were able to pay cash. However everyone here has excellent advice and good points to take into consideration.

 

[starbox]

The biggest reason we did not purchase DVC after we took the tour was not fear of being able to afford DVC, it was knowing that our annual DVC cost was only paying for the room - there were still park tickets and dining. At the time, we could do a 7night MYW package that included dining plan and tickets for what DVC would cost per year if we financed it through Disney. Even now, annual passes are 3x what my annual dues are.

For us, our income had to increase to make buying DVC and taking WDW trips manageable. If you finance DVC, until it is paid off, you will be probably be paying more annually to Disney than you would booking a week's package through Disney.

Now, that said, I am spending 18 nights in DVC accommodations this year instead of 7!

 

[Disneypubgal]

I have a christmas club account set up for my dues each year..... all during the year I put a little bit away each pay period.... then when we get our dues statement I pay with my Disney Visa card so I can get the points... and then pay the whole balance off.... This way I am getting a double whammy... I use the points towards our annual passes each year and am out of pocket less for those as well...