Rent forever or finally buy?

[Bmramaut]

Long time renter here, have himmed and hawed buying dvc for years. Early 30s with two small children. Our son loves resort variety, we get an ornament from every resort we stay at for our Christmas tree. We love the Riveria and honestly, would have already purchased there if it wasn’t for the resale restrictions. Do I think we would resale? No but this restriction really irks me about possible restrictions to come. Those who already own, how restricted by the points chart are you regarding staying anywhere but your home resort? Have the increasing annual dues become noticeable? Is the process of renting points relatively easy?

 

[kilik64]

how restricted by the points chart are you regarding staying anywhere but your home resort?

Not sure I get this question. Charts vary resort to resort and room to room. Generally you'd want to get enough points to cover what you want to stay in and when you typically travel at your home resort. It depends after you figure that out what you can easily do if you want to book another resort at 7 months. If you are going with RIV, its point chart is on the higher side, so generally you wont have any issue trading into another room at another resort as it will a lot of the time be less or equal points depending on room, dates going, etc. Just look through the charts for each resort to get an idea.

Have the increasing annual dues become noticeable?

I think this will depend on how many points you have mostly. We only have 160 at ssr and pay monthly, I think this past year that went up around 10$ a month, so not a huge deal. Link below to see the dues for each resort historically. RIV dues have not moved much, combo of not being fully sold out yet and they tend to overestimate the initial starting point for the dues (thanks to the AUL fiasco). You'll notice CCV has not increased much yet either. The last couple of years have seen dues increases higher than the historical average, but thats mostly due to increased staff cost more than anything and should hopefully slow back down in the coming years.

https://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-p...content/2494-historical-annual-dues-by-resort

 

[Maria_Ohana]

We own both at Riviera and Copper Creek. I am aware of the resale restrictions and it doesn't bother us. For us we will stay at Riviera as often as our points allow, getting our money's worth. Should we plan to sell decades from now I know that we got our money's worth. Riviera is high on points that other resorts. So, keep that in mind. I always compare points between resorts we want to stay. Then we keep going back to the Riviera and Copper Creek.

At this time, we have no desire to stay at SSR, OKW, BCV, GFV (unless we have no choice).

Yearly, Disney releases the points chart which is adjusted no more or less what is allotted for the resort.

Dues always goes up, sometimes it's miniscule, other times it can be significant. Just be prepared for that. We have ours auto drafted monthly from our bank. I don't stress it out at the end of the year when it's time to pay, having to purchase discounted GC etc. Kinda like setting it and forgetting it. Others like to do it all at once. However, with 450 points shelling out all that dues right after the holidays can be painful, so this is less stressful and painful for us.

 

[jscottnc]

If you are happy with renting, keep renting. Yes, you will pay more for your vacation stays in the long run but you will not have the big capital outlay or a mortgage. OTOH, owning does give you more control over your reservation and your overall costs are lower. Unlike other timeshares, DVC does have a robust resell market and DVC ROFR does a pretty good job of propping up prices.

There are 2 important questions to ask before you jump in: are you committed to going to WDW at least every other year and can you plan your vacation at least 7 months in advance. If you answered no to either question, keep renting.

To your questions: Point charts have not prevented me from staying at other resorts. Of course one of my home resorts is VGF so anywhere else will require fewer points. Annual dues are noticeable every year though much less than renting points (renting is about 3x member dues). There are brokers that make renting out your points easy -- you get the most return if you can rent your points 11 months in advance of a resort stay (~$16 per point). If you are willing to accept more risk and rent directly, $20 or more per point is common.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

We own direct only at Riviera, no issues booking rooms at 11 months (I am a planner though, so no biggie to me,) and we love it. My husband only wants to stay Riviera, but I like to try the other resorts out with split stays. So far, we love Riviera the best for the rooms, location, and dining, but we love the vibe of Poly, CC, and Boardwalk.

Dues started out high but have stayed pretty steady since then, and I think we got cash back during the shutdown year (not a lot, but a credit is a credit!)

The splash pad is awesome for littles, and while the main pool is not super impressive, it's laid out well to keep an eye on littles and kids in the big pool -- while being adjacent to the bar and bathrooms for emergency potty runs and snacks. I think it's the best laid-out resort and appreciate the small footprint and dedicated Skyliner station.

Just my $.02, but the resale restrictions aren't that big of a deal on resale market so far, even with tumbling resale prices for other resorts. It's holding pretty steady at the $135pp mark, which I think is fair and not at all the doomsday scenario folks predicted. If you plan to hold a decade at least, I'd think you'd make your money back at least, so then you're getting awesome vacations for dues+.

I think it's better to buy versus rent, but if you don't think you'd get enough use of it, keep renting. We like the resort stays so much, we're fine doing that as a trip, too. Forces us to relax.

 

[Stank]

We own direct only at Riviera, no issues booking rooms at 11 months (I am a planner though, so no biggie to me,) and we love it. My husband only wants to stay Riviera, but I like to try the other resorts out with split stays. So far, we love Riviera the best for the rooms, location, and dining, but we love the vibe of Poly, CC, and Boardwalk.

Dues started out high but have stayed pretty steady since then, and I think we got cash back during the shutdown year (not a lot, but a credit is a credit!)

The splash pad is awesome for littles, and while the main pool is not super impressive, it's laid out well to keep an eye on littles and kids in the big pool -- while being adjacent to the bar and bathrooms for emergency potty runs and snacks. I think it's the best laid-out resort and appreciate the small footprint and dedicated Skyliner station.

Just my $.02, but the resale restrictions aren't that big of a deal on resale market so far, even with tumbling resale prices for other resorts. It's holding pretty steady at the $135pp mark, which I think is fair and not at all the doomsday scenario folks predicted. If you plan to hold a decade at least, I'd think you'd make your money back at least, so then you're getting awesome vacations for dues+.

I think it's better to buy versus rent, but if you don't think you'd get enough use of it, keep renting. We like the resort stays so much, we're fine doing that as a trip, too. Forces us to relax.

People losing $50-70pp or more 3 years after purchase of Riviera…that’s like over $25-32pp in effective annual dues. Yowzah.

I’ve seen Riviera go in the low $120s. For the lack of resale inventory/how it’s a brand new resort, that’s an insane drop.

 

[Sandisw]

People losing $50-70pp or more 3 years after purchase of Riviera…that’s like over $25-32pp in effective annual dues. Yowzah.

I’ve seen Riviera go in the low $120s. For the lack of resale inventory/how it’s a brand new resort, that’s an insane drop.

Not everyone is losing that much because some of the earlier incentives brought it down lower. I paid $162 direct and $152 resale.

However, it was worth it because love the resort. But, goes back to the same motto that one should not buy DVC expecting to sell years later for the same or more. One should expect a drop.

Now, RIV has performed better than most of us expected when it was announced. Many of us thought it would never go higher than $100/pt out the gate and since it’s stayed higher than that, for as restrictive as a product, that’s not too bad.

I do think long term it will settle into that $100 to $120s range.

The one thing with RIV is that the pricing is based only on the supply and demand and no artificial floor because DVD has stepped in to create one.

Long term, if these restrictions continue, I think all best park resorts will settle at similar levels.

 

[cvjw]

Points per night can vary wildly between resorts. We have paid 10 points per night for a studio at OKW and just recently paid 34 points for a VGF resort studio. Dues have about doubled in the 15 years we have owned DVC, and at the current $8 or so per point, the dues add up quickly.

 

[RichVIII]

To me you are in the sweet spot for DVC. We purchased when our little was just turning six. We have been going every year since, most years more than once. We are quickly getting into sports/band/activists and trips other than Disney. We have also started to enjoy 1BRs and know that we will soon be doing “bring a friend to Disney” trips. While our patterns and frequency have changed, we have grown into our membership. I know…I sound like a DVC commercial. We certainly purchased in a different time. The good news is the resale market has softened considerably so if you don’t want to go direct, you have a lot of great options. CCV is great for point chart, long contract life and desirable resort (studios can be challenging). I am annoyed by the restriction as well but it only impacts you (primarily), if you sell. While nobody plans on selling, 10 years from now, you may take a bigger hit on value. That said, nobody knows what will happen and the recent rise was a little crazy. The other nice thing is if you don’t buy direct at the moment, you can jump in with a smaller contract and see how you do. Smaller contracts are also easier to unload down the road. We have built up most of our points (resale/direct) by smaller contracts. If you can afford it, I would skip renting and by a small contract. That also unlocks you from purchasing direct with smaller contracts down the road versus the 150 to start now. Your littles will be big before you know it.

 

[bakerworld]

We joined DVC as empty nesters. We joined for the location, close to various tourist areas, and the resort amenities. When our kids were young we went to WDW about every 3 years and by the time the younger ones were teenages they chose to spend more time at the resort. When we joined DVC the youngest was in the back end of College and used SSR as a spring break location - Downtown Disney at night (they were open til 2a then) and pool side during the day.

I can't say we ever regretted joining DVC late but not have the stress of annual dues and the pressure to use DVC was a boon while trying to wrangle school and sport schedules followed by College. I think if we owned during their HS and early College years we probably would have sold. This way we'll probably never sell.

 

[smileyanna]

We are in the "rent forever" (or Swolphin) camp, but clearly most people here prefer and have found enormous value in owning.

For my family's once-a-year trips (it was twice a year before 2017 when annual passes were much less expensive), we would probably have SAVED money on lodging by buying. So that is certainly a point in favor of buying.

But, I look back at my email record and can see that I have canceled trips to the Swan/Dolphin within a month or two of the trip a couple of times. It is possible that as owners, we would have lost a bunch of points, or needed to rent them at discount. Or, we would have taken the trip that wasn't ideally timed because we were locked in.

I think about how Covid closures might have stressed me out as an owner... I think about how we have steadily shortened our Disney trips over the past few years to include Universal deluxe hotels stays too... I think about how our annual vacation goals have expanded from "Disney and beach" to Disney and Europe and skiing, and how the initial cash outlay of buying DVC (or addonitis) may have prevented some of this shift.

For us at least, it is worth paying the premium over and over and over for flexibility and the extra push to consider the value proposition of Disney versus other destinations as the kids have grown.

That said - I always keep an eye on resale prices and have my pounce prices ready for different resorts. Good luck with your decision. There is a frequent poster on these boards who often notes that the value of owning isn't so much saving money as it is nudging you to TAKE YOUR VACATION. That's a good mantra.

P.S. In addition to the "Purchasing DVC" forum, I recommend reading the "DVC Member Services" board a bit as well - it is good to see some of the snafus, miscellaneous annoyances and pixie dusts that owners experience before you buy.

 

[tom1944]

We joined DVC as empty nesters. We joined for the location, close to various tourist areas, and the resort amenities. When our kids were young we went to WDW about every 3 years and by the time the younger ones were teenages they chose to spend more time at the resort. When we joined DVC the youngest was in the back end of College and used SSR as a spring break location - Downtown Disney at night (they were open til 2a then) and pool side during the day.

I can't say we ever regretted joining DVC late but not have the stress of annual dues and the pressure to use DVC was a boon while trying to wrangle school and sport schedules followed by College. I think if we owned during their HS and early College years we probably would have sold. This way we'll probably never sell.

This is the situation with me and my wife.

Being able to have my daughter and granddaughter as additional beneficiaries is a bonus

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Long time renter here, have himmed and hawed buying dvc for years. Early 30s with two small children. Our son loves resort variety, we get an ornament from every resort we stay at for our Christmas tree. We love the Riveria and honestly, would have already purchased there if it wasn’t for the resale restrictions. Do I think we would resale? No but this restriction really irks me about possible restrictions to come. Those who already own, how restricted by the points chart are you regarding staying anywhere but your home resort? Have the increasing annual dues become noticeable? Is the process of renting points relatively easy?

I love renters like you,
you have paid for most of my points….

i bought Riviera at 180 and got the prior years points, added back into the contract. So the way I look at it 160 a point.

Dues go up normally slower that inflation…. I honestly don’t notice the increase year to year…

Buy direct, plan on giving it to your kids to take your grand kids….

or rent, someone else will buy points, that you will pay for, to give to their kids ….

this all assumes that you can comfortably afford to, purchase, and vacation…. If you’re renting it appears you can.

 

[DVCsloth]

Might be a good time to pick up a small resale contract to give it a try. Or just keep renting if it's working for you.

 

[RoseGold]

There's a lot in between renting forever and buying a timeshare, like all the cash properties. I might keep my August points and just stay at Margaritaville for $166. If you like variety in general, locking into a five figure timeshare might not be the move for you. It very much locks you into Disney and Orlando.

 

[Bmramaut]

Thank you all for the wonderful feedback. We can absolutely afford to own dvc but love the flexibility of renting. I agree that now is the time if we were going to do it. I am also holding out for Poly2. If we will buy direct, it’s going to be there. We love Poly but hate that there are no one bedrooms as our children grow. If we buy resale, it’s going to be SSR. Not sure why that place gets so much gruff. The quietness, great food, pools, and location to disney springs is awesome!

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Thank you all for the wonderful feedback. We can absolutely afford to own dvc but love the flexibility of renting. I agree that now is the time if we were going to do it. I am also holding out for Poly2. If we will buy direct, it’s going to be there. We love Poly but hate that there are no one bedrooms as our children grow. If we buy resale, it’s going to be SSR. Not sure why that place gets so much gruff. The quietness, great food, pools, and location to disney springs is awesome!

SSR is great For all the reasons you listed. i love being able to walk to and from the springs.


It is low on the popularity list because you have to take a bus everywhere…. i think it is part of the charm….. space from everything…

plus it is easy to book

 

[tom1944]

SSR is great For all the reasons you listed. i love being able to walk to and from the springs.


It is low on the popularity list because you have to take a bus everywhere…. i think it is part of the charm….. space from everything…

plus it is easy to book

My wife originally wanted SSR but I convinced her that BLT had several benefits over SSR so we originally attempted to purchase BLT.

When that fell through we bid and were successful on a SSR contract

My wife told me she was glad it fell through because she liked SSR better.

 

[Bmramaut]

In an unexpected turn of events we ended up purchasing a direct contract at Grand Floridian. Bye bye renting!

 

[Robbie Cottam]

My wife originally wanted SSR but I convinced her that BLT had several benefits over SSR so we originally attempted to purchase BLT.

When that fell through we bid and were successful on a SSR contract

My wife told me she was glad it fell through because she liked SSR better.

Remember, if momma ain’t happy, you’re basically not going to be happy….

I also own at BLT.