I had a couple ?'s

[bwillson]

I am looking to get involved in a timeshare resort but i was a little confused on a few things with disney's vacation club. First i was told on a presentation, at a different resort, that the property is deeded on lease term of anywhere from 20 to 50 years. My question reguarding that is the property deeded forever or does it ever run out? One more thing that I was trying to figure out is the difference between interval international and the point system? And if i split my points up is there more than one exchange fee? Can i give my points to other family members? And do they charge there maintence fee's by the # of points you own or is it a set fee?

thanks...

 

[poohj80]

Currently, Disney is selling Saratoga Springs and it is deeded for 50 years. The previous DVC resorts are only deeded for the next 42 years (approximately) so yes they do expire. Each time you want to make an exchange outside of Disney with International Interval, there is an exchaneg fee involved. You can make reservations under anyone's name so you can give points to family members in that way. Your annual maintenance fee is based on the number of points you own - a good estimate seems to be about $4 per point currently.

 

[Scoootch]

Okay...I'll try and help ya out a little

My question reguarding that is the property deeded forever or does it ever run out?

If you buy points at SSR, the current contract runs out in 2054 so it is a little bit longer. SSR is currently the resort that is available to buy points at directly through Disney. All the other DVC resorts (OKW,VWL,BWV's,BCV's,HHI in S.C. and VB in FL) are available via resale and points from those resorts run out in 2042.
How it works is that you buy a certain amount of points (to buy directly from Disney the minimum is 150pts) and each year you get an alotment of that # of points. So if you buy 150pts at SSR you'd get 150pts per year (you'll have a use year - we'll use Aug. as an example)every year in Aug. until the year 2054. Buying pts from SSR resort will allow you to book 11mos. in advance of a scheduled vacation as it would be your home resort. All other DVC resorts you'll be able to book at 7mos.

i split my points up is there more than one exchange fee?

there is no exchange fee to book your points at the DVC resorts...you pay yearly maintenance fees of somewhere around $4.00 or so per point depending on which resort you own pts. but beyond that you just have to pay the amount of pts you need for the size villa you book,the season you book in and the resort you book. They do charge an exchange fee though I believe for the trade outs such as Interval International..I can't really tell you much about how that works though as we have yet to stay somewhere other than WDW and the DVC resorts.

Can i give my points to other family members?

If you mean can you let them stay at a resort on your pts.? Yes absolutely, you just have to book the stay with your points and have their name put on the reservation If you mean, can you actually give your whole contract to family members after you've already bought them with your name on the contract, you can but there's legal things that have to be done to get the new names on the contract and fees involved.

And do they charge there maintence fee's by the # of points you own or is it a set fee?

As I mentioned,you pay yearly maintenance fees of somewhere around $4.00 or so per point depending on which resort you own pts. so it's not a set fee, it's a per pt. thing and fees can go up or down from year to year.

thanks...

You're welcome! And WELCOME to the Dis!

 

[gjw007]

There are basicly two types of timeshare properties: Right to Use (RTU) and Deeded property. Although grossly oversimplified, you can think of these as buying a car or leasing a car. The deeded property is like owning a car; if you take out a loan, the vehicle is yours at the end of the life of the loan. A leased property you make the payments but give the property back at the end of the lease unless you have an agreement to buy the vehicle at the end of the lease. In both cases, you get the benefit of using the car but are responsible for such items as instructions, licensing, gas, etc.

In a deeded property, you own the property once it is paid off. You still have to make the maintanance payments. One way to think of this, although again grossly oversimplifed, is to think of purchasing a condo or townhouse where you make a payment for the common area. Disney does not use this method. The deeded property can be passed on from heir to heir. Some people feel that at the end of a long time period, the property may not be worth passing on to heirs and is not worth the effort getting rid of the property. If a property is properly maintained, it should still retain value.

A RTU allows you to use the property in accordance with the agreement. At the end of the agreement, the property returns to Disney. You still have to make the maintainance payments. I believe, others will correct me if I'm wrong, that during the time period of your ownership, you can transfer the property (if not, you wouldn't be able to find resales) by selling your share or having it passed on from one generation to another. Still, at the end of the original agreement (2042 for all DVC resorts except SSR which is 2054), the property returns to Disney. It benefits the developer to keep the property up since it will be returned to them.

One is not inherently better than the other going on the assumption that the properties are kept up; I have both. DVC is a RTU but my Orange Lake timeshare is deeded property. I enjoy them both. If I'm lucky, I will still be alive (at a happy, active 96) when my SSR agreement expires. Maybe at that time I'll have to apply for a postion at Disney as Father Time (hi hi).