On the fence about buying into DVC! Help!

[toniosmom]

Congratulations on your new membership at BLT!

 

[Golden Rose]

I have to agree that it can be hard to go back to moderates once you've stayed either at the deluxes or the DVCs. I enjoyed the moderates when I was younger and when that was all I felt like I could comfortably afford. After trying various deluxes, I used to try to stretch our dollars by doing a couple of nights in a moderate, then a few nights at the deluxe of our choice. I haven't been able to bring myself even to do that for the last decade or so. We discovered Club level, and there was no going back. When we started looking at DVC, we actually worried most about losing the ability to book Club level easily. (Yes, I know it is available at AKV, but there are few Club level rooms and they're tough to get... and only half have Savannah view.)

I have to say, I haven't missed Club level toooo much. We bring our own alcohol and snacks, and we leave them in the room so we can treat the room like our own concierge lounge. I was worried that we wouldn't have IPO to get our ADRs for us, but I've had really good luck, particularly now that the online option is available. The extra space in the one and two bedrooms really spoils you quickly, so we don't even miss the GF the way we expected to. (Now, if they would just build a GFV, particularly if they let DVC members have a Club level option, we'd be thrilled.)

We've been DVC members for a year. We've added on once. (We knew we wanted points at at least two resorts - we bought AKV direct and we bought BWV resale.) We've been extremely happy with our membership so far. We may add on more points once we see how we use our membership once the newness wears off. We're big fans of other types of vacations, particularly cruises and exotic destinations, and while DVC in theory can be used towards these types of trips, it really doesn't seem like a great use of points. Right now, we want to make sure we have enough points to cover all our WDW trips; no more, no less.

 

[starwarsdisney]

My wife and I are looking into DVC. W looked at it on our Honeymoon (2003) but, it kind of died there. Now we've been 3 times in the last 7 years. To buy in at 100 points based on what we've already spent on our other 3 stays we would be halfway to having it paid off. We really want to buy in at BLT. I guess maybe we should look into resale too. I'm so glad the the DIS is here, there is so much information to help!

 

[Sandisw]

My wife and I are looking into DVC. W looked at it on our Honeymoon (2003) but, it kind of died there. Now we've been 3 times in the last 7 years. To buy in at 100 points based on what we've already spent on our other 3 stays we would be halfway to having it paid off. We really want to buy in at BLT. I guess maybe we should look into resale too. I'm so glad the the DIS is here, there is so much information to help!

Yes, if you want BLT and want to start with 100 points, keep your eyes out for resale contracts. Contact the resale brokers and they will put you on their email lists.

Right now, Disney is not allowing new members to get in to BLT with less than 160.

But, I think that in the next 6 months, you will see more BLT contracts go up. There was just a 100 point one listed the other day (didn't take long to go).


Good luck!!

 

[toniosmom]

But, I think that in the next 6 months, you will see more BLT contracts go up. There was just a 100 point one listed the other day (didn't take long to go).

We may see more BLT resale contracts as time goes on and after the price goes up to $120/point.

 

[circhead]

Try looking at this thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2137102 - it's called spread sheet fun and the guy that did it really broke down the numbers in a hundred different ways.

It will show you how buying into DVC will really save you in the long run ( it might also give you the ammo you need to convince your hubby).

That said my husband is not a big one for vacations either but we brought DVC because I need my Disney fix yearly or semi annually or bimonthly or biweekly, and we were going without DVC so buying in made sense. There have been many vacations that I took the kids and my husband was unable to join us because of work, but he always said he didn't worry about us because we were at Disney and he knew we were safe and had access to everything we needed.

In regards to the airfare and not going during spring breaks try driving it - I drive more often than not from the Bronx so my trip is only a few hours shorter than Syracuse - it's not a bad drive I do it straight through most years I was the only driver (my best time so far has been 16 hours) my husband says I'm practicing for my next life where I'm coming back as a long distance trucker.

I have gone to Disney at every time of year and have never a had a problem getting a room - not always my first choice but a room at SSR beats the heck out of a value. Also, my husband and I just got back from what should have been 5 days at Vero but he got sun burned and had enough of the beach with 1 day notice MS was able to get us a studio room at BWV garden view for the last two nights of our vacation and just transferred the reservation try doing that with another time share. The DVC staff are among the most helpful people I have ever dealt with.

Good luck with your decision - just if you do decide try not to wait too long the prices keep going up someone said BLT is going to $120.00 per point on October 4th - talk about time being money.

 

[DisneySJB]

For us, the decision to buy DVC was easy. DH and I strongly believe in taking vacations every year. We both work very hard and feel a vacations are our rewards We love WDW. We love the beach (Vero, HHI). We love the idea of a Hawaii resort. I love the idea of gifting 7 year old DD with vacations when she has a family of her own. And, we LOVE the idea of pre-paying at today's prices for vacations we would with 100% certainty be taking anyway.

 

[Y-ASK]

One other finance option you could consder is a 401K loan but only if the following is true:

#1. Your job is secure for the next four or five years of the loan.
#2. You like your job and don't want to leave any time soon.
#3. You throughly understand how your 401K plan works. You don't want to take a loan if the plan requires the entire investment be put into CD's or something too conservative.

My suggestion is to purchase at the resort you want to stay at the most and start with a small 50-100 point resale contract. Small contracts are better even if you have to pay more for the very reason I am suggesting that you purchase one. The total cost is signficantly less than a 160 pt. contract and they will be easier to sell quickly if you ever have to. Having multiple 50 point contracts is way better than having one 500 point contract when it comes time to sell... And all the points are used exactly the same way. They are all tied together as long as they all have the same use year.

The downside to a 401K loan:

#1. You lose your job. If you lose your job then the entire 401K loan becomes due and I think you have like 60 days to pay off the loan or it's considered a disbursement and you have to pay a heavy pentaly (10%) to the IRS.

#2. Even though you are saving money by paying yourself back with interest that you keep, that extra interest rate that you pay will be double taxed but in the case of a small loan that won't matter too much and will certainly be less than the 10-14% you may have to pay Disney for their loan.

 

[saintstickets]

Another thing to consider when borrowing from your 401(k) is that in many plans, if you borrow, you cannot continue participating for either a set period of time or until the loan is paid back. Check with your Plan Administrator for all the details before going this route. We do not allow a loan provision in our 401(k) plan anymore. It was being abused. This is a retirement plan and you want it to remain as such; not to be used like a savings account or a bank. Please think long and hard before borrowing from your account.

 

[rsinj]

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[rsinj]

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[Coach81]

Do you have any kids??

 

[jarrdisney]

My wife is also a teacher and we're able to travel to orlando at least 3 times a year. We just purchased DVC in April and consider it to be one of the best decisions we could have ever made. I think if you plan on going to WDW at least once a year and love disney it's a great idea. As someone stated you get a discount on annual passes and Magical Express transportation is included. Best of luck with your decision.

 

[RIJim]

A 401k loan is never a good idea. Does anyone like the idea of taking money out of their retirement savings to fund a depreciating asset? You are guaranteed that the DVC ownership will be worth $0 in the end. The only time one should consider a 401k loan is if there is an emergency need for money and there are no other options to get the money.

QUOTE]

I do not agree with that at all, I have been in the investment industry my entire career. On a 401K loan any interest you pay GOES TO YOU. You are paying yourself for borrowing your money. How is that a bad thing? The argument is usually that your $ will not be invested in funds or stocks so you are losing out. But who can predict what the performance will be during the period you have a loan? Your investment is guaranteed if you take a loan - your 401K will be "profiting" from the interest you pay!
Why pay someone else to borrow money?

 

[ALFAntioch]

I was wondering if anyone can give me advice. We are looking at BLT 160 points and we are getting a discount where the price would be $101 per pt.

My husband and I are also mulling this over (sleepless nights and all). Not only buying into the DVC, but also which resort - Bay Lake or Animal Kingdom. I was wondering how you were getting the discount of $101. On my paper work it says they points currently cost $112. Since I am just a beginning learner in re: to the DVC, I don't want to be stupid and find out I could have gotten the points for less if I joined up at one of their DVC parties or some other way. Can you share? Thanks.

 

[bebetink24]

We bought at the Doorway to Dreams event in Long Island and it was $100 per point for 160 points at BLT. So it is not that much different from what you are offered at $101 per point. It just makes sense for us to buy now since we love WDW and plan to go there every year with our kids. Good Luck!

 

[Y-ASK]

How is that a bad thing?

It really all depends on the 401K plan but for the most part it's not a bad thing. Some people just get it in their head that any type of withdrawal from a retirement fund is a bad thing. For many people who cannot manage their money this is probably sound advice but to make a blanket statement that "A 401k loan is never a good idea" is pretty ridiculous. There are always risk involved with any type of loan so as a smart person you weigh your risk/options and go with what risk you can live with.

What I sometimes get tired of is these type of blanket statements that are really just one posters opinion. It can be insulting as if they're saying I'm too stupid to weigh the risk of a 401K loan. Educate yourself on the laws and your individual plan and then you'll know the risk. In many cases a 401K loan is alot better deal than paying a loan institution 10%-15% in interest every year.

Y-ASK

 

[bakenatj]

Another thing to look into if you own your home is refinancing with an equity loan. Interest rates are very low right now and if you can decrease your rate by .5% that right there would be enough interest savings to pay for your investment. I just refinanced from 5.5 to 4.875. Make sure you go with a fix rate though because interest rates will be going up (possibly very high!) in the near future. Instead of paying 10-12% for a personal loan use the equity you have and pay 4-5%.