slo’s MONDAY 3/24 poll - Traditional Timeshares or Disney DVC

[MillauFr]

I have never owned a timeshare. I have heard so many horror stories about them. I would be afraid get involved with any type of timeshare. As far as DVC, I am not really familiar with that so I couldn't comment one way or another.

That is because 95%+ of them are garbage and a huge waste of money. If you do some research though on Timeshare User Group message boards you can learn how to work the system to get value out of them.

 

[MillauFr]

Apparently. I would post a link but it might violate the DIS rules on advertising, but a Google search will find you pages and page and pages of law firms that advertise they specialize in ending DVC contracts.

Why would you use a lawfirm to get out of a DVC contract? You can sell them yourself.

 

[NeeseyL]

We owned 2 contracts with DVC but sold them a while ago when my husband was laid off from his job. It was a panic move and if I knew then what I know now, we never would've sold. We loved DVC and would gladly buy back into it if it was in the cards, but for the time being we rent DVC points and are happy with that.

 

[tvguy]

Why would you use a lawfirm to get out of a DVC contract? You can sell them yourself.

I have no idea, but CLEARLY a lot of people do.

 

[tvguy]

I’m not doubting you at all, the attorneys probably get the owners out of their contracts by purchasing their points!

I am not familiar with DVC but I swear I read somewhere that Disney would buy back your membership at the price you paid. Actually, as I recall they were trying to prevent people from selling their membership to anyone else.

 

[GAN]

I am not familiar with DVC but I swear I read somewhere that Disney would buy back your membership at the price you paid. Actually, as I recall they were trying to prevent people from selling their membership to anyone else.

They have the right of first refusal… so if you find a buyer for your points at a certain price, DVC can buy the contract from you and your buyer starts over. It helps keep point values strong and a few other things

 

[GAN]

I have no idea, but CLEARLY a lot of people do.

Lawyer advertising doesn’t mean “a lot” of people do. It’s simply not a true statement

 

[MillauFr]

I have no idea, but CLEARLY a lot of people do.

Calling a lawfirm to deal with this is a huge mistake. You are far more likely to get scammed by the lawfirm than you would be by a timeshare company. 99% of the lawfirms that deal with timeshare exits are complete frauds.

 

[tvguy]

Lawyer advertising doesn’t mean “a lot” of people do. It’s simply not a true statement

Alright, let's change a lot to "enough"

 

[_19disnA]

I see constant TV ads from law firms advertising they will help you get out of your timeshare. Non-Disney timeshares tend to be worthless so no one will ever want to buy it. Most of those ads are scams as I understand it. They provide you something called a 'quit claim deed' (or some similar wording). No idea if the timeshare company will accept it or if someone can simply go online and produce that document on their own.

Disney runs a legit timeshare business with DVC, most other companies not so much, so we are comparing apples to oranges.

 

[Turn the Page]

We have been DVC members for about 5 years now and love it. We did a lot of research beforehand to make sure we knew what we were getting into and so far, have been super satisfied with our decision.

One of the good things for us is that DH and I enjoy going even without the kids. For us, we don't really see an end but, even if we decide we don't want the contract anymore, DVC is unique in that it genuinely does have a thriving resale market.

Will we get out of it what we paid in? Probably not. But, we have already been on 5 vacations with it so at this point, if we sold it and got even half what we paid for it we would still end up ahead.

ETA: This has proven to be a dangerous thread for me. We aren't ready to add on to our contract just yet but plan to in the future. This thread inspired me to browse the resale websites for listings we would want and I found a few that would have fit the bill.

Danit, Slo!!!!!

 

[cabanafrau]

Neither DVC or other timeshares. No interest.

 

[jimmymc]

I own DVC. I bought one contract, resale, for a good price from an international seller. I don't use all my points every year, but I knew that would be the case when I bought it. The rental market is strong for DVC, so I'm able to recoup some money for any points I don't use. The resale market also gave me peace of mind, unlike some other timeshared which lose most of their value as soon as you buy it.

I sat through a Hilton presentation in exchange for a 3-night stay, but didn't buy.

 

[jimmymc]

I am not familiar with DVC but I swear I read somewhere that Disney would buy back your membership at the price you paid. Actually, as I recall they were trying to prevent people from selling their membership to anyone else.

That's never been the case with DVC. The have right of first refusal for owner resales, meaning they can take the contract back at the agreed price between a private seller and buyer. This is to make sure resale prices don't fall too far below their direct prices.

I've also never heard of a law firm specializing in getting people out of DVC contracts. They do exist for other timeshares, but DVC resale prices are high enough that selling is a much better option than just trying to get out of it.

 

[Mirabell Rose]

Own DVC. Got in direct during Great Recession. Added in resales in recent years. Love it, but fully realize there are plus’s and minus’s. For us mostly plus’s. I was raised not to spend $$ on experiences, so I could hardly ever get over the cost of stays and didn’t vacation much. Once we got ourselves to do the initial buy, mindset is to take full advantage of investment, which we have done. That means we have year after year got investment payoff in wonderful family relaxation vacations. Now that I’m retired early, I have all this money and love my simple lifestyle, but the one thing I did was buy more DVC. Again, we are getting our use out of every single point.

Someone else’s bash of timeshares is not one size fits all. My contracts are selling for more than I spent purchasing. And the returns have been better than anything else. I’ll probably leave this life with lots of stock market gains left. But damn it, I will be squeezing every last point to get to a DVC resort and have setup a trust for my kids and grandkids to have DVC until it expires.

 

[evilmommie]

A hard no on owning timeshares.

 

[tvguy]

That's never been the case with DVC. The have right of first refusal for owner resales, meaning they can take the contract back at the agreed price between a private seller and buyer. This is to make sure resale prices don't fall too far below their direct prices.

I've also never heard of a law firm specializing in getting people out of DVC contracts. They do exist for other timeshares, but DVC resale prices are high enough that selling is a much better option than just trying to get out of it.

Just Google "law firms that specialize in canceling DVC contracts". There are pages and pages of law firms.

 

[Mirabell Rose]

Just Google "law firms that specialize in canceling DVC contracts". There are pages and pages of law

Call DVC member services. Hit the option ‘for help in selling your DVC contract’. DVC contracts sell. You do not need an attorney to ‘cancel’.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Apparently. I would post a link but it might violate the DIS rules on advertising, but a Google search will find you pages and page and pages of law firms that advertise they specialize in ending DVC contracts.

Yeah, but that's dumb. DVC has a robust resale market - far easier to find a resale agent (google is your friend) who will be happy to help you sell your contract and get a substantial amount for it. In fact, if you bought resale, you will get pretty close for what you paid for it - if not more.

 

[Genie+]

We bought DVC even though we wouldn’t buy any other type of timeshare.

I know we will keep going back to WDW and will want to stay at a deluxe resort.

What I do not like about other timeshares is the baggage that comes with figuring out which of our near-term trip plans works. Like right now we have plans to visit California, Italy, Paris, and Toronto. I like retaining the freedom of not being guided my timeshare in deciding which accommodations suite us best. I don’t like the idea of needing to investigate how our timeshare might work for every destination we consider.

It’s different with DVC. It’s mostly just for one traditional location we visit. Even if I broke from our onsite loyalty for one trip, say to do a big family trip renting VRBO because that made more sense, I could easily rent my DVC points and put a decent amount of money back in my pocket to pay for that odd VRBO WDW trip.