received bad advice here

[nickglover]

No offense to anyone, but before we purchased, I reviewed this site for some time and the general consensus was to buy where you plan to stay. This is still good advice for the Orlando resorts, but I do not think it was good advice for us, since we like Vero Beach.

We are now interested in selling, due to the high dues and the hurricane special assessment (that is coming), but VB has the worst resale values. Also, we like to stay at VB in September and November and in early spring, so we have not had any trouble booking a few months or so out. We still love VB and plan to continue to go there using cash, but we would have been in better shape re-selling, had we purchased in Orlando. If we sell now, we take a 1500 to 2500 hit just because we own at VB.

 

[jarestel]

You make a good point, but if you bought resale, didn't it make you wonder why your purchase price was so much lower than the WDW resorts?

 

[lllovell]

Or perhaps you should rent your points for a few years, cover your maintenance fees and then see how you feel about it.

It has been mentioned here many times that a hurricane assessment is NOT coming because it is an exception. I am certainly not saying that dues won't be effected by the bad storm season, but I don't think to the degree you are assumming.

Hubby and I are actually thinking about buying VB points strictly for an every other year blowout beach vacation, so the maintenance fees needed for that don't seem as bad to me I supposed (total dollar wise).

I hope you find a solution that makes you happy here.

 

[JimMIA]

No offense to anyone, but before we purchased, I reviewed this site for some time and the general consensus was to buy where you plan to stay. This is still good advice for the Orlando resorts, but I do not think it was good advice for us, since we like Vero Beach.

Most of the advice along those lines that I've read says, "Buy where you want to stay IF you want to stay at a specific resort during peak periods, OR IF you only want to stay at one resort." At least that's the way I read the advice when we made our decision.

In our case, we are flexible about where we stay and don't necessarily go see Mickey during peak periods, so we looked at overall cost. We chose OKW resale because of the reasonable price and reasonable dues. We'll be glad to stay at BCV, BWV, VWL, VB, HHI, SSR, or wherever at seven months, and I'm sure we'll love them all.

I would listen carefully to the advice to wait and see before jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Sounds like pretty sound advice to me.

 

[rinkwide]

Hey Nick, how the heck have you been. Gosh, it's been awhile. Haven't seen you on the boards lately.

Say, do you remember that time when I stood there with a gun to your head and forced you to sign that Vero Beach resale contract?

Neither do I.

 

[mikesmom]

I would still stand behind buy where you want to stay. Most of us assume you will want to continue to stay there (obviously you don't want to anymore). Also, many, many posters have said to buy as a vacation plan, NOT as an investment with plans to rent out or re-sell.

 

[DrTomorrow]

What? You got bad advice from a group of nearly anonymous people on the Internet? You're kidding!

For the record, the advice "buy where you want to stay" suggests that you've done due dilligence by researching all the resorts, their point costs & charts and any special circumstances (VB is in the hurricane zone, SSR has exterior corridors, OKW has the lowest dues, etc) before making your decision - that's the where in our advice. Also, we tend to focus on the stay part as well - with the assumption being that someone will actually be staying at the DVC resort, not selling it.

Be well!

 

[CarolA]

No, the advice was still sound. What has changed is that you have decided you don't want to stay there.

On ANY real estate transaction you are facing a risk of a loss if you sell within a few years.

Had you posted and asked what would appreciate most in two years the reponses might have been much different.

I think this "fear" of the hurricane assessment is artifically lowering resales right now. So you have an option.... you can wait it out and they may rebound or you can take the loss. If you wait it out you might have to pay this "assessment" but it could be less then your current loss.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I don't think you received bad advice.
2) Sounds like it was a good match
. . . the advice was to buy where you want to stay
. . . you want to stay at VB, and you bought there
. . . you still want to stay there in the future
3) Sorry about selling because of dues and possible huricane assessments.
. . . you knew the high maintenance dues before you bought
. . . you knew the possibility of assessments before you bought

 

[chris1gill]

Sometimes I really miss what Richyams' response would have been

 

[DebbieB]

Isn't there a disclaimer in the contract saying that there is a 1 in 4 chance the resort could be destroyed by a hurricane in the next 25 years?

 

[lllovell]

1 in 4...good lord - you have to wonder how anyone could afford insurance in hurricane zones.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Sometimes I really miss what Richyams' response would have been

How's this: "The only mistake you made was not to buy into OKW!"

 

[Cruelladeville]

Our advice is equal to the cost you paid for it, in other words, probably zero. And this surprises you??

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

Hi OP...
sorry that you might be feeling a little flamed here, but I have to admit the responses sure were funny!!!

I think you might have meant to say that while in general, the advice to buy where you want to stay is good, that for you in particular, and in light of the hurricane damage, the advice you took was bad for your personal sitch.

I am a recent purchaser and I read everything I could on the boards here and elsewhere before deciding on what I would purchase. Like me, I'm sure you took into consideration lots of various opinions and ultimately chose an off-DisneyWorld site because it met more of your desires than on site ones.

Unfortunately, there is little doubt that selling an off World site property is subject to less demand than on site and hence, the property value might be subject to a lower resale price. I'm sure you took this into consideration when you purchased. My choice was that I took a much higher price point and maintenance property (BWV) over a much lower one (HH) because I wanted the comfort level of knowing that my BWV would hold value during low economic times.

I think the advice to maybe hold onto your property if at all possible to be sound. I imagine you will have to disclose that there is a pending assessment for hurricane damage...and that will probably result in a lower offer price. Is Disney ROFRing really lowball VB contracts? You might find some relief there if it is.

Sorry you were a victim of the hurricane fallout. You know what they say about the value of advice being correlated to how much you had to pay to get it!

 

[skelooch]

I can't believe that no one on these boards didn't tell you that VB was going to be hit by a hurricane in 2004, I thought everyone knew about it.
I guess you should be thankful you weren't there when it hit.
Sorry you think it's the DIS fault.

 

[JimMIA]

Assuming you are committed to selling, I don't think you are really taking a loss so much because you bought at Vero. I don't know how long you've owned, but I suspect if any of us sold in the first 3-5 years of ownership, we'd take a substantial loss.

If we bought resale, we had to pay roughly 3% closing costs, plus a few other costs. When we resell, we have to pay 10-12% real estate commission, the $200 DVC transfer fee, and maybe some incidental costs. That's not a formula made for quick turnaround, no matter where you buy!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Sometimes I really miss what Richyams' response would have been

I think of him and his responses often too! I wonder how many others. In January, DS and I stayed at BWV, and I think we had the room farthest from the elevator. Thanks to Richyams, I made it all the way to my room, giggling all the way, thinking of his comments about those long halls.

 

[Dean]

If you intended to stay at VB almost exclusively, you should have still bought there. But I think most of the "buy where you want to stay" advice has been aimed at WDW (esp BWV, BCV and VWL) and HH summer only. And a lot of advice over the years has been specifically against buying VB for any reason other than maybe if you wanted a Beach House there routinely. That is related to the high dues and in spite of the lower prices. Besides, didn't you visit VB several times BEFORE buying there and didn't you specifically get advice not to buy VB Unless you wanted to stay there most trips. And anyone planning on selling shouldn't likely by a timeshare the likes of DVC anyway. VB had the worst resale value when you bought as well, it always has, and I suspect you saved money on the front end and lost some along the way on the dues.

As for a SA, I don't think that is going to happen. The way I read the documents and FL law, DVD will be out any overages for this year. It likely WILL mean an increase in dues to build back up the reserves and to cover future insurance increases.

 

[JimC]

OP -- I think the advice one poster gave to rent your points for a year or two, then make a decision might be worth serious consideration. There is still some risk to you but it gives you more time to consider what you want to do. VB has historically been the low resale value and high maintenance fee resort. That has not changed since you purchased or since the hurricane. Any beach resort has this risk and the risk of special assessments related to damage from such storms. Again that has not changed since you purchased. Give yourself some time to think it through before you rush to market.

VB is still a great beach resort and its proximity to WDW makes it feasible to do a day trip or two during a long stay. The hurricane damage is a risk any of the beach resorts have.


JimMia -- We were lucky. We bought OKW resale through the Timeshare Store with no closing costs in 2002 and could have sold it at a profit (after commission and transfer fees) after 18 months of ownership. Our BCV contract right now would be a breakeven if we sold that -- it was purchased from Disney in 2002. When we bought we had the same expectation that you have -- that we need to own and use for at least five years. But I still agree with your general premise.