rent points or Buy DVC????

[hardhead]

We are renting points this year to stay at SSR. I am considering buying into DVC. But my wife wants to know what the advantages are to own rather then just renting from somebody???

 

[ChelleinNC]

Advantages to owning over renting: Your points, you're in control. Your points, till the end of the contract. Your member perks & discounts (come & go, change all the time but belong to members not renters).

Disadvantages of renting over buying: Not in control of reservation, could end up with unscrupulous owner and lose ressie or money. Not in control of reservation, need member to make all changes/adjustments. May not be able to find an owner in time to make the ressie that you really want. Not elegible for Member discounts/perks ($100 off AP's, DVC golf membership).

Advantages of renting: No long term committment. Great way to try before you buy.

We rented once, for a control freak like me, it was nerve wracking. Financially, it was a great deal but I was nervous until the minute we got our KTTW card. It was a great way to try DVC to see if it would work for us, it did! We signed our contract on the 3rd day of the trip

 

[hardhead]

That's what I think we might do buy when on this trip. We want to try out one of the DVC resorts. But just trying to figure out if it worth it

 

[december14disney]

That's what I think we might do buy when on this trip. We want to try out one of the DVC resorts. But just trying to figure out if it worth it

I have heard that like 99% of the transactions of renters that meet here on the boards turn out find. I am obsessive and not having control would put a damper on planning my trip so I have never rented. Not to say that someday I might not need someone to rent from me!

My fiance and I spent a whole day walking around DVC's trying restaurants and things. That was how we "tried". Many have bought site unseen. What works for some doesn't for others.

P.S. If units are available chances are the front desk will let you tour one!

 

[5forDiz]

Renting points is a great way to experience DVC if you're thinking about possible purchase, stickies at top of rent/trade board will help you through the process. Also, look into what's available to purchase on resale market because savings can often be significant over directly purchasing from Disney especially at present time this is the case in particular for SSR contracts
( you can click on the board sponsor The Timeshare Store's banner above, many here have purchased contracts through them, myself included ).

Best wishes

 

[permavac]

I agree with the advantages and disadvantages listed by ChelleinNC. I also rented points twice before deciding to buy (a small contract to begin with so we didn't have to pay finance charges and we plan on adding on in small increments).

Is it "worth" it to buy in? There's the age-old question The way we decided that it was worth it was realizing a few things:
We want to go to Disney twice a year, every year through the foreseeable future. My DH and I enjoy all the different levels of accommodations at WDW (values, moderates, deluxes) so our decision wasn't based on wanting an "upgraded" room. Epcot is our favorite park, so we are interested most in location and want to stay at BW (at least one trip per year) but definitely don't want to pay BW cash prices.

For us, it made sense to buy in. DVC is cheaper in the long run than shelling out the $$ to stay at BW. We could just continue to try to rent every year, but I again agree with ChelleinNC - I am way too nervous about being one of the 1% (or less) of renters who end up with no reservation at check-in. Owning gives me the control I need. If you and your DW are not the nervous type and prefer to rent, that might continue to work for you. Or, if you aren't obsessed with Disney and could "take it or leave it" then buying probably wouldn't work for you either. Hope that helps! Good luck in your decision.

Terri

 

[hardhead]

If I bought say 50 points. Would I be able to transfer points I rent to my account and then be control over them?

 

[Lynne M]

If I bought say 50 points. Would I be able to transfer points I rent to my account and then be control over them?

"Transferring" and "renting" are two different things.

When points are transferred from one owner to another, they go into the pool of points you have in your account, and are yours to do with as you wish. You are limited to one transfer in or out of your account per year.

When we talk about renting points,that's a situation where an owner makes a reservation for someone else,and is then paid for that reservation. In a rental, the owner makes the reservation, owns it, and controls it right up until the guest checks in. Even if the guest is another DVC owner, the guest has absolutely no control over the reservation, Member Services won't even acknowledge the reservation exists if you're not the owner.

As you can see "renting points" is a bit of a misnomer, it's really renting a reservation. If, as an owner, you were to rent from another owner (as opposed to doing a transfer), the points remain in the other owner's control - they never go into your account.

 

[permavac]

If I bought say 50 points. Would I be able to transfer points I rent to my account and then be control over them?

Per Lynne M, you wouldn't be "renting" if you were getting a "transfer" of points. If you bought 50 DVC points, you could get one "transfer" from another member per use year into your account for any additional points you might need. That's what we're doing for the short-term since we only have a 25-point contract right now... You control those points once transferred into your account.

Terri

 

[Brian Noble]

At current resale vs. rental prices, I think it probably makes sense to buy on the resale market.

It's the first time in a long time I've been able to say that, but the drop in rental rates has not quite kept up with the drop in resale prices. I expect both to rebound as the economy recovers. Buy low!

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you can find a member to rent from on a regular basis, I'd go with renting. I think the cost of a point is just too high these days. We paid about $50 a point for our initial points in 1997 and I just can't see paying more than double for them.

Dues continue to go up every year. That's one reason we sold off some of our contracts, we were paying Disney over $2200 a year just in dues. It's more reasonable now and we get one really nice trip a year for about 8 or 9 nights in a one bedroom. And we'll add a few nights at the beach before or after our WDW trip using cash. We prefer Gulf Coast beaches, so Vero Beach isn't our cup of tea. Some folks love it, but we prefer the Gulf.

If you want to do Disney every year, it may be worth it. But if you want to do something else and only do Disney occasionally, a small contract might suffice and use banking and borrowing every two or three years to get your Disney fix. Don't buy Disney to use it outside of DVC. It's just too expensive to use for non-DVC trips.

 

[lurkyloo]

I agree with Deb!

My heart wants to buy DVC, but my head (and my DH!) tells me that we are saving 50%/75% off discounted/rack resort rates by renting points while avoiding the large initial outlay and yearly maintenance fees of DVC.

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

We are renting points this year to stay at SSR. I am considering buying into DVC. But my wife wants to know what the advantages are to own rather then just renting from somebody???

Every month when I pay my mortgage and MF's I say, "I should just be renting". And then there are years when I have points left over that will expire and I can't rent out I say, "I should just be renting". But down the road when my point s are all paid for, my vacations at georgeous resorts will only cost me the annual MF for the rest of my life and much of my childrens lives. Also renting is only as safe as the person you are renting from, many have gotten burned renting points. Remember every coin has two sides.

 

[Deb & Bill]

.. Also renting is only as safe as the person you are renting from, many have gotten burned renting points. Remember every coin has two sides.

I'd venture to guess that there have been more successful rentals than problematic ones. And the successful would outnumber the problem ones by a large amount.

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

I'd venture to guess that there have been more successful rentals than problematic ones. And the successful would outnumber the problem ones by a large amount.

True, but can you guarantee a person a safe rental experience? The risk factors into the savings of renting.

 

[Deb & Bill]

True, but can you guarantee a person a safe rental experience? The risk factors into the savings of renting.

That's why I suggested finding a member who they can work with for a long time. Find someone they can get to know and trust. There are a lot of members like that out there.

 

[kikiq]

That's why I suggested finding a member who they can work with for a long time. Find someone they can get to know and trust. There are a lot of members like that out there.

I agree. We were fortunate enough to know 2 DVC members who were willing to rent to us when we originally started planning our extended family trip. And I was happy to rent however, a trip to WDW, a tour of all the DVCs and visiting a friend in her OKW 2 bdrm then looking at our Poly bill, my DH told me to call our Ca guide for another meeting. He said owning points would ensure he took his vacation every year and if it was at WDW then so be it.

If you aren't sure because of finances and long term use, then rent.

 

[littlestar]

We are renting points this year to stay at SSR. I am considering buying into DVC. But my wife wants to know what the advantages are to own rather then just renting from somebody???

$100 off an annual pass is a nice benefit of being a member. We sometimes extend a DVC stay by a night or two with an AP rate. We just added on some more SSR points resale at $71 a point and I consider that a bargain price compared to what Disney is charging for SSR.

Also, it's wonderful to be able to just pick up the phone, call DVC Member Services and grab a night or two for a family member if they are going to be in Orlando. We treated my niece and her family to two nights in a Beach Club Villas studio during Christmas week on short notice a few years ago (must have caught a cancellation because Christmas week is usually booked solid). My niece still talks about that stay and plans to join DVC in the future.

Owning even a small DVC contract would enable you to accept a transfer of points once a year. That would give you complete control over your Disney vacation - that's priceless in my book. I work too hard to have to worry about whether my room will be there when I arrive.

 

[chainkid]

I' have lost a ton of money in the stock market since 1998 . In fact the only investment that has grown and made a profit is my DVC. i could sell it even now and make a significant profit over when I bought it . So if I just rented I would have saved over a regular disney vacation but having bought I could sell now and get more than I paid for it by alot and still had all those vacations for the price of my MFees. I only wish I had dumped all my money into DVC . I was too conservative for my own good. This was my mad money from the sale of my business . My mad money is my only profit in ten years Sad. Just another perspective to think about