Proof DVC is complicated.

[Brian Noble]

No doubt about that. I just pointed out that I feel that market value is a noteworthy difference to some other timeshares. It should never be a main reason to go with DVC (as development of the past is a bad predictor for the future) and it certainly wasn't for me but if life happens and you can't or don't want to use it anymore, there is a better chance to get some money back.

Unfortunately, market value is a double-edged sword.

If you are buying from the developer, market value is mostly upside. But if you are buying resale, market value starts to look more like downside risk coupled with opportunity cost. Prior to buying DVC, my timeshare portfolio was put together at a cost of approsimately zero dollars, and it delivered nearly twenty years of great vacations, paying lower maintenance fees than I would have spent on equivalent rent*. I might have to throw a little money at disposal, but I am still way ahead of the game because of those many years of usage value.

Now, consider one way in which DVC is not like most other points-based timeshares: DVC resales are resort-restricted, and at least today no amount of money can wash resale points. So, not only are DVC resales expensive, but they are also less useful. In comparison, you can pay between zero to maybe a thousand or so for a nice pile of Wyndham points (depending on on home resort/fee ratios/etc.) and those points spend just like those bought from the developer for standard reservations.

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*: For DVC exchanges, I ended up paying less in total costs than a Member would have spent only on Dues for the same stay, let alone less than market rents.

 

[IsDVCForMe?]

Do timeshares have an expiration date?

 

[walt34]

Unfortunately, market value is a double-edged sword.

If you are buying from the developer, market value is mostly upside. But if you are buying resale, market value starts to look more like downside risk coupled with opportunity cost. Prior to buying DVC, my timeshare portfolio was put together at a cost of approsimately zero dollars, and it delivered nearly twenty years of great vacations, paying lower maintenance fees than I would have spent on equivalent rent*. I might have to throw a little money at disposal, but I am still way ahead of the game because of those many years of usage value.

Now, consider one way in which DVC is not like most other points-based timeshares: DVC resales are resort-restricted, and at least today no amount of money can wash resale points. So, not only are DVC resales expensive, but they are also less useful. In comparison, you can pay between zero to maybe a thousand or so for a nice pile of Wyndham points (depending on on home resort/fee ratios/etc.) and those points spend just like those bought from the developer for standard reservations.

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*: For DVC exchanges, I ended up paying less in total costs than a Member would have spent only on Dues for the same stay, let alone less than market rents.

I completely agree. But coming back to the video that started this thread, being able to sell a contract bought from the developer is probably the more relevant scenario, I believe. I am refering to the segment where he claims, she needs to 'find another sucker' to take over her contract and best case scenario is she loses every dime she spent on her DVC timeshare. That's true for many timeshares but not true for DVC - at least at the moment.
And that's not even the worst part of the video.

 

[Brian Noble]

I am not sure it ever makes dollars-and-cents sense to buy any timeshare from the developer. I know that's not how I justified it.

And I am sure the video is clickbait trash. I am not giving it my attention either way.