International Purchaser

[MouseFan Down Under]

Hi!

An Aussie here, who is pretty much over the line in the decision to purchase. I'm thinking around the 150 points, via resale - still not 100% sure on resort - I keep going back and forth between Boardwalk, Beach Club and Bay Lake . I first looked back in 2008 (if only I had bought then!)

A couple of questions:

i. are there any pitfalls being an international owner (except for the fact I will need to pay 30% more because of the exchange rate) ?
ii. I usually go to Disney last week of August / first week of September for anywhere between 10 to 14 days - what would be my best month for use year? I'm thinking September/October - but does it really matter?

Appreciate any advice

 

[Thegoatfeeder]

Hi!

An Aussie here, who is pretty much over the line in the decision to purchase. I'm thinking around the 150 points, via resale - still not 100% sure on resort - I keep going back and forth between Boardwalk, Beach Club and Bay Lake . I first looked back in 2008 (if only I had bought then!)

A couple of questions:

i. are there any pitfalls being an international owner (except for the fact I will need to pay 30% more because of the exchange rate) ?
ii. I usually go to Disney last week of August / first week of September for anywhere between 10 to 14 days - what would be my best month for use year? I'm thinking September/October - but does it really matter?

Appreciate any advice

We're in the UK and bought into DVC about 2 months before Covid happened, so from our experience the only real major pitfall so far has been travel bans and having to make plenty of calls to member services to cancel trips/rearrange trips that we weren't able to take and then to deal with expiring points that we were unable to use. The positive side of this is that to avoid losing points those extended points (they extended expiring points for international owners to the end of March 2022) we took a trip in December and will be taking another one in February, and since its staying on points and the flights are using flight credits from cancelled trips, it kind of feels like 2 free holidays!

But really, major world events like that are kind of impossible to predict so not really sure it counts as a pitfall!

Can't comment on the UY stuff to be honest, because I still find it kind of hard to wrap my head around, we have the same UY for our contracts but travel at different times so we didn't really worry too much about it. But I guess if you have certain times you are most likely to travel then it may be important.

 

[buzzrelly]

Hi!

An Aussie here, who is pretty much over the line in the decision to purchase. I'm thinking around the 150 points, via resale - still not 100% sure on resort - I keep going back and forth between Boardwalk, Beach Club and Bay Lake . I first looked back in 2008 (if only I had bought then!)

A couple of questions:

i. are there any pitfalls being an international owner (except for the fact I will need to pay 30% more because of the exchange rate) ?
ii. I usually go to Disney last week of August / first week of September for anywhere between 10 to 14 days - what would be my best month for use year? I'm thinking September/October - but does it really matter?

Appreciate any advice

Hello, I'm sure people will come along who know about the International piece, but that's not me!

As far as where to purchase goes, any of those are amazing resorts, but with BLT, you get 24 more years than you'd get with BCV and BWV. I actually own at BLT and love it there and I also just bid on a resale contract for BCV because I love it there too. But I am not a young buyer and the 20 years left on the contract doesn't bother me.

As far as Use Year, for trips beginning in August, you would need to have an August Use Year, if not June to give yourself some wiggle room.

 

[MouseFan Down Under]

We're in the UK and bought into DVC about 2 months before Covid happened, so from our experience the only real major pitfall so far has been travel bans and having to make plenty of calls to member services to cancel trips/rearrange trips that we weren't able to take and then to deal with expiring points that we were unable to use. The positive side of this is that to avoid losing points those extended points (they extended expiring points for international owners to the end of March 2022) we took a trip in December and will be taking another one in February, and since its staying on points and the flights are using flight credits from cancelled trips, it kind of feels like 2 free holidays!

But really, major world events like that are kind of impossible to predict so not really sure it counts as a pitfall!

Can't comment on the UY stuff to be honest, because I still find it kind of hard to wrap my head around, we have the same UY for our contracts but travel at different times so we didn't really worry too much about it. But I guess if you have certain times you are most likely to travel then it may be important.

Thank you...yes not withstanding worldwide pandemics!!!

 

[MouseFan Down Under]

Hello, I'm sure people will come along who know about the International piece, but that's not me!

As far as where to purchase goes, any of those are amazing resorts, but with BLT, you get 24 more years than you'd get with BCV and BWV. I actually own at BLT and love it there and I also just bid on a resale contract for BCV because I love it there too. But I am not a young buyer and the 20 years left on the contract doesn't bother me.

As far as Use Year, for trips beginning in August, you would need to have an August Use Year, if not June to give yourself some wiggle room.

Thanks for the use year tip - I'm really struggling to get my head around that!!

I'm certainly not a "young" traveller - 20 years time will put me in my late 60's... - but the length of contract was one of the reasons I was considering BLT. I've never stayed there and it wasn't really on my radar, but I think it is worth considering.

 

[buzzrelly]

Thanks for the use year tip - I'm really struggling to get my head around that!!

It's tricky but then someday it just clicks! You generally want a UY that is just before when you typically travel. Sometimes that's hard to know because your life changes over time, but this might be the one decision easier for you coming from Australia since you pretty much know when you'll be traveling.

I'm certainly not a "young" traveller - 20 years time will put me in my late 60's... - but the length of contract was one of the reasons I was considering BLT. I've never stayed there and it wasn't really on my radar, but I think it is worth considering.

I love BLT, but there are others who don't, so that's hard to say. We just stayed there again in December after staying at BCV and the Poly earlier in the year. I loved BLT just as much as I always have (though it does seem to need a refurb soon). I love the location next to the MK, I love the layout of the rooms…we stayed in a studio this time but have also stayed in the 1 bedrooms in the past and the two full bathrooms can't be beat. I also love being connected to the CR and walking to the monorail. It's just a great resort, but like I said, some people have strong feelings against it so YMMV.

 

[Her Dotness]

Something to consider is that even if age leads you not to care particularly how many years the resort has left, that can make a difference in how much you ask should you need to sell for some reason. A younger prospective buyer may want 40 years left whereas it didn't matter so much to you.

Best advice we got was that old standard--Buy where you'll most want to stay for your first contract.

Addonitis is inevitable; you will want more points and probably at least a small contract in another resort eventually.

 

[Minniemoo15]

Sept/Oct would actually be the worst use year for you, because if you have to cancel your August trip after April/May , you will be past your banking deadline and the points will expire shortly after. You want a Use Year that is right before when you travel - We always go in March, so a February use year works great for us. For example: Our new points load Feb 2022. We are hoping to travel in March 2022, pandemic pending. If we can't go, then I can cancel up to 31 days before and the points get put back into their original use year (Feb 2022). I then have until Feb 2023 to use them, or Sept 2022 to bank them. Lots of time to decide what to do with them.

Based on end of August/Early Sept travel, a June or August use year would work great for you.

As an international owner myself, (Canada), I have had no extra hassle with DVC, besides the exchange rate, like you mentioned. It has been great for our family. Enjoy!

 

[bigorsmall]

Canadian owner here! I bought my first contract last year and look forward to a welcome home trip this Dec.

We always travel in August and December, so we picked August as our use year. If you only go in August, I think June and August both work for you.

 

[RoseGold]

This isn't something I would do without local legal advice. If you die, your heirs are going to have to figure out how to probate property in Floridan and pay US taxes. This isn't something I would want my family to have to figure out.

Selling property in the US is subjecting yourself to the IRS. This is not a formality and can be difficult to comply with. There are many reasons to completely avoid the IRS as a non-US person (or non-US estate) if you can.

Renting points isn't far off the math of buying, especially for BW/BC. (Even getting a cash room is competitive in this discussion.) You have to decide if that slim margin is worth the substantial legal complications in buying foreign real estate.

 

[Royal Consort]

I am an Aussie DVC owner. I own at Grand Floridian, Riviera, and Grand Californian. As others have mentioned your ideal UY would need to be June or Aug for your trips. The other thing you can consider is buy two different resorts and have a split stay. We usually go for two weeks and we have bought VGF to split one week MK area and one week Epcot area. We have two nights to add on at Grand Cal before we fly home. I would caution against Boardwalk or Beach Club due to their limited length now and subsequent value over renting/paying cash. If you buy Bay Lake you have a longer contract that you can sell and recoup some money. We had a few challenges with getting a resale Grand Cal contract signed by a notary for US buying purposes during lockdown but aside from Californian or Hawiian properties, you won't need to do that.

 

[MouseFan Down Under]

I am an Aussie DVC owner. I own at Grand Floridian, Riviera, and Grand Californian. As others have mentioned your ideal UY would need to be June or Aug for your trips. The other thing you can consider is buy two different resorts and have a split stay. We usually go for two weeks and we have bought VGF to split one week MK area and one week Epcot area. We have two nights to add on at Grand Cal before we fly home. I would caution against Boardwalk or Beach Club due to their limited length now and subsequent value over renting/paying cash. If you buy Bay Lake you have a longer contract that you can sell and recoup some money. We had a few challenges with getting a resale Grand Cal contract signed by a notary for US buying purposes during lockdown but aside from Californian or Hawiian properties, you won't need to do that.

Thank you!

Do you have any concerns as another posted bought up about probate/IRS and such when selling?

 

[MouseFan Down Under]

It's tricky but then someday it just clicks! You generally want a UY that is just before when you typically travel. Sometimes that's hard to know because your life changes over time, but this might be the one decision easier for you coming from Australia since you pretty much know when you'll be traveling.




I love BLT, but there are others who don't, so that's hard to say. We just stayed there again in December after staying at BCV and the Poly earlier in the year. I loved BLT just as much as I always have (though it does seem to need a refurb soon). I love the location next to the MK, I love the layout of the rooms…we stayed in a studio this time but have also stayed in the 1 bedrooms in the past and the two full bathrooms can't be beat. I also love being connected to the CR and walking to the monorail. It's just a great resort, but like I said, some people have strong feelings against it so YMMV.

I'm hoping it clicks really soon!!

Appreciate your thoughts and advice!

 

[MouseFan Down Under]

Something to consider is that even if age leads you not to care particularly how many years the resort has left, that can make a difference in how much you ask should you need to sell for some reason. A younger prospective buyer may want 40 years left whereas it didn't matter so much to you.

Best advice we got was that old standard--Buy where you'll most want to stay for your first contract.

Addonitis is inevitable; you will want more points and probably at least a small contract in another resort eventually.

Really good advice - thank you. More to think about.

 

[MouseFan Down Under]

Sept/Oct would actually be the worst use year for you, because if you have to cancel your August trip after April/May , you will be past your banking deadline and the points will expire shortly after. You want a Use Year that is right before when you travel - We always go in March, so a February use year works great for us. For example: Our new points load Feb 2022. We are hoping to travel in March 2022, pandemic pending. If we can't go, then I can cancel up to 31 days before and the points get put back into their original use year (Feb 2022). I then have until Feb 2023 to use them, or Sept 2022 to bank them. Lots of time to decide what to do with them.

Based on end of August/Early Sept travel, a June or August use year would work great for you.

As an international owner myself, (Canada), I have had no extra hassle with DVC, besides the exchange rate, like you mentioned. It has been great for our family. Enjoy!

Thanks!

 

[MouseFan Down Under]

Canadian owner here! I bought my first contract last year and look forward to a welcome home trip this Dec.

We always travel in August and December, so we picked August as our use year. If you only go in August, I think June and August both work for you.

Thank you

 

[MouseFan Down Under]

This isn't something I would do without local legal advice. If you die, your heirs are going to have to figure out how to probate property in Floridan and pay US taxes. This isn't something I would want my family to have to figure out.

Selling property in the US is subjecting yourself to the IRS. This is not a formality and can be difficult to comply with. There are many reasons to completely avoid the IRS as a non-US person (or non-US estate) if you can.

Renting points isn't far off the math of buying, especially for BW/BC. (Even getting a cash room is competitive in this discussion.) You have to decide if that slim margin is worth the substantial legal complications in buying foreign real estate.

Thank you - something I hadn't really considered. Appreciate the insight

 

[Royal Consort]

Thank you!

Do you have any concerns as another posted bought up about probate/IRS and such when selling?

Absolutely none. There are many international owners of DVC around the world. It brings quality of life and owning property in the US isnt insurmountable. If you wanted to add your children to the deed, you can also do that in the future too. As for selling: international owners sell all the time and brokers help with the process. There's the FIRPTA tax etc. but, again, not insurmountable.

 

[MouseFan Down Under]

Absolutely none. There are many international owners of DVC around the world. It brings quality of life and owning property in the US isnt insurmountable. If you wanted to add your children to the deed, you can also do that in the future too. As for selling: international owners sell all the time and brokers help with the process. There's the FIRPTA tax etc. but, again, not insurmountable.

cheers!

 

[Aussie RJ]

Absolutely none. There are many international owners of DVC around the world. It brings quality of life and owning property in the US isnt insurmountable. If you wanted to add your children to the deed, you can also do that in the future too. As for selling: international owners sell all the time and brokers help with the process. There's the FIRPTA tax etc. but, again, not insurmountable.

I'm another Aussie owner..CCV, BLT, BWV, SSR and Aulani. I agree with @Royal Consort, I wouldn't worry about the resale process as there are brokers who can help with the FIRPTA tax including the sponsor of this site. On another note, renting my points during the pandemic has been a breeze.. We love our DVC, we have no regrets.