Is Buying into DVC While You're Young a Good Investment?

[FastEddie17]

Buying into DVC is a personal decision for everyone so as long as YOU feel comfortable doing so financially, you’ve done the research and think you’ll be going to Disney fairly regularly for years, I say go for it. You always see posts here from people who say they wish they knew about DVC years ago or bought in earlier. You never hear someone say they’re glad they waited around until prices increased, or Disney further increased minimum buy-ins direct for full benefits, or passed additional restrictions for resale buyers.

 

[Ben E N]

Buying into DVC is a personal decision for everyone so as long as YOU feel comfortable doing so financially, you’ve done the research and think you’ll be going to Disney fairly regularly for years, I say go for it. You always see posts here from people who say they wish they knew about DVC years ago or bought in earlier. You never hear someone say they’re glad they waited around until prices increased, or Disney further increased minimum buy-ins direct for full benefits, or passed additional restrictions for resale buyers.

Don't ignore the fact that there are many people who bought direct and then sold at a loss. This includes Riviera buyers who never even stayed there. The people on these boards are going to be happy customers for the most part. They like sharing that joy with one another and helping others find it. These board members represent a very tiny percentage of DVC owners, though, and I'm sure there are many who view it as more of a burden than a luxury.

 

[crisi]

Buying into DVC is a personal decision for everyone so as long as YOU feel comfortable doing so financially, you’ve done the research and think you’ll be going to Disney fairly regularly for years, I say go for it. You always see posts here from people who say they wish they knew about DVC years ago or bought in earlier. You never hear someone say they’re glad they waited around until prices increased, or Disney further increased minimum buy-ins direct for full benefits, or passed additional restrictions for resale buyers.

ME! I'm glad I waited. And I post this every time someone says "no one ever says..." I do, and I do every time I notice this line of thought come up.

When I went down to WDW for my honeymoon with my Disney loving husband, OKW had just started selling. And we looked at it - two people in their early twenties fresh out of college with "good" jobs. We owned a house. We had no student loans. We'd been together three years. And we decided (well, I decided) that it was a lot of money at that moment.

Eighteen months later my husband found his soulmate - and it wasn't me. So suddenly I was divorced - with a good job for my age, but with a house I had to pay for and a car loan. Owning DVC would have been bad.

So then I got remarried - to my own soulmate. This one stuck - married twenty five years this year. And we went to WDW for our honeymoon. And we didn't buy. Which was a good thing because the next five years brought a new house in the suburbs, infertility treatments, adoption, and two kids arriving within six months - huge daycare bills - and very little money for vacation. And several layoff scares that had us up nights wondering how we'd pay the mortgage. And then, rather suddenly, things fell into place. Daycare got cheaper. My husband's career took off. Mine got very stable with a job switch. An unexpected inheritance moved us to "no car loans ever again" And a bonus let us buy DVC for cash.

Had I bought DVC when we first looked at it, I would have lost it when my first marriage fell apart - and taken a loss. Had I bought it the second time we considered it, it would have been a millstone that we would have sold to afford infertility treatments and adoption and a house big enough for our kids. Had we bought the THIRD time we looked, it would have added to the stress of job anxiety. At any of those times, DVC would have been a financial burden and we would have taken a loss on the sale had we needed to sell.

 

[tjkraz]

My wife and I had the opportunity and means to buy when we were newlyweds. But we waited more than 6 years to make sure we had higher priorities addressed first. It's not just the roughly $300 in monthly payments for the points + dues, but thousands more for park tickets, transportation and food.

If we hadn't waited, it definitely would have jeopardized our ability to buy our first house, renovate and furnish the house, have kids...and take time off work to raise those kids.

Don't be hasty. Think carefully about what other sacrifices you'll be forced to make in the interest of buying DVC.

 

[crisi]

I totally understand what you are saying but, I have been to WDW and DL a total of 12-14 times in my life and DL twice last year (I live in Ohio). The issue is not if we will like Disney, the issue is will we get the best possible deal if we wait 2-5 years down the line when its almost $200/point or even more. We like the idea of paying something like this down or off before we have children to ensure we have a "home" when we get to that point.

Also the issue of us not being married is also not an issue to us because we can easily go down to the court house, sign a paper and we're "married". We care about the experiences in our lives and would like to secure that while we are financially unrestricted by things like children, wedding, etc.

You will never pay this down or off. Disney is expensive. Dues will come every year. Each trip will involve park tickets. Those kids you don't have yet will be Disney adults before you know it. I'm looking at $1200 in dues or something (I haven't opened the bill yet) on our contract every year. Taking our family to Disney for a week (which now that the kids are adults doesn't really happen) is another $1800 in airfare and $2000 in park tickets. $5000 a trip - before we start eating or adding any extras. $5000 a trip - that's a lot when looking now at making college tuition payments. Its a lot when I pay for insurance on four cars - two driven by young adults. Its a lot when the dog needs dental work and the furnace is twenty years old and the house needs to be reroofed and my mother in law needs a little help making ends meet and I really should get new carpet one of these years.

At some time soon you will have to look at things in terms of opportunity costs - if you own DVC and go to Disney regularly, what are you going to be giving up? A car that isn't on the verge of breaking down permanently? Braces for those kids? Summer sports programs so your kid can make the team? Or just trading a trip to Europe for a trip to Disney? Giving up buying a boat? I suspect that you don't know yet - and you'll never "know" - but some time will give you a better idea, which is why buying young is a bad idea.

 

[Splash Mountain Fan]

Annual maintenance fees and time value of your upfront cash outlay (opportunity cost) play a larger role in total overall cost over the 50 year contract than the upfront cost. Borrowing costs only add to that. We made the jump in 2006. We had visited WDW annually since 2002 and were ready to commit annual trips over the long haul by that trip. It’s true that the point value has appreciated for us and we could sell the contract today at profit. However, with the purchase being a long term lease, it will some point swing the other way and begin to depreciate. Disney‘s current price point combined with “buying resale” impact to blue card status now factor into resale values differently than before.

 

[DVC Doctor]

My take is much simpler - if you can pay cash, then do it as it will have immediate value and can be always be resold in the future for probably close or more to what you paid (assume a 10 year hold) or a slight loss if you sell under 10 years, but the savings will offset that loss.

However, if you only can afford a 10% down and then finance with huge interest payments (10-14% then I would NOT buy, however I would rent DVC points from a owner or broker and enjoy the DVC experience for much less than you would pay Disney cash rates.

 

[Wakey]

OP you say the value of Riviera points will increase- no guarantees there, research the resale restrictions and also consider a contract at somewhere like Copper Creek or Bay Lake resale.
I only bought DVC when I was earning quite a decent amount, and had the spare cash to buy 400 points and pay $2500 a year dues without missing it- with no mortgage, a pension etc already sorted. I was 45 when I was happy just throwing money at this.

 

[DVC_HK]

So I pretty much just scanned this post but for my two cents my DW and I bought into DVC nearly 3 years ago now. We were 22 and 23 at the time with both of us finishing college and working small part time jobs. We were only dating so not even engaged when we went on a Disney vacation together and wanting some extra fast passes and gift card took the tour saying we had no possible way to buy into it even if we wanted to. Fast forward to the tour where we had fallen in love with the concept of coming back over and over so we talked to the guide and he set us up with 50 points directly to SSR. That was over Labor day weekend 2017 and we imminently start booking two night trips soon as we could. That February I surprised her with a glass slipper at breakfast at CRR with a ring inside of it and we were married this past November after us graduating from college in May. In that time we bought 75 more points at SSR and over the honeymoon 125 at RIV. We saw Riv and knew that is where we want our family to grow up at and where we can watch our future children enjoy.

 

[DVC Doctor]

That February I surprised her with a glass slipper at breakfast at CRR with a ring inside of it and we were married this past November after us graduating from college in May. In that time we bought 75 more points at SSR and over the honeymoon 125 at RIV. We saw Riv and knew that is where we want our family to grow up at and where we can watch our future children enjoy.

Wow, very romantic

 

[lorenae]

I would advise purchasing ONLY if you have NO other debt (school, credit card, etc.) and can swing it totally on your own. Put only your name on the deed and plan to pay off within 5 years or less. You are very young and your fiance is still in school. A lot will change in your life in 5 years....possibly a marriage and buying a home.
DO NOT think of this as an investment ...it is not. It is prepaying your future vacations.

This. Do you own your home? Going to buy a home, car, etc, on credit?

It is NOT an investment, it is a vacation plan. If you plan on spending that much yearly on vacations, it could be a good deal (don’t forget the MFs, which may add $1000 a year to your costs).

Even at an advanced age, I don’t spend that much on vacations yearly, and I go to WDW often, trips in the continental US quarterly, Europe yearly, etc- but I’m a budget traveler.

I’m going to WDW again in May (just went last week) and taking my grandsons so I’ll fly with them, and the total cost of our week in May will be less than $3000.

For me, no matter how much I’ve loved WDW since my first visit in 1971, DVC is never a good deal. But for others, who want deluxe accommodations and don’t mind planning a year in advance for them, it could be.

For someone who has to think about school (possibly debt?), owning a home, finding a job after school (will you possibly relocate for him?), etc, unfortunately going into debt for a vacation plan seems to be a terrible idea to me.

 

[Miffy]

OP--To answer the question that's the title of your post: No. Buying into DVC when you're young is not a good investment. Delete "when you're young" from that sentence and the answer is still no. Why? Because DVC isn't an investment. Other posters have noted this, and it's true.

If you bought DVC you would not be investing in anything. You'd be buying points in a timeshare system. Period. To me, this is only a good idea if you have so much cash lying around that you might as well put it somewhere and you like WDW.

If you'd be financing this purchase, don't do it. Especially at the Riviera, whose resale value is still a big question mark, since Riv resale purchasers will be able to stay only at the Riviera.

These pieces of advice are coming to you from someone who never bought DVC, for many reasons. I go to WDW all the time and stay onsite. There are so many nice resorts there at all price points. If I have a time when I can't afford to go, I don't go. I'm never stuck having to pay maintenance fees on a vacation I may not be able to take. Yes, I've probably spent more at WDW than I would have had I bought DVC at some point, but that's okay.

One huge advantage to reserving a room in a WDW resort with a room-only reservation is that you can cancel it without penalty 5 days ahead of your arrival date. I've had to move or change reservations several times in my years of vacationing at WDW. Having a room booked directly thru WDW makes it easy to move things around--assuming they have availability. This is not so easy with DVC points.

I get that you're in love with WDW (me too). But there are other ways to stay there and enjoy it without having to pay an enormous fee upfront.

 

[DVC_HK]

Wow, very romantic

Thank you! Soon as we got home from our Labor day trip that we bought our first set of points I called Disney to find a way to propose on a grand scale and they helped me out. We had a professional Disney photographer there taking our photos. I think them walking up with a sliver dome and plate with a photographer gave the surprise away lol

 

[DVC_HK]

OP--To answer the question that's the title of your post: No. Buying into DVC when you're young is not a good investment. Delete "when you're young" from that sentence and the answer is still no. Why? Because DVC isn't an investment. Other posters have noted this, and it's true.

If you bought DVC you would not be investing in anything. You'd be buying points in a timeshare system. Period. To me, this is only a good idea if you have so much cash lying around that you might as well put it somewhere and you like WDW.

If you'd be financing this purchase, don't do it. Especially at the Riviera, whose resale value is still a big question mark, since Riv resale purchasers will be able to stay only at the Riviera.

These pieces of advice are coming to you from someone who never bought DVC, for many reasons. I go to WDW all the time and stay onsite. There are so many nice resorts there at all price points. If I have a time when I can't afford to go, I don't go. I'm never stuck having to pay maintenance fees on a vacation I may not be able to take. Yes, I've probably spent more at WDW than I would have had I bought DVC at some point, but that's okay.

One huge advantage to reserving a room in a WDW resort with a room-only reservation is that you can cancel it without penalty 5 days ahead of your arrival date. I've had to move or change reservations several times in my years of vacationing at WDW. Having a room booked directly thru WDW makes it easy to move things around--assuming they have availability. This is not so easy with DVC points.

I get that you're in love with WDW (me too). But there are other ways to stay there and enjoy it without having to pay an enormous fee upfront.

I disagree, We have 125 of SSR points we rent out that has paid off our dues and the rest of our loan with DVC on those points. Now we are definitely in a different situation now with both my DW and I working for jobs that have truly blessed us with fiances we never had when we first bought in but we have been comfortably been able afford DVC and put money away for our first house. We were almost the same as them when we got our SSR points and we have never regretted having them once. As everyone says this is just prepaying for vacations but there is eventually a break even point for it still

 

[DisMomKY]

ME! I'm glad I waited. And I post this every time someone says "no one ever says..." I do, and I do every time I notice this line of thought come up.

When I went down to WDW for my honeymoon with my Disney loving husband, OKW had just started selling. And we looked at it - two people in their early twenties fresh out of college with "good" jobs. We owned a house. We had no student loans. We'd been together three years. And we decided (well, I decided) that it was a lot of money at that moment.

Eighteen months later my husband found his soulmate - and it wasn't me. So suddenly I was divorced - with a good job for my age, but with a house I had to pay for and a car loan. Owning DVC would have been bad.

So then I got remarried - to my own soulmate. This one stuck - married twenty five years this year. And we went to WDW for our honeymoon. And we didn't buy. Which was a good thing because the next five years brought a new house in the suburbs, infertility treatments, adoption, and two kids arriving within six months - huge daycare bills - and very little money for vacation. And several layoff scares that had us up nights wondering how we'd pay the mortgage. And then, rather suddenly, things fell into place. Daycare got cheaper. My husband's career took off. Mine got very stable with a job switch. An unexpected inheritance moved us to "no car loans ever again" And a bonus let us buy DVC for cash.

Had I bought DVC when we first looked at it, I would have lost it when my first marriage fell apart - and taken a loss. Had I bought it the second time we considered it, it would have been a millstone that we would have sold to afford infertility treatments and adoption and a house big enough for our kids. Had we bought the THIRD time we looked, it would have added to the stress of job anxiety. At any of those times, DVC would have been a financial burden and we would have taken a loss on the sale had we needed to sell.

I am going to echo all of this! We really wanted to buy in 2015 when we had a 1 year old and then life happened. We had to switch to a daycare that cost 2X as much, dh switched jobs, insurance got super expensive, a new surprise baby came along in 2017, daycare doubled, etc. in 2019, we paid off 40,000in student loans completely, DS started school and we moved so daycare is much, much cheaper. We are financing our DVc which most don’t recommend but we have no other debt really besides one car and a house. We plan to pay in off within 36 months so we feel it’s the right time. We also bought (well closing on one today and sending the other to ROFR tomorrow) two 100 pt contracts vs 1 200 pt contract so we can sell later if needed but keep one.

 

[DisMomKY]

This. Do you own your home? Going to buy a home, car, etc, on credit?

It is NOT an investment, it is a vacation plan. If you plan on spending that much yearly on vacations, it could be a good deal (don’t forget the MFs, which may add $1000 a year to your costs).

Even at an advanced age, I don’t spend that much on vacations yearly, and I go to WDW often, trips in the continental US quarterly, Europe yearly, etc- but I’m a budget traveler.

I’m going to WDW again in May (just went last week) and taking my grandsons so I’ll fly with them, and the total cost of our week in May will be less than $3000.

For me, no matter how much I’ve loved WDW since my first visit in 1971, DVC is never a good deal. But for others, who want deluxe accommodations and don’t mind planning a year in advance for them, it could be.

For someone who has to think about school (possibly debt?), owning a home, finding a job after school (will you possibly relocate for him?), etc, unfortunately going into debt for a vacation plan seems to be a terrible idea to me.

This is a good Point too. We spent $7000 on our last vacation and $8000 on the one the year before at Contemporary. I could’ve bought 100pts with that money and that’s why we decided to buy. In all, we have spent close to 30k on 4 Disney vacations so why not buy in and only have dues and tickets after that?

 

[tjkraz]

I disagree, We have 125 of SSR points we rent out that has paid off our dues and the rest of our loan with DVC on those points. Now we are definitely in a different situation now with both my DW and I working for jobs that have truly blessed us with fiances we never had when we first bought in but we have been comfortably been able afford DVC and put money away for our first house. We were almost the same as them when we got our SSR points and we have never regretted having them once. As everyone says this is just prepaying for vacations but there is eventually a break even point for it still

Clearly you are very comfortable with your decision and I'm sure everyone is pleased things worked out well.

That said, OP is asking for advice. On the basis of what she has posted here--and your familiarity with other unmarried 22/23 year old couples--are you comfortable recommending the exact same path to her?

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

We got married in 1993 and honeymooned at Disney World. First heard of DVC then, but there's no way we could have afforded it then, and at the time, wondered if we would ever be able to afford it! As we have been to WDW dozens of times since (almost always staying onsite), and very often thought about buying DVC. As it turned out, we didn't buy until we were 48 (last year). I'm glad we waited, even though the price we paid now was higher, blah blah blah... For full disclosure, I used to be a "don't finance DVC" person, but when we bought, we did finance about 30% of the purchase price (put 70% down).

Over the 26 years, our family didn't grow as we expected it to when we were 23. Ended up not having kids until we were 36. Financial situation was all over the place--we each went back to school at one point, we each had major health issues that came and went, huge swings in our income, etc. There were times when even just the annual dues would have been an issue. And until this past year, we have been happy to stay in one regular room, so just booking what our budget allowed each year worked. It's been our experience that we did not think DVC was worth it for us if we were only going to book a studio anyway.

That's just my own experience, and of course I'm looking back on it, so it's 20-20!

 

[DVC_HK]

Clearly you are very comfortable with your decision and I'm sure everyone is pleased things worked out well.

That said, OP is asking for advice. On the basis of what she has posted here--and your familiarity with other unmarried 22/23 year old couples--are you comfortable recommending the exact same path to her?

If they have the money coming in that is reliable and can handle an emergency bill or two yes but not at RIV. I would suggest the lowest amount they could sell to them or resale. We caught a very lucky break when all you needed was 50 direct for membership and we chose SSR because it was the cheapest per point and dues. That is what we did and worked our points up as our careers have taken off but we were both working at that point and my job in a college kitchen was enough for the time being to pay the monthly DVC bill. I would suggest a very small contract that gets your toe in the water but 100 at RIV is too much at this point to me.

 

[gabbyenovak]

Again, I appreciate everyone's input as it was very helpful to help us make a decision. We decided to buy in and along with that, we got 100 "free" points and we were able to lock in RIV's pricing before it was scheduled to go up. We both thoroughly enjoyed our experience there and ultimately we could see ourselves spending many vacations at that resort alone. Everyone has their opinions but, for me, RIV is very homey and reminds me of the time I spent in Europe, as well. Glad to finally be a member!

Thank you all again!