Paying for you DVC-all at once or in payments?

[TLH1977]

We are very interesting in purchasing a DVC at the Boardwalk. I just have two questions...is there any benifit in paying for it all at once or does it work out better to my in monthly payments? Also, does one person's name go on as ownership or can you have a few? My sisters and mom are splitting the cost so we would all like to be part of it-thanks for any info!

 

[DebbieB]

Monthly payments - are you talking about the initial purchase or the maintenance dues? If you put the initial purchase on monthly payments you will have to pay interest.

If you put the maintenance dues on monthly payments there is no interest charge. You can only do monthly maintenance payments on direct debit from a bank account. If you want to use a credit card, it has to be lump sum at the beginning of the year.

 

[tjkraz]

Also, does one person's name go on as ownership or can you have a few? My sisters and mom are splitting the cost so we would all like to be part of it-thanks for any info!

PLEASE have an attourney review the documents before you sign them. We did, and one of the questions that was raised concerned the ownership of the property if one of us should die. I don't remember the exact legal term, but the way it was explained to me was that Florida state laws made it such that with DW and I both listed as owners, in the event of either death the survivor would automatically become 100% owner of the DVC.

If the same applies in your situation, it could be that the last surviving individual on the deed will be the sole owner of the property. In other words, if you happened to be the first to die, your immediate family (SO, children, etc.) may have no claim on the property--it would simply be shared among the survivors.

There also may be implications if any member of the ownership group should divorce in the next 38 years.

Again, I'm not an attourney, so take this with a grain of salt. But do investigate your particular situation and make sure everyone is comfortable with the findings.

Remember, DVC is a very long-term commitment--don't just think about your relationship today, try to think as far down the road as possible and really plan for the worst case scenario. Is everyone contributing to the annual dues? If so, what will happen if someone can't make their payments? What if one owner uses more points than another? All of you will have the same opportunity to call and make reservations. What happens if someone books a stay without informing the others?

These are all issues you may have to overcome with shared ownership. Address them ahead of time. No sense causing a rift in your family over a timeshare of all things.

If you were considering a significant number of points, it may be worth it to purchase separate contracts for each individual involved. You can always transfer points from one contract to another to combine them for reservation purposes.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

Small contracts individually titled would be best for everyone in your group!!

 

[blossomz]

My sister and I purchased DVC. We each bought our own contract and then had each other's name added to each so that we could use our points together for reservations. It has worked great! :

 

[tjkraz]

My sister and I purchased DVC. We each bought our own contract and then had each other's name added to each so that we could use our points together for reservations. It has worked great! :

Did you add each other as Associates or are your names actually on both deeds?

If deeded, what did you find out about the ownership disposition if either of you should pass-away?

 

[blossomz]

We just called member services and added each other as associates. It allows either of us to make the reservations and to bank each others' points etc. It works out really well. Then if anything should happen to either one of us, the points remain our property.

 

[DrTomorrow]

The phrase that tjkraz is thinking of is "Joint Tenents with Rights of Survivorship". This is how most married couples usually own their major assets; if one dies, the other owns 100%. Otherwise, there could be issues of probate and inheritance. I agree - for multiple people on one deed/contract, seek a professional opinion.

 

[FamilyGuy]

In regards to the original posters question, tkraz makes some VERY GOOD points that you should strongly consider before attempting this purchase. I remember reading somewhere on these boards, to have a name removed or added to the deed (after your initial closing) costs a few hundred dollars. DVC is long term ownership involving the one time upfront costs (which many choose to finance over time) and also the annual dues (which can be direct debirted monthly also) for the entire term of the contract.

Though perhaps easier said than done, the suggestion of small individual contracts makes the most sense.

 

[Cruelladeville]

FamilyGuy, If you add or remove a name from the contract, it's just like buying a contract in the sense that you have to pay closing costs, pay the dues for the year before anything is changed, and you have to list the money/property that changes hands. It runs about $600 or so. If one of the people on the contract dies, or gets divorced, or declares bankrupsy, the contract is thrown into court, and the full value of the contract is declared for the one person. In other words, the contract will be sold out from under the other members! Even if spouses are not listed on the contract, a divorce means it becomes an asset of a marriage/divorce. It happened to my DD--she owned the contract in her own name, got married, had no pre-nup to protect the contract, divorced the jerk a year later, and the contract was declared community property, which the court declared had to be sold.

 

[Doctor P]

Cruella--If things happened exactly as you outlined them, I would suggest that either DD had a poor attorney or they were trying to protect another asset. Depending on the state, even without a pre-nup, the DVC contract often could have been eliminated from marital property (though it depends on how long the contract had been held, source of maintenance fee payments, etc.).

 

[crisi]

Or other circumstances. Different states have different divorce laws. Some judges are more eager to divide pre-marital property to pay debt than others. Maybe DD had a great attorney, but NSDSIL had a better one. My own BIL is going through a messy divorce right now - not as cut and dried as we thought it would be.

 

[Doctor P]

True, crisi.