Just got back...and i think i am buying DVC!!!

[tmli]

Made the mistake of going on the tour....should have known better. I am about ready to get 150 pts at SSR using Disney financing. As a Canadian is there anything i should know? My guide told me as long as i have a US funds account they will take payments/fees out of there monthly? Anything different for us to consider than our american friends?

I know all the reasons i want to do this...are there any reasons i shouldn't?

Once I call and say yes what is the procedure from there....translation...how quick can i get back home?

 

[mbb]

You won't regret it..

The ONLY thing we've found out that was "news to us" is that if you ever sell your DVC, you'll have to pay a USFederal tax on the sale, around.. 10%
I'm not sure wht it is, or how it works - but it might be something you want to ask your guide about (and then let us know what you found out!! LOL!!)

Other than that..WooHoo!! Congratulations!!

 

[CharlesTD]

Congrats we chose to have the payment come off our Visa rather than opening an account in the US and transfering money into it this added a percentage point to the APR but it is so easy adn then we pay the card off. We also have the dues come off our Visa thisa way we know we don't have to worry about forgetting to transfer money to another account. Once you call and say yes you will need to put a deposit down and depending on teh incentives we chose to seel back our first years points with our contract and our add ons they will send you the papers via Fed Ex and you will have it in a couple days you fill them out get them signed by a notary and send them back. It is usually a couple weeks till teh finance people send you a letter telling you everything is A OK.

 

[tmli]

Thanks for the tips....I am a little nervous about the investment. The more hours i get away from Disney the more I am really weighing it all out.

Of course being a newly single mother makes me wonder about the credit approval....although the downpayment and the monthly payments are no problem. My guide says don't worry about it, problem is everything was in my ex's name for the last 10 years and i have basically no credit....classic mistake I know.

Hmmm...what to do....first I need to be certain this is what I want to do...then I need to figure out if financing will even approve me. This all seemed so simple 48 hours ago...now of course the pixie dust is settling!!!

 

[Susan--Ontario]

We bought at SSR a year ago March and the process is very very easy. We called our guide (make sure you ask about any deals they have going on. We were told on our tour that the $10 per point deal reduction was only available if we purchased that day. We purchased a year later and were able to take advantage of the deal.

He then put our deposit on our Mastercard. We received the paperwork in the mail a few days later. There is a 1-800 number for you to call and someone goes over the paperwork with you in detail if you like. We had to take the papers to our lawyer to have our signatures notarized. We fedexed them back and that was it. We did use Disney financing. It is more expensive then getting it here, but they would finance it over a lot longer time which makes the montly payments that more manageable. Our payments go on our Mastercard, as well as our yearly dues. We then just pay off our card and still get PC points to boot.

The interest is calculated monthly on the mortgage (because you are buying real estate) and you can pay off large chunks whenever you like (or when our dollar is doing well) and it will be reflected in your interest that month. We have yet to exercise that option. There is no penalty for paying off early either.

Not all provinces are allowed to purchase DVC from home. We're in Ontario and we were allowed to do this no problem.

The only other thing I can say is "GO FOR IT NOW!!!!!". We should have bought in years ago.

Oh yeah............

Welcome Home Hanname!!!

 

[pjpoohbear]

Just to chime in about payments.

We do payments on our MC, we asked about monthly payments from a bank account directly. "Only on an American Bank based account" But we are able to do automatic payments on the MC. And like Susan said we can make extra payments when it suits us, we payed off half our loan (via Disney) just before closing. So now I have a little under 4 years left to pay at the 10 year montly payment amount. Then Mom says I will get to pay the maintance instead of her, lol.

Credit via Disney, Mom is a single income too, and we did not include me on the deed or loan for now because of my school loans. She was approved within a couple of weeks of our return home. You have time, if you are not approved this time, and you still think that it would be a good thing for your family, then work out a plan to improve your status, and try again in a year or two. No credit history is sometime easier to overcome then bad history.

And if you were offered the sell back of first year points and you are ok with not having any points for your last year, take the offer. When we did it in Jan 04 on the magic it gave us $10/point off. Then we just borrowed points for our first two trips. And now we are down to just 22 points borrowed for this fall's trip then by June '06 we will be in the current use year once again.

Penny

 

[tmli]

I am glad i have asked here. My guide said and asked someone else to verify...that the monthly payments could be automatically taken from a US funds account...it didn't have to be a US bank account. I am going to call again and have things clarified.

I can't have it come off my credit card because my limit is so small. First time ever having a major credit card on my own, they gave me a small limit to prove myself with. If they won't withdraw from a US funds account could I send monthly cheques. I plan on doing 10 years but will be paying it off as quick as possible.

What to do, what to do....best part is this is my decision. All mine!!!

 

[CharlesTD]

We were told no it had to be an US account in a US bank not a US funds account in Canada.

 

[riu girl]

tmli, sorry I have no advice to share, I just wanted to wish you luck with your decision.
Suzy V.

 

[OnMedic]

Here is my advise...

If this vacation package suites you, go for it. Regardless of what timeshare company you choose, and the type of points and weeks you plan to stay, make sure you are comfortable with the ownership, the payments and the usage you feel you will get out of the ownership.

Once you are comfortable, choose the financing that makes the most sense! I personally feel that financing in USD is a risky venture. The FX rate is unpredictable and may change at anytime. Lock in now at the high Canadian dollar buy using a lower interest line of credit in CAD. Also, investigate the RBC Centrura option. You get preferred exchange rate of the bank rate instead of paying + 2-3% by exchange fee with a credit card. A credit card is costing you MORE! If the dollar starts to go down, you will pay more!

Cheers,

Steve

 

[Disney Fanatic]

Here is my advise...

If this vacation package suites you, go for it. Regardless of what timeshare company you choose, and the type of points and weeks you plan to stay, make sure you are comfortable with the ownership, the payments and the usage you feel you will get out of the ownership.

Once you are comfortable, choose the financing that makes the most sense! I personally feel that financing in USD is a risky venture. The FX rate is unpredictable and may change at anytime. Lock in now at the high Canadian dollar buy using a lower interest line of credit in CAD. Also, investigate the RBC Centrura option. You get preferred exchange rate of the bank rate instead of paying + 2-3% by exchange fee with a credit card. A credit card is costing you MORE! If the dollar starts to go down, you will pay more!

Steve

I think this is good solid advice.

We too are looking right now to buy and the dollar seems very good right now. There is no telling if the dollar will go way down again and you will be paying much more.

I picked up the RBC Centura pamphlet because I too understand that you have to have a US dollar account in a US bank. I have to call to see what the svc charges are but if you keep a $750 us balance, and withdrawls would be free. May be something to consider. It looks like you can do online banking with this account just like you do in Canada (if thats how you bank) and transfer right from your Canadian account to your US account if needed. It looks preety good to me.

This will help you avoid the 2.8% service fee the credit cards charge. It seems that the exchange rate on the cc's is also a bit more than the bank direct.

Whatever you decide, good luck with your decision. I know it is a hard decision because we are currently looking at all the angles as well.

 

[CharlesTD]

I am glad I have my payments coming off my TD Visa especially being a TD employee we don't get hit with the service charges most cards do. We have no conversion fee etc just the straight exchange rate and not the inflated bank exchange rate either. Even with that the CC option is so easy it was a no brainer for us to be honest. I do not do buiseness with RBC bad experiance when I was in university and will never deal with them again.

 

[OnMedic]

I only bank with RBC for the USD side of things. The RBC Centura Access account has been great for us. The service fees are as follow:

$3.95/Month for Basic Account. Free if +$700 balance
Standard bank FX rate

$30.00/Month for Premier Account. Free if over $2,500 balance
Preferred FX rate (Upto 2% better then above)
Free RBC USD Gold Visa
Plus others, but the above are the key points.

I would strongly suggest a Canadian Loan or Line of Credit and pay the DVC balance now, while the CAD is high. Then pay the LOC or Loan as you would a regular loan.

If I remember correctly, the DVC interest rate was around 12.9%. Then you say you are going to pay by VISA... add Bank exchange rate, plus 2-3% VISA exchange fee, then consider even a 4 cent drop in the dollar, let alone the possibility of upto a 25 cent drop to 2002 rates. (Remember, the DVC loan will be for 10 years!) Now, what if you don't pay the VISA off 100% this month, add another 12-20% (interest rate) on to the cost of the ownership! SOUNDS VERY Expensive by the time it is paid off, especially for an RTU (Lease).

Now, if you get a loan or LOC through RBC (or elswhere), pay the DVC balance ONE time at the preferred rate and then you have a balance owing at 6-10%, in Canadian dollars!

Then get the USD Visa for your Maintanance Fees and other USD charges or purchases, and then transfer money to RBC to pay the USD VISA. No additional exchange fees for the VISA transactions.

We were lucky enough to pay cash but if I had to finance, which will probably be the case on our next ownership, this is how I would go about it!

I hope this info helps make the lease as cost efficient as possible.

Cheers,

Steve

 

[Susan--Ontario]

You're right Steve, however a Canadian bank will only loan you money for 4 or 5 years and that made the monthly payments a little too much for us. We realize that we are paying more in interest but it was a cash flow decision. Hopefully we will be able to make room on our line of credit and pay down some of our DVC debt soon.

Disney makes everything so easy and they don't make you feel like a criminal when you want to borrow the money (unlike some Canadian banks).

Tracey, is there someone's credit card you could use and then pay them the money every month??

 

[OnMedic]

Susan,

I was unaware that the banks would not go beyond 5 years. How about a Line of Credit with a 2% minimum monthly payment. A prime example would be ING Direct, and the interest rate would be sub 6% I beleive. At 2%, your monthly payment on 150 points would be under $340 Canadian, and you would have it payed of in around 4 yours if you maintained the $340 payment until the balance is $0.00 and not decrease the payments with the balance decreasing. I just don;t want to see anyone pay more then they have to, especially on a timeshare that is leased and not owned.

Just food for thought!

Cheers,

Steve

 

[tmli]

Alot of great suggestions....my situation doesn't allow for a line of credit or probably even a Canadian loan. I am a newly separated single mother who was a stay at home mom for years to look after ds who has some special needs. I owned a business with ex for a few years, but re-entered the work force by necessity last year. I work a fulltime and part time job and make a good yearly income. Because of these things I don't have a strong employment history...add to that the fact that everything was always put as my ex the primary borrower, card holder etc I have no credit. My credit report shows one thing, the mastercard i got on my own after separation. Which I finally got by someone that was willing to take the chance...my balance is $200.

I have the downpayment, I can afford the monthly payments. I can't make the payments via a credit card and don't have a US bank account. I will look into opening one. I am rebuilding my life one step at a time. Disney is not something I will give up and I have the financial means to not have to. I just sold my own home and I am not yet ready for home ownership again...I don't think. My thinking is to take a couple of years, enjoy life, do the things I couldn't do for myself before (like that personal trainer i go to 3x's a week), and have a nice savings account. Truth be told I think I am a little afraid to own a home on my own right now.

Just seems to me that this may be the time for DVC. I hope to pay as much extra as I can, with tax returns, bonises, raises etc. I know travelling will be a regular expense for me, and this may be a way to prepay for years to come. One thing that does scare me is the dollar fluctuation. But by paying as much extra as possible while the dollar is good, I should be able to overcome that issue as well.

I am still very undecided...I have read over on the DVC board about this being a purchase to be made after the house, retirement and everything else...I am just not sure that is what's right for me. I think of the 8 vacations to WDW I have taken in the last 5 years and think that money could have went to DVC....

Making decisions for myself is very new to me...can you tell? I am going to do some more number crunching...I appreciate the suggestions of different ways to finance. Would be happy to hear others as well!

 

[murcor]

We put our deposit on our visa, and then had the balance charged to our visa a month later. We paid each off with the royal credit line to avoid nasty interest rates. We also pay our maintenance fees once a year on our visa which they keep on file. Keep in mind we always pay the visa off immediatly.

It would be a difficult decision in your situation. Do what you feel is right, dvc will always be there so take your time to decide. It took us approx 8 months to sign the papers and it still feels like it was the right choice.

Good Luck

Angela

 

[mbb]

........I am still very undecided...I have read over on the DVC board about this being a purchase to be made after the house, retirement and everything else...I am just not sure that is what's right for me. I think of the 8 vacations to WDW I have taken in the last 5 years and think that money could have went to DVC....

Making decisions for myself is very new to me...

You know...there's never the "right time".....
the "right time" to go back to school, go back to work, have another baby, call people we haven't talked to in a long time, do those renovations, read a book... etc, etc....

Your decisions, your money, and your time...all yours, girlfriend

Good luck with your decision - you know what's right for you

 

[JL2002]

dunno if this is a right question or anything, how much do you pay per month for the DVC?

 

[CharlesTD]

JL it all depends on how many points you buy. We are paying 120.00 US for our first 150 point contract but again it will depend on a number of things like downpayment and so on.