Originally posted by ~Magical Princess~
As far as the investment thing goes, the points have a value of somewhere between $5 - $6 (taking into consideration the 40 year thing, dues, purchase price etc). .
This may be true for someone who bought at OKW 8 years ago, but a new purchase (say at the Beach Club) will be much different.
A person purchasing a new contract will be buying a $70 per point (including the $5 off incentive).
If we take into account the time value of money, using a very conservative 4% interest rate, this will cost $3.54 per point per year. (You can get this value in Excel using this formula: =PMT(0.04,40,70,0,0) )
Add to this value the $3.77 per point maintenence and you get $7.31. (BTW, a BWV resale at $60 per point would give a value of $6.95 with this formula)
About the only way you can get to "$5-$6" is by assuming 0% interest on the money you are putting into
DVC. ($70 per point for 40 years with no interest is $1.75. Added to the $3.77 in maintence, you get $5.52)
I personally don't think using an interest rate of 8% is unreasonable, since this is the rate my financial advisor uses to estimate the long term returns on my retirement investments. Using the above formula with 8%, you get a value of $9.64.
BTW, none of this really matters, since people should try to get the best deal they can. If someone can rent for $5 a point, or if an owner can get $20 a point, well, it's a free market.