sorry for all the post. yearly dues and financing..

[hmire]

First, yearly dues
We do plan on going every year. But $800 a year is like that is an additional amount per year per trip (kwim). Is there any way to help pay for yearly dues?

Second, financing
How did you finance. Did you just go through disney or get a loan? Need to look into a loan, lower increase rate?

Sorry for all the questions..I am on the fence if I want to buy or not. We have gone the past few years, but stayed at the value hotels. Starting next year we can no longer stay at a value (unless a suite).

 

[DopeysGal82]

I'm not sure what you're asking about yearly dues. We elected to pay ours monthly through direct debit. It's less of a hit that way. Plus, when you pay it as a lump sum, you're paying for the year ahead. Why give them the money early?

Many people will tell you not to buy it if you have to finance it.

Also, Resales are very popular on this and other boards since they are MUCH cheaper right now.

DH and I bought direct and financed through Disney. The process was very easy and we qualified for the "preferred" rate which is 11.25%.

I spoke with DH about buying resale and trying to get outside financing, but it's not so easy to find a low interest loan on an unsecured debt.

Another thing about financing through Disney is that 1) They don't report to credit agencies 2) You can, in many cases, tax deduct the interest.

 

[hmire]

I guess I look at the annual dues as an amount tacked on to your vacation every year. We will be financing.

 

[DopeysGal82]

I guess I look at the annual dues as an amount tacked on to your vacation every year. We will be financing.

This is how we look at it. If you divide our annual cost of the points and add in the annual dues, this is costing us $1100 a year (subject to increase with dues). We don't think of the dues as a surcharge, but part of the price. As long as we get $1100 out of our points in a given year, we're good.

 

[AnnaS]

What helps me a little bit for now or as long as it lasts is my disney reward dollars. I charge almost everything I can charge - I can probably charge even more (groceries) if I really want to.

We pay our bill once a year in a lump sum. I apply my rewards to my dues every year (Disney Visa credit card and transfer the reward dollars into a disney rewards card). I just applied $525 towards my dues and will charge the rest in January or when the bill comes out. Get more rewards for that for next year.

Your dues bill is one per per year wether it's a lump sum or not. Some choose the monthly debit out of their account. You can take one trip or as many as you like with how far your points can go and the dues are the same for that year (user year).

We paid cash for all of our contracts (actually put it on my cc first so I could get the rewards and paid it off). Some people finance through Disney. My brother took out a loan privately for five years with a much lower interest rate.

 

[chalee94]

I guess I look at the annual dues as an amount tacked on to your vacation every year. We will be financing.

it's part of the room cost.

onsite is expensive and DVC is expensive...i'm guessing you would need at least a 1BR with a sleeper chair going forward.

realistically, value suites will probably be cheaper and give you the option to not go if your interests change. if you can stand staying offsite, there are homes for rent for less money than a DVC 1BR. other orlando timeshares (even marriotts and sheratons) go for less than $1000 on ebay and you can get the space of a 2BR.

it's up to you, but financing a luxury purchase like this (which is virtually guaranteed to drop in value - especially if you buy direct) is typically a bad idea...

 

[Deb & Bill]

Finding private financing is difficult for a timeshare. Buying directly from Disney will offer financing, but you will pay their much higher direct price instead of the much lower resale price.

You still have to pay for your transportation to your DVC location, you still have to pay for park admission, you still have to pay for food.

You will never get 40% off of your hotel price. You will never get free dining. You will never get "kids stay or play free" with DVC. So any of those savings you have had in the past with your value resorts, you won't get with DVC.

 

[robinbutterfly]

Finding private financing is difficult for a timeshare. Buying directly from Disney will offer financing, but you will pay their much higher direct price instead of the much lower resale price.

You still have to pay for your transportation to your DVC location, you still have to pay for park admission, you still have to pay for food.

You will never get 40% off of your hotel price. You will never get free dining. You will never get "kids stay or play free" with DVC. So any of those savings you have had in the past with your value resorts, you won't get with DVC.

So is that a good thing or bad? Are you getting a better deal withou the special discounts and promotions?

 

[ajseagles3]

So is that a good thing or bad? Are you getting a better deal withou the special discounts and promotions?

Going and staying at a value resort will always be cheaper than staying at a more deluxe resort, which DVC resorts are generally supposed to be.

 

[crisi]

So is that a good thing or bad? Are you getting a better deal withou the special discounts and promotions?

You are getting a different value

If you want to do Disney cheap, a Days Inn is a fine choice. But if you are willing to pay a little more, Disney has its value resorts

If you don't like value resorts and are willing to pay more, Disney offers moderates. And if that doesn't meet your needs, there are deluxes. And there is DVC.

DVC tends to be a good deal for people who visit disney at least every other year and stay in deluxes, or who want to spent a bit more than they have at moderates and be closer to parks. For families bigger than four who dont want to cram into a trundle room at POR, get a family suite, or a cabin at the campgrounds For those that need to stay onside. For people who don't or can't take advantage of deals. And for people who don't need to worry about the "best deal"

 

[luckyman_apd]

You are getting a different value

If you want to do Disney cheap, a Days Inn is a fine choice. But if you are willing to pay a little more, Disney has its value resorts

If you don't like value resorts and are willing to pay more, Disney offers moderates. And if that doesn't meet your needs, there are deluxes. And there is DVC.

DVC tends to be a good deal for people who visit disney at least every other year and stay in deluxes, or who want to spent a bit more than they have at moderates and be closer to parks. For families bigger than four who dont want to cram into a trundle room at POR, get a family suite, or a cabin at the campgrounds For those that need to stay onside. For people who don't or can't take advantage of deals. And for people who don't need to worry about the "best deal"

To find the true value of a DVC (as is a $ amount) is to take the total points you have over the life (so a 100 point SSR contract is 4200 points over the life till 2054). Take the amount you are buying in at (say $60 per point for 100 points is $6000). Take the buyin of $6000 and divide the 4200 points. So that's about 1.43 per point.....over the life. So if you take that $1.43 per point and add this years dues (SSR is $4.73 per point this year) you will be paying for 2012 a total of ($1.43 + $4.73) $6.16 per point. However you use your points is up to you at that point (banking, borrowing or whatever). So as an example if you travelled Nov. 6 through Nov 11 of 2012 (these are my scheduled dates) and you stayed in a studio for 5 nights at SSR, that will cost you 74 points. Take 74 and multiply it by $6.16 and you are paying $455.84. That's your ROOM cost for the trip. You CANNOT get a room on DVC property for that price or less for those nights in 2012 as of right now. At a moderate it's over $900 for the room only price. For Values it's around $750. So DVC CAN save you money.......but over the long haul. Now if get a 1 bedroom, you will use 143 points at a price of $880.88. This is still cheaper than a moderate room, but you're getting a much bigger room. You're paying more than Value resorts, but your getting a better room at a better location/resort.

Now the 143 points you won't have on a 100 point contract so technically 43 of those points will be at next years cost (which will be whatever the diffence is dues is times 43). If you get the studio, you are banking the points for next year. So next year, you are using 26 points at THIS years price. I tend to just stick to point values at the current years price. It makes it easier.

Point is, DVC is not a trick to save tons of cash. It CAN save you $ over time IF you are going to travel to WDW anyway. But if you don't plan to travel to Disney frequently, then don't buy. All you are doing is prepaying for future WDW hotel rooms. IF you use it right (don't waste or let points expire unused) you WILL save money over time.

Be sure you know what you are buying before you buy.

 

[Lynne M]

Maintenance fees aren't a tacked-on fee, they're part of the cost of ownership of any timeshare.

I'm reminded of a bank's mortgage calculator that I was playing with the other day. I plugged the amount I wanted to borrow, and oops, the monthly cost was $300 more than I expected it to be. Turns out the bank was including the property taxes and homeowners' insurance. They were trying to show prospective buyers that the mortgage payment isn't the only thing you have to pay every month when you buy a house.

It's sort of the same thing when you buy a timeshare - you're buying real estate, and you're sharing the ownership of the property with a bunch of other people. So you'll have to pay your share of the property taxes, and the insurance (and a whole lot of other operating expenses like housekeeping, and utilities, and landscaping....). You need to look at the total monthly cost when figuring out if this is a good thing for you financially.

My point (see, I do have one!) being, you need to add up all of your DVC costs together (initial payment + maintenance fees) to figure out what you'll be paying for lodging each year. Then compare that to what you're paying now.

Since you're staying at values, DVC will be significantly more expensive than even a family suite at a value resort. Now comes the decision that only you can make. Are the extras you get with a DVC resort worth the additional money?

 

[crisi]

To find the true value of a DVC (as is a $ amount) is to take the total points you have over the life (so a 100 point SSR contract is 4200 points over the life till 2054). Take the amount you are buying in at (say $60 per point for 100 points is $6000). Take the buyin of $6000 and divide the 4200 points. So that's about 1.43 per point.....over the life. So if you take that $1.43 per point and add this years dues (SSR is $4.73 per point this year) you will be paying for 2012 a total of ($1.43 + $4.73) $6.16 per point. However you use your points is up to you at that point (banking, borrowing or whatever). So as an example if you travelled Nov. 6 through Nov 11 of 2012 (these are my scheduled dates) and you stayed in a studio for 5 nights at SSR, that will cost you 74 points. Take 74 and multiply it by $6.16 and you are paying $455.84. That's your ROOM cost for the trip. You CANNOT get a room on DVC property for that price or less for those nights in 2012 as of right now. At a moderate it's over $900 for the room only price. For Values it's around $750. So DVC CAN save you money.......but over the long haul. Now if get a 1 bedroom, you will use 143 points at a price of $880.88. This is still cheaper than a moderate room, but you're getting a much bigger room. You're paying more than Value resorts, but your getting a better room at a better location/resort.

...

Be sure you know what you are buying before you buy.

It isn't that easy. There is the time value of money, the opportunity cost, and the cost of risk. People who did the simple math buying in 2007 and lost their jobs in 2009 would have been far better off not buying.

I've done the math that way, too.... And I think that math really only works when the results are meaningless to you. If you have to manage the financial risk, that math isn't sufficient. Anyone who is looking at $800 in yearly dues and wondering if there is some help to pay them needs to manage risk.

 

[Deb & Bill]

First, yearly dues
We do plan on going every year. But $800 a year is like that is an additional amount per year per trip (kwim). Is there any way to help pay for yearly dues?...

Yeah, get a part time job.

 

[Sandisw]

When considering DVC, you certainly have to consider both the buy in cost and the yearly dues.

When we were deciding to buy, we looked at what we were paying for our yearly trip to Disney for our room. We then looked at what it would cost to buy DVC, financing, plus the dues and compared that yearly total.

Since we were going to go to Disney anyway (which we were paying cash for), if we could own DVC for no more than what we would spend on our room at Disney the we would buy because it meant DVC wasn't going to cost us more.

Of course, we had been staying at the CR, so our yearly room costs, even with a discount, was running us around $2000 - $2500 a week for our family of 5.

For us, whether we paid the high cash rates or finance charges didn't matter since that $2500 was going to be spent on Disney regardless.

When we ran all the numbers, it worked out. In the end, we figured out a way to buy without financing, which helped out a great deal.

In your case, if you have been staying at a value, the cost of DVC ownership, in the beginning is not going to come out cheaper than what you are currently paying but certainly will pay off later on when you are forced into moderates and/or deluxes.

However, as mentioned, if you are concerned about how you are going to be able to afford those monthly dues (it can be taken out of your checking account), and the monthly loan payments, then you may want to hold off until you have time to really go through it all.

Good luck!

 

[luckyman_apd]

It isn't that easy. There is the time value of money, the opportunity cost, and the cost of risk. People who did the simple math buying in 2007 and lost their jobs in 2009 would have been far better off not buying.

I've done the math that way, too.... And I think that math really only works when the results are meaningless to you. If you have to manage the financial risk, that math isn't sufficient. Anyone who is looking at $800 in yearly dues and wondering if there is some help to pay them needs to manage risk.

I hear you. There is opportunity cost too, but on a smaller contract, and in this economy, the rate of return on opportunity cost is not very high at all, and I have a stable job in a good or bad economy. But for others, you are right, and it is a long term commitment. But the math works.....for a comparison. But like all things DVC, it is based on future assumptions. If you don't think those assumptions are going to pan out, then you shouldn't buy. I also would never advice someone to finance it either. I am in a good enough situation where we have the upfront cost. I'm basically loaning myself the money from savings interest free and paying it back.

I'm sure I could rent every 18 months too, but ownership gives me the freedom to plan my own reservations. We will NEVER stay in value resorts. For a week stay in the summer, it's about $350 more for moderate over value. For a 5 night in the fall, you'r looking at about $200 difference. For those same trips, with my points price math above, it is slightly more than a moderate for a 1br trip, and cheaper than a value for studio stay for the summer, and the fall trip is about equal to the moderates for 1 br, and less than the values for a studio. Either way you slice it, I'm not paying more, and I'm getting better accommodations. But this is based on OUR needs, and that is what will vary from owner to owner.

My advice to anyone buying (as I have read the gauntlet of pessimistic and optimistic ownership viewpoints over the last year) is to be FULLY aware of what your buying. It is NOT for everyone. I just try to give my viewpoint.

 

[ELMC]

First, yearly dues
We do plan on going every year. But $800 a year is like that is an additional amount per year per trip (kwim). Is there any way to help pay for yearly dues?

Second, financing
How did you finance. Did you just go through disney or get a loan? Need to look into a loan, lower increase rate?

Sorry for all the questions..I am on the fence if I want to buy or not. We have gone the past few years, but stayed at the value hotels. Starting next year we can no longer stay at a value (unless a suite).

With all due respect, it sounds like buying DVC is not for you at this time. I say this because of the types of questions you are asking. Buying any timeshare should be considered a luxury purchase, which is a purchase you make with the extra money you have lying around after all your financial obligations are met. If you have to worry about financing the purchase as well as the maintenance fees, then you are adding to your financial obligations. This might not be the best thing for you.

When you finance a DVC purchase you are adding a substantial amount to the overall cost. In that case it might be more cost effective to simply rent DVC points when you want to go on vacation. If you go during the off season you can get points for as low as $8 a piece which would probably be less than your overall costs by purchasing and financing.

It's like buying a fancy sports car. If you have to ask how much it costs to fill the tank, it's probably not the car for you.

I hope this was helpful and didn't come across as rude, as that wasn't my intention.

 

[crisi]

I hear you. There is opportunity cost too, but on a smaller contract, and in this economy, the rate of return on opportunity cost is not very high at all, and I have a stable job in a good or bad economy. But for others, you are right, and it is a long term commitment. But the math works.....for a comparison. But like all things DVC, it is based on future assumptions. If you don't think those assumptions are going to pan out, then you shouldn't buy. I also would never advice someone to finance it either. I am in a good enough situation where we have the upfront cost. I'm basically loaning myself the money from savings interest free and paying it back.

I'm sure I could rent every 18 months too, but ownership gives me the freedom to plan my own reservations. We will NEVER stay in value resorts. For a week stay in the summer, it's about $350 more for moderate over value. For a 5 night in the fall, you'r looking at about $200 difference. For those same trips, with my points price math above, it is slightly more than a moderate for a 1br trip, and cheaper than a value for studio stay for the summer, and the fall trip is about equal to the moderates for 1 br, and less than the values for a studio. Either way you slice it, I'm not paying more, and I'm getting better accommodations. But this is based on OUR needs, and that is what will vary from owner to owner.

My advice to anyone buying (as I have read the gauntlet of pessimistic and optimistic ownership viewpoints over the last year) is to be FULLY aware of what your buying. It is NOT for everyone. I just try to give my viewpoint.

I'm not talking about that opportunity cost - that's covered in Time Value of Money. I'm talking about using that money to do something else. Like pay for the kid's piano lessons, get tires for the car, or replace the furnace. Or have it in a rainy day fund so that if you loose your job, you have a few months of mortgage payments set aside.