Ok, about the take the plunge but..

[amybethchristiansen]

Some quick questions first. On the DVC website, it says that you can save $1200 on SSR membership. I don't think they were referring to the f & f sale. So, is that a different discount? Would I get both? Anyone ever regretted buying? How easy is it to rent points off? I am considering 200 points. Is that enough? Not enough? I know a lot of people say two contracts (like one 150 and one 50). Why is that? I also will need a referral. I am so confused, but I think this is right for us. We have almost all of the required cash (total cost around $16000, we have 10k), so I will only have to finance very little, which we should pay off this year. I am 28, dh is 38, we have 3 year old, and an 18 month old. We are averaging Disney ever other year, and would definitely consider more often if costs are controlled.

What do you guys think? Right for us or not.

 

[CALNEVA DISNEYFANS]

two hundred may be too many. Look at the point charts for the room type and how long you may choose to rent. DON'T DUE TWO CONTRACTS.. TOO MUCH WORK TRACKING POINTS. You can aways borrow points from someone else if your short on points. DON'T BUY MORE POINTS WITH THE HOPE ON "Making Money". DVC is not an investment, and its a pain in the -ss renting - calling on ressies, flakes, etc.

Good Luck

P.S. Happy to give you a referral. PM me.

 

[vascubaguy]

Some quick questions first. On the DVC website, it says that you can save $1200 on SSR membership. I don't think they were referring to the f & f sale. So, is that a different discount? Would I get both? Anyone ever regretted buying? How easy is it to rent points off? I am considering 200 points. Is that enough? Not enough? I know a lot of people say two contracts (like one 150 and one 50). Why is that? I also will need a referral. I am so confused, but I think this is right for us. We have almost all of the required cash (total cost around $16000, we have 10k), so I will only have to finance very little, which we should pay off this year. I am 28, dh is 38, we have 3 year old, and an 18 month old. We are averaging Disney ever other year, and would definitely consider more often if costs are controlled.

What do you guys think? Right for us or not.

First of all, when you go to WDW, where do you normally stay? If you are normally at a value resort, then it probably isn't right for you. If in a moderate, it could be ok if you are looking to improve your accommodations.

The $1200 savings you are referring to is the "normal" promo of $8 off per point. You either get the $8 off or the 15%, not both (otherwise I'd be adding on... again).

Me regret buying? No.... and I think most would say their only regret is not buying sooner.

Renting points is usually pretty easy. There are plenty of people out there willing to save 40-70% on their accommodations! The pain is dealing with the folks that keep trying to talk you down in price.

200 points.... how big accommodations are you looking for? Studio, 1-br, 2br? What time of year? All of that can be a big factor. However, if you are going every other year, you could easily bank or borrow to get the points you need for your trip. So, with 200 points, you could have 400 points to use every 2 years, or 600 points every 3 years.

The advantage to getting smaller contracts is that they are easier to sell if you ever needed to get ride of them. The smaller ones sell quicker, and usually at higher prices on the resale market. It can also help if it comes down to estate issues, ie... who inherits what. At your ages, you probably won't have this issue since you are young, but if you could imagine having 2 kids and 1 300 point contract that both kids want! It would be much easier to have 2 150 pt contracts.

Since you have such a large downpayment, you could take advantage of the 50/50 financing they offer. I don't remember the rate, but it's much lower, but you'd have to get it paid off in the year (or pay it off with a credit card). Or, if you wanted to keep a little bit of savings, you could make a sizeable downpayment and do the normal 10 year financing and just make bigger payments. There's no prepayment penalty, it is simply financing, and tax deductible interest!

Just some thoughts. I'll send you a PM with referral info if you still need that.

Let us know if you have any other questions!
Chris

 

[vascubaguy]

DON'T DUE TWO CONTRACTS.. TOO MUCH WORK TRACKING POINTS. You can aways borrow points from someone else if your short on points. DON'T BUY MORE POINTS WITH THE HOPE ON "Making Money". DVC is not an investment, and its a pain in the -ss renting - calling on ressies, flakes, etc.

Having 2 contracts is only a pain if you have multiple use years. Buying direct thru DVC you will always have the same UY. You would have one primary contract, and then "add-on" contracts with the same number except the last 3 digits will be .001, .002, .003, etc.

I do agree not to buy more for the sake of "making money." However, I have a few more points than I really need each year and I rent those to offset the cost of the annual dues. So far I haven't had any trouble renting.

JMO

 

[browniemtb]

Some quick questions first. On the DVC website, it says that you can save $1200 on SSR membership. I don't think they were referring to the f & f sale. So, is that a different discount?.

Yes that is a different discount. If you didn't know about the F&F they are offering an $8 off per point which a 150 points I believe is $1200. The friends and family is a much better deal.

Would I get both?

No , it would be one or the other..It whether you want to pay $90 or $83.30 per point.

Anyone ever regretted buying?

I asked this one to..Never got any definitive no's. Everyone here at the forum is very upbeat and positive. It made my buying decision easier.

How easy is it to rent points off??

I'm in the process of trying this one myself as we speak. It seams thet transferring points to another member is far easier than renting. There are a lot of experienced renters out there. Don't forget what you can do with the points is dictated by whether there banked, borrowed, or are in your current use year.

I am considering 200 points. Is that enough? Not enough? I know a lot of people say two contracts (like one 150 and one 50). Why is that?

You'll hear members say buy as many as you can afford. But you must figure out your travel habits. Are you going once a year? Once every other year? 200 points will be fine for studios and 1 bedrooms for most of the year and be plenty if your traveling evey other. We based our decision on going during April vacation with the kids for a 1 bedroom villa at BWV, 310 points. Breaking the contract in two was a suggestion made to me as well. Smaller contracts tend to be easier to sell. So if you ever had to get out, a 150 points contract will sell much quicker than a 300 point contract. If you can do a 150 and 50 points that would be fine. So if the 50 points contract didn't seem to work you could unload that and keep your 150 pointer.

I also will need a referral. I am so confused, but I think this is right for us. We have almost all of the required cash (total cost around $16000, we have 10k), so I will only have to finance very little, which we should pay off this year. I am 28, dh is 38, we have 3 year old, and an 18 month old. We are averaging Disney ever other year, and would definitely consider more often if costs are controlled.
What do you guys think? Right for us or not.

Every other year a 150 point contract to start would work out fine. Because in this scenerio you have 300 points at your dispsal. 150 banked and 150 from the current year. 200 points would be able to give you more options as far as larger rooms, renting or transferring points, or even bringing family with you. Age wise you are much like us...we go every year so we did it to fix our cost as well. We love the deluxe resorts and found ourselves paying big dollars each time we went. So by joining the DVC we are in a deluxe resort and the price will never change. We bought into the BWV and found that our cost would be about $1700 a week for a 1 bedroom based on the DVC contract life....12 years shorter than SSR. Thats a big savings if you rented for a 1 week vacation. The only cost that will fluctuate is the annual dues...those can increase every year.

Good Luck and let me know if you need that refferral....
Brownie

 

[CarolMN]

...(snip).... Anyone ever regretted buying? ........(snip).....

I do - every January when it's time to pay the dues!

Seriously, you are very unlikely to find anyone who frequents these forums that regrets buying. Those that did, ha've sold their contracts and are long gone from here.

My advice is to do all your homework (sounds like you have done quite a bit already) and do what is right for your situation. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement - especially if you read these Boards on a regular basis.

Remember, you are talking about dedicating a significant amount of $$ (both today's $$ and future $$) to vacations.

Feel free to ask more questions.

Best wishes -

 

[RweTHEREyet]

DON'T DUE TWO CONTRACTS.. TOO MUCH WORK TRACKING POINTS.

nonsense

I have 4 contracts at 3 different resorts and two different Use Years. There is nothing hard at all about tracking the points. And I am not one of a few in this situation. Lots of folks have several contracts and different resorts. It happens once you join and then decide you must have more and more and more points. Once you get the hang of keeping track of your points, it is very simple, and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to do it.