Regrets?

[TinkB278]

I have myself 98% talked into buying DVC resale but there is a part of me that is nervous about taking the plung into such a long term financial commitment. I can afford the price of the contract I need but the annual maintenance fees are what keep holding me back. I know they continue to go up each year as does the cost of the rest of the trip (tickets, dining/dining plans), so I guess it just makes me nervous about the uncertainty of it all. I would like concept of DVC so much more if there wasn’t the never ending annual bill.

i was wondering if anyone purchased dvc and later regretted it after having to pay maintenance fees yearly for 50is years? 50(ish) years is just such a long time that I can’t be sure I will want to continue to pay those fees for that amount of time. I know I could always resell the contract but I know as it gets closer to the deed expiration that will become more and more difficult to do.

I hope that makes sense as my thoughts are all over the place in regards to dvc from one extreme to the other. I guess I would just like some thoughts from people that were on the fence about making such a long term financial commitment. Also, we typically go every year or two to Disney so that isn’t the issue. I suppose I’m just worried about the day where I feel like Disney is too expensive in regards to paying the fees, buying the tickets, etc, and I’m stuck with 20 more years on a contract.

 

[lovetotravel]

Is it possible to buy a bunch small contracts and get rid of one when you need to?

 

[Jack_Sparrow_NJ]

My regret is that I didn’t purchase sooner. How many points are you interested in purchasing? As PP suggested buy two small contracts instead of one. I pay my maintenance fees monthly and don’t notice the payment.

 

[rkstocke5609]

Your concern is exactly why I bought at VWL (now BRV). To me, the contract ending in 2042 made sense because the idea of passing a contract onto heirs that may not share my love of Disney, nor may want the burden of the annual dues never concerned me. I like the idea of knowing that when I am 77 my obligation will end.

I have never had any regrets with my purchase.

I would suggest that if you can hold off, I would wait out this virus thing and see if you can get a deal. Prices are high now. I bought my resale contract (210 points) for $86 / point and, it was semi loaded, and the seller paid the MF’s which were due (this is rare).

Good Luck!

 

[TinkB278]

Two smaller contracts might work well! Is it difficult to combine if you buy them both at the same resort with the same UY?

Im hoping to buy 100-140 points at Animal Kingdom (ideally 120-130). I’d love to do more but I think this is sufficient for us for now and won’t bog me down too badly with maintenance fees.

 

[rkstocke5609]

So look for one 75 and one 50 point contract in the same use year for easier management. Buy one, then be patient waiting for the other. Only problem is small contracts cost more on resale.

 

[TinkB278]

Your concern is exactly why I bought at VWL (now BRV). To me, the contract ending in 2042 made sense because the idea of passing a contract onto heirs that may not share my love of Disney, nor may want the burden of the annual dues never concerned me. I like the idea of knowing that when I am 77 my obligation will end.

I have never had any regrets with my purchase.

I would suggest that if you can hold off, I would wait out this virus thing and see if you can get a deal. Prices are high now. I bought my resale contract (210 points) for $86 / point and, it was semi loaded, and the seller paid the MF’s which were due (this is rare).

Good Luck!

It’s great to hear that you have never had any regrets with your purchase! It’s definitely reassuring.

Does the resale market tend to fluctuate with the economy and major world issues like the coronavirus? I have been wondering about this lately but it seems like things have stayed pretty steady since I started looking at resale over the last year.

 

[bwvBound]

Please be aware you are asking this question in a forum of Disney addicts, specifically DVC addicts.

That said, we've owned since 2004. We purchased our home resort 'sight unseen,' over the phone before it was open. I have no particular regrets. I'd likely do it again if the circumstances and context (price in general; price spread between direct vs resale; rules; dues; etc.) were the same as then ... but I don't know that I'd purchase now given changes we've seen in price escalation, resale restrictions, downgrades in room design/theming, dues shenanigans, etc.

 

[Sandisw]

No regrets at all! I knew I’d go to Disney and increase as I retired. I knew my kids..who are now adults..would want to continue.

But, MFs are the biggest cost and one needs to be comfortable with that. Maybe start smaller, see how you feel, and go from there

 

[rkstocke5609]

So, yes things fluctuate with the economy. I found this spot to offer very good info:

https://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-program/financial/annual-dues-by-resort

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

No regrets so far, have been an owner for 5 years (so still a DVC baby, lol). I think that if you by resale and you're confident that you are going to go for at least 10 years, you're probably going to get good value out of it (even if you sell it for less than you bought it for), at least based on the numbers I used when I was purchasing 5 years ago. Especially if you purchase somewhere that has lower annual dues. Not sure how it looks now, but I would imagine it would be similar.

 

[Rockette]

I have some financial regrets. Looking back, I probably would have done resale...

In short, you can do better if you put the money in an ETF. But it does force you to go on a nice vacation every year, even if you just exchange the points with something at RCI.

 

[soniam]

Regrets, I have a few, then again, too few to mention Just joking. Not yet for DVC, since I am still looking for a contract. I guess I sort of regret not buying earlier, but I wasn't ready/comfortable yet. I am looking forward to having DVC to encourage my husband and I to do adult trips during the EPCOT festivals.

 

[heathpack]

No regrets for us but we bought a very manageable contract- 85 points at VGC resale way back when the economy crashed right after it opened. We also have 25 HHI points that we bought resale prior to that- because the word on the street before VGC started sales was that contracts would be offered first to existing DVC members and it might sell out before it became available to the general public. That never happened, maybe because the economy collapsed, or maybe because that was just a rumor.

Anyway... we bought exactly what is right for us. We’re local to DL and don’t even visit every year. Sometimes we have APs, sometimes we buy the SoCal 3 day discount ticket, sometimes we take a break.

DVC is super flexible and meets our needs. We can book 1-2 night studio stays. Because we’re flexible on dates, we have always been able to use our HHI points at VGC too. If we don’t use them, we can easily rent. We can bank & borrow to go a bunch in a given year. We have even exchanged (via a contact with a private individual, not RCI) some of our points for next year for a week’s use of a private 3BR condo in Bend OR. The MF are not at all a burden. And we know we could sell in a heartbeat, for a profit.

It would be a fun extravagance to have enough points to stay in 1BR or 2BR units but studios really meet our super short stay needs.

 

[€lairebear]

No regrets! Best purchase ever. We bought sight unseen and never set foot or been to wdw. We wished we purchased sooner or knew about the product. I only knew about dvc when I stayed at aulani. I did do a tour at aulani and I did extensive research for about 6 months before pulling the trigger. Ended up buying at copper creek because I wanted something near mk but not in my face mk because the hubby is not a Disney fan. He ended up liking our home resort phew. It was a well worth risk! I did look at both resale and direct. However I didn’t want my home resort at aulani. Went home researched about dvc and called when ready to purchase points. Our home resort is ccv, riviera, and gcv (resale). Hubby being a big foodie have me the nod to add on riviera. What I love about dvc is there’s options for everyone and it pushes hubby and me to take time off from work to take annual vacations together at least once a year and build memories with our kids.

 

[Cyberc1978]

No regrets, best investment ever - in our vacation time.

A timeshare ownership forces you to take a vacation each year - unless you want to pay for something you dont use.

Without my ownerships I wouldn't get to go on all of these vacations with my family which I enjoy.

I know some says that they wished they bought in sooner, but for me the time wasn't right earlier on so no regrets there.

I actually feel that DVC is becoming or have become a victim of their own success. The prices have now become so high that the average Joe can't afford it - to begin with i dont think that was the idea.

 

[Louis morrell]

Another in the camp of I wish I would have purchased sooner. We went almost every year when my son was growing up. Money spent on Coronodo Springs each year would have been better spent on a resale contract. Heck I didn't even know resale existed.

I did ask the same question as you before we purchased, regrets, complaints, issues etc. I Google searched for a few days using different terms and found mostly nothing. In fact that is how I found the disboards. The comment most often associated with "regret Disney Vacation Club" was not buying in sooner.

We enjoy our DVC membership immensely. We purchased in 2017 and have had 4 stays and currently have 2 upcoming.

Enjoy

 

[Marionnette]

Very few regrets. I wish that I hadn’t purchased resale contracts with different UYs. Other than that, I’m still happy with ownership. I bought in when there were few restrictions on resale (no DCL, Concierge Collection or ABD for me...no tears from me there!). I paid less for my first VGF contract than what BCV is selling for on the resale market today.

Having said that, I’m not sure that I would purchase today. The resale restrictions, the failed attempt to inflate the points charts for 2020, the lack of whimsy in the refurbishments all point toward DVC becoming just another timeshare.

 

[CmdrThor]

I have no real regrets. I kind of wish my first add on would have been a different resort instead of adding on the same resort. We started with an AKV resale, added 75 points direct at AKV, and now looking for a BLT resale. I wish I had done the direct add on at BLT, but the wait list was longer. This was before they jacked the BLT direct price to over $200.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Still love it and we go back to 1996...we've bought and sold contracts and paid taxes on the profits. We're considering buying another - possibly two. We knew it was an incredible opportunity in 1996 and it has turned out way better than we could ever have imagined. We had to buy direct back then but now can buy more contracts at a huge discount.

MF's become the "cost" of your villa, assuming you paid cash. For instance our son and DIL are at Poly today for 4 nights or 100 points - about $780 where Disney charges that PER NIGHT or 75% off...