Mait fees - scary

[Popouri DVC]

I would caution against this strategy. We went this route. Purchased 150 extra points to rent out to offset the maintenance fees. Four years later we have yet to rent any points!!! We love using them too much! I suspect we are not the only ones whose points burned a hole in their pocket.

I suspect this would be the case for our family also....

 

[crisi]

I would caution against this strategy. We went this route. Purchased 150 extra points to rent out to offset the maintenance fees. Four years later we have yet to rent any points!!! We love using them too much! I suspect we are not the only ones whose points burned a hole in their pocket.

The other one I've seen is "well, in a down year we will rent our points, or take a no parks trip." When the recession hit, some people did just that. Other people were here saying that they really needed the pick me up a vacation would give them, and the room was paid for, and if they skipped character meals, and kept hoppers off the tickets.......

I need to start running again. Every day I say "well, maybe tomorrow" - there have been a few days that I've managed to get in some running, but not enough days to build up. Worse, I've been in a crappy mood - but ice cream helps. So not only am I not running, I'm eating ice cream. Intention is great - following through on that intention takes discipline. Know thyself is really important when deciding if DVC is for you. Especially if your plans require discipline to pull off .

 

[TeresaNJ]

I would caution against this strategy. We went this route. Purchased 150 extra points to rent out to offset the maintenance fees. Four years later we have yet to rent any points!!! We love using them too much! I suspect we are not the only ones whose points burned a hole in their pocket.

This would def be me! We were long time owners who sold a few years ago when we bought a small farm. Now I'm looking at buying resale, and agonizing over how many points we'll actually need while keeping budget in mind. When I saw the post about buying extra points & renting to offset the dues, I was like "what a great idea". Then I read your post, and was like, yep, not a great idea. I'd def use them before renting them.

 

[Kim Gillihan]

I suspect this would be the case for our family also....

yep, can see it!!

 

[Wakey]

All any of us can do is bring up various components and what we would do in a given situation, you'll have to absorb it and make your own decisions. And since none of us truly know all the preferences and thought processes anyone is going through, it's not going to be a perfect recommendation. It's easier to say what not to do rather than what to do such as don't buy for cash exchanges (DCL, etc), don't buy retail except in limited situations or don't finance. That said, here are a few thoughts. I feel one should spend enough time and have enough Disney, DVC & timeshare experience to make an informed decision. To me that's around 6 months of active investigation for someone new to the specifics of DVC and at least some Disney & DVC experience. The more other timeshare and the more Disney experience one has, the better decision one can make.

One who has deluxe experience can make a better decision than one who only has value experience. One who has DVC experience, can make a better decision than one who doesn't. One who has a fair amount of other timeshare experience and some Disney experience is likely OK. One who goes one trip and buys DVC with no timeshare experience, has debt and finances DVC is simply playing Russian Roulette.

Going from hotel rooms or studios to a 1 BR is a big jump in price, not so much from 2 rooms to a 2 BR. It simply falls under the idea of added value over savings. IMO it's rare for one to save much with the extra facilities but common for people to justify it that way. As for AKV vs SSR, I don't think you can go wrong with either. SSR will be cheaper and I personally feel getting in to AKV Kidani won't be that difficult but it may require using the wait list at times. Maybe you should stay at SSR first if you haven't. IF you buy SSR and it doesn't work out, you can always sell later with minimal loss. I would strongly suggest deciding what you want in terms of UY, home resort and number of points rather than letting the "best contract" drive your choices. Once you do that, just set out to find and act on that contract when you find it. Or one could buy less points at SSR and try it out then maybe buy elsewhere later (?AKV) as an add on or sell and buy elsewhere if it doesn't.

This is the best summary advice to any potential buyer I have read on these forums. Spot on.