How I calculate my DVC value

[LikeDaisies]

When trying to decide which DVC to choose, I used this method.

{[cost per point x #points per year x #years] + closing cost} = base price. Divide that by [#points per year x #years] to get base price per point.

Base price pp + dues pp (obviously this changes annually so it’s an approximation) = price per point.

Price per point x points required for stay = value of expected stay.

Mix it up for resorts you are interested until you find one that suits your budget and desires!

Example: OKW 75 points ends up at 11.44pp for me, so a studio in adventure season week day is 114.40 per night. POLY may have been 11.23 BUT it requires 15 points so the overall cost is more.

I know some people don’t like to think about it in such great detail, and there’s lots of intangibles, but it helped me make my decision!

 

[sethschroeder]

Nevermind you did account for maintenance fees.

 

[AdamsMum]

I just bought where I liked. I'm kind of simple that way. Still happy with my BWV.

 

[Doberge]

That's pretty solid.

I've started working on a chart to compare per night and per week costs using math that's pretty much takes your "value of expected stay" because you're right that different point requirements and point acquisition costs (what I call your "base price") make home resorts difficult to compare.

 

[LikeDaisies]

Ooo if you can link that, I get really nerdy for those stats!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Years ago I had a spreadsheet that would show me the cost of various rooms at all resorts depending on what points I used for the reservation. (own at more than 1 resort) Certainly fun to look at.

There's actually a lot of people around that have run numbers and kept spreadsheets.

 

[LikeDaisies]

Does anyone know if closing costs are the same for every resort/price point?

 

[PolyRob]

Does anyone know if closing costs are the same for every resort/price point?

My guide said it was dynamic based on resort, number of points, and whether or not you are financing.

I've asked him for different scenarios and it sounded like he was plugging the different numbers into his computer to get the results.

 

[Oozma_Kappa]

I just bought where I liked. I'm kind of simple that way. Still happy with my BWV.

This! I made a spreadsheet in the past, but over analysis led to paralysis, and it never was used as the deciding factor.

 

[crvetter]

My guide said it was dynamic based on resort, number of points, and whether or not you are financing.

I've asked him for different scenarios and it sounded like he was plugging the different numbers into his computer to get the results.

So generally there are fixed costs like document fees, admin fee (195), and recording fees. Then variable costs based on purchase amount: title insurance, deed transfer tax, and mortgage transfer tax.

All in all if two resorts will be for the exact same dollar amount the closing costs should be identical

 

[Littlelulu01]

Does anyone know if closing costs are the same for every resort/price point?

They vary depending on brokers. Aulani can be higher. Closing costs typically increase the larger the contract. An aulani contract I purchased with fidelity had $195 administrative fee but the other closing costs were a few hundred less than other brokers so I called it a win especially considering price per point.

I’m not a fan of dividing out years remaining on contract and then adding to mf’s. If dividing $ paid today over 50 future years it seems only fair to examine what the upfront purchase would have earned if invested for the 50 years vs paid for Disney rooms upfront for 50 years. That analysis can get pretty muddled and debated. Plus I don’t know if I’ll be using all the years. LOTS of changes occur in 50 years! so I figured out 35% discount cash rate hotel room was going for at the time of purchase, and then figured how many vacations it would take including mf’s before dvc started saving me $. I got very lucky with ap savings and some years with akv value scores so break even happened much faster than I anticipated.

 

[PolyRob]

So generally there are fixed costs like document fees, admin fee (195), and recording fees. Then variable costs based on purchase amount: title insurance, deed transfer tax, and mortgage transfer tax.

All in all if two resorts will be for the exact same dollar amount the closing costs should be identical

Makes sense that it goes based on overall price which will be determined by the number of points and resort.

I had asked for closing costs on 110 points at VGF with no financing. 110 total is $557.75 whereas 75 is $448.10 and 35 is $333.70. A difference of $224.05 if I want/have to break it up.

 

[crvetter]

Makes sense that it goes based on overall price which will be determined by the number of points and resort.

I had asked for closing costs on 110 points at VGF with no financing. 110 total is $557.75 whereas 75 is $448.10 and 35 is $333.70. A difference of $224.05 if I want/have to break it up.

Yeah you basically are paying the admin fee twice (about 195) and deed recording fee twice (about 30). That is ultimately what is leading to that 224.05.

Some members report on the board they dropped the title insurance which is optional because they felt there is no way DVC would ever allow liens on their properties and DVC wouldn’t ever sell without a clean title. So you could drop that. I personally chose not to and definitely wouldn’t do this for resale. I just felt the small charge (around 250) wasn’t worth the risk of running naked on the title insurance.

 

[stewart715]

I just bought where I liked. I'm kind of simple that way. Still happy with my BWV.

Ditto, availability is getting harder there and the point charts are cheap so I needed less points at BWV than any of the other resorts. Especially during magic season where cheapest studio at BWV is 108 points but at the newest resort (RVA) it is 160 points. Even during adventure season the BWV minimum of 76 points is a huge difference from the 109 required at RVA. So, I can stay in a BWV studio during magic season for the same number of points it would cost me to stay at RVA during adventure season...and still have one left over.

 

[jerseyduke]

I used this method:

Where do I want to stay?
Bought there.

Now, after a second contract to curb my add-on-itis (in which I used the above method), I may consider some "7 month points" which would be SSR as they are the best value in terms of $ only, and at 7 months, all points are the same.

I am not knocking OWK - I like the resort - but if you are comparing that to the Poly (on the monorail) its kind of apples to oranges (not to mention, compare the actual prices for those rooms!)
You compare what you are paying a night, and that is legit. But what if you factor in what you would be paying a night if you paid cash?

If you are only looking at numbers, seeing every resort as equal, which you seem to be doing (and hey, thats fine, its just not me) then you should buy SSR.

 

[chainkid]

Bought where I wanted to stay and that was all that has ever mattered. Cost wasnot a factor . Best investment I could have made 20 years ago with no spread sheets to look thru lol

 

[stewart715]

Bought where I wanted to stay and that was all that has ever mattered. Cost wasnot a factor . Best investment I could have made 20 years ago with no spread sheets to look thru lol

Yup. While I'm not condoning being financially irresponsible in any way, it's my opinion that if you have to sift through several calculations and permutations in excel for weeks comparing every scenario under the sun to see if it's "worth it," DVC is probably not for you. Obviously every purchase requires due diligence but at the end of the day, this is a luxury purchase and should come last after basically everything else in life. The cost of your contract should not affect your finances negatively or make things "tight." After all, no one needs to visit WDW every year and stay at their finest properties.

 

[chainkid]

Paid cash each time so it was a luxury buy with no downside to my budget. I love BWV and stay there 90% of the time and book 11 months out so I get what I want . Will only stay somewhere else on short notice trip .

 

[LikeDaisies]

Totally agree with the buy where you want to stay mentality! With a teacher’s income, I can’t really afford the monorail lines or other upper level DVC resorts, but I could afford some of the lower price per point ones. I couldn’t decide between my two favorites in my budget (where I am excited to stay!). AKL and OKW were a coin toss so to help me decide, that’s the formula I went with. I actually thought all the charts and sheets were fun and didn’t take all that long! (Though I lesson plan and do comparative data collection in my gradebook all day so it’s second-nature to me!) I’m happy with my decision and definitely bought somewhere I wanted to stay, For anyone else like me who is stuck between two great options and wants to leave it up to something objective to decide, I thought this was a good method to help me choose and I suggest it!

 

[AdamsMum]

I just bought where I liked. I'm kind of simple that way. Still happy with my BWV.

Bear in mind that where I wanted to stay cost me $87 pp resale in 2007, then a direct add on at $98 pp. My decision was completely emotional. I got off the boat at Boardwalk, roamed around and decided it was the place for me. When I got home I went to the DVC boards and read some posts, badgered then DH into agreeing to the purchase (only with your vacation budget, he said - grumpy) then checked out the timeshare store and lo and behold there was a small contract I could afford right away. I called and made the offer, very little thought, it could have blown up in my face, but I guess I was lucky.