Question: What's your opinion

[carlos1117]

Everyone,

Wow, what a great board. I've been reading for a few weeks and have really learned a lot. Thank you. But now I need your help. My wife and I are close to purchasing a DVC contract. We're interested in 210 or so point, most likely at OKW, but we're questioning if we should spend approximately $2000 more for SSR. Our thinking is the additional 12 years maybe worth it especially if we ever need to sell it. Also, we can take advantage of this $10.00 per point downpayment special and reduce our per point to $85 per. Any thoughts?

Thank you!

 

[Pa@okw95]

It depends on how old you are??OKW and SSR are in some ways very similar so I don't know what to say. Also this day and age will your marriage last 50 years??

 

[rocketriter]

Free advice (and worth every penny):

Unless your financial situation is precarious (and you shouldn't be buying in the first place), don't figure selling DVC into the equation. There's never any guarantee that you'll get a decent price out of selling a timeshare, and if you're trying to sell in the last years of its contract it's even less certain.

First, check your gut feeling. Is there one resort that you just plain like more than the others? If so, try to buy that one simply because it pleases you. You'll probably stay there pretty often over the years, so remember the mantra: "Buy where you want to stay."

Second, check your own family's future. How old are you? (At our age my wife and I don't care about the extra years.) Do you have children who might inherit (and take over payments on) your share. Are the kids young enough that you want many years near the magic kingdom, or old enough that they'll want to be near Pleasure Island?

Buying into DVC can certainly help you economize on vacations--perhaps, under the right circumstances. But it's mostly an investment in prepaid vacations that should be designed to maximize your family's pleasure.

 

[mickeymouse1520]

Originally posted by Pa@okw95
Also this day and age will your marriage last 50 years??

 

[pumpkinboy]

Yep, gotta love free advice: worth exactly what you pay for it.

In most cases, I'd rather buy a loaded OKW contract than an stripped (missing first year's points) SSR one. And if price is the issue, maybe you want to buy a stripped OKW contract cheap. IMO $2000 is a lot to pay for the extra 12 years, considering that it's 38 years away; my training as a finance wonk forces me to recall that $1 in hand today is worth a lot more than the promise of $1 a year from now (or 38, as the case may be). But then, we're all different, and perhaps the security of knowing that you'll have SSR for the full 50 years is worth it to you.

Then again, there is a lot to be said for the ease and simplicity of buying directly from Disney. Plus you're buying into a brand spanking new development, which is looking very nice. Tho it's a lot to pay for the extra years, there are plenty of other advantages to SSR, as mentioned above, in addition to the strong pull of the extra years. If you do buy SSR tho, please be sure to give the referral to one of us DISboard types, as there is some type of reward associated with referrals (cash or a gift of some sort) which I for one would be happy to send on to you the buyer.

Good luck with your decision process.

 

[gmboy95]

yep.....I agree with the $1 today thingy.....OKW has the biggest rooms, and is most family friendly (IMO)...also it is nice having the advantage of having your car right out front.....and besides, by 2042 most of us will be sipping oatmeal through a straw.....and as far as leaving to my children....hah!!!.....get a job sonny boy!!!!!

 

[carlos1117]

Thanks for all the great responses. By the way, I love the dollar thing, pumpkinboy!

 

[tjkraz]

I don't think you can go wrong with either one.

If you can finance a resale purchase yourself, I'd go with OKW.

If you need the DVC financing, go with SSR--particularly if you aren't planning to visit until sometime after March '05. You'll only pay $85 per point if you take a March '05 Use Year. No dues to worry about until then, either.

The only option I would discourage is paying $89 direct to DVC for points at OKW. No sense paying that sort of money when you can pay ~$70 on the resale market.

 

[Disney Doll]

Have you seen either or both resorts?

I'll tell you the story of when DH and I first bought. It was 1997 & the only 2 properties available at that time were OKW & BWV. BWV was more expensive, both per point and for dues. Not dramatically more expensive, but still, to a youngish married couple every little bit helped. We took the tour, looked at both. Liked OKW for the room size and laid-back, relaxed feeling. Liked BWV for the location, location, location. We decided on OKW because in our minds, based on the time of year we generally travelled, we didn't think we'd ever have a real problem getting into BWV on our points, and, quite frankly, we never have had a problem staying at a non-home resort whenever we've wanted to. We figured why should we pay more for points and dues, when we could pay less and in general, still have the ability to stay at BWV. So we picked OKW, and have never been sorry.

If you are very young, and the extra 12 years might make a real difference, then definitely consider SSR. If you are unable to finance it yourself,and need to go through Disney, then SSR would be the way to go. DH and I bought our first contract through Disney and took the 10 year financing plan, with the intention of paying more every month to pay it off sooner(which we did), but to only HAVE TO come up with the low monthly payment in those months when we might be a little "short". That worked well for us. I have known folks who have bought resale and paid for it with a home equity line of credit, thus getting the tax advantage. I have known folks who have bought resale and paid for it with their Disney VISA card to get the dollars back and then paid off the VISA card the next month either in cash or using the home equity lines of credit and then getting the tax advantage. When DH and I bought our 2nd contract (again at OKW) we paid cash for it, because we ha just inherited some money from DH's late parents.

My only other suggestion is to look at each resort if you can, and see which one "feels" more like home to you.