The "I-wish-I-would-have-known-before-I-bought-DVC" thread

[Debi]

I've decided that my next major purchase will be DVC (now, the next step is saving the money to make that purchase ). Anyhow, I know all the majors of DVC: the points system, 7 month vs. 11 month, housekeeping rotation, annual dues, etc. For all of you DVC owners out there, were there any small things that caught you by surprise, or wish you would have known before buying in? Anything I need to know before buying? I'll (hopefully!) be buying a BWV resale through the Timeshare Store.

 

[greenban]

That was my biggie, I wished I knew about the TTS first, but I lucked out and my first was a purchase from Jason at TTS!

You seem to have the other facts down. Just don't be too suprised by climbing maintenance fees!

-Good Luck

-Tony

 

[Flyerfan]

Yes, we will probably be making this purchase in the future and I am interested in any replies also.

Sharon

 

[Laurajean1014]

I wish I bought points during the pre-construction time and purchased about 2000 points.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

I wish I had taken a tour back in 1994 instead of relying on my good buddies explanation of how it worked. That's how I wound up buying Westgate instead of DVC.

 

[SueOKW]

At $52 pp I should have purchased more and a year earlier... hindsight and all that. I am 100% satisfied that I have OKW.

 

[lisareniff]

I wish I would have bought in 2 contracts instead of on bigger one (2-150 pt vs. 1-300pt).

I wish I would have bought slightly less points. I could have added small contracts later.

I wish I knew I had a choice of Use year. The one I got was perfect but I didn't know I may have had a choice.

That's all.

 

[Sammie]

Same as the others, our family wishes we had bought more points early on.

 

[shellbelle1971]

We originally (I think in '95) bought 150 points at OKW (back when we only had 2 kids).

We sold that later, I think in '99 because I thought with 4 kids
we wouldn't be able to afford to go often enough. We made $ on the sale so I was happy at the time.

Long story short...Last October we went back with all 6 kids and HATED staying offsite, so...hi ho hi ho, to SSR we went...

Now we have about 240 SSR points.

What I wish I'd known earlier?? I wish I'd have known that I would want to keep all 150 OKW points PLUS add on the 240 at SSR!!!!

And of course if they ever do a DVC California, we'll have to add on right away.

So I guess I also wish I had known that add-on-itis is an incurable disease...even if you sell all your original points!

Oh well. Live and learn. Maybe if we save our nickels & pennies we can add on later?

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Best info I got from this Board was that you can buy the "sold out" resorts such as BWV, WLV and OKW, directly from DVC. BCV is also sometimes available, but you may have a loooooooong wait.

While buying a resale may work for many, for us it would have been more expensive. We wanted to use our DVC points for a specific -- and otherwise expensive -- vacation. By the time we decided to buy, it was too late to close on a resale and still get the reservation at BWV during F&W that we needed.

The corallary to my first point is to plan ahead to save money and buy a resale!

Also, based on the advise given here, I am also very happy that we only bought the minimum number of points initially. This was the number of points for which we could easily pay cash and I felt comfortable that even if the dues went up, we would be okay paying them. Of course, this means that add-on-itis will probably strike that much sooner, but at least we won't owe such a huge chunk of change all at once!

Good luck with your decision. -- Suzanne

 

[Lesley]

I'll agree on the use year thing....we have a March use year and travel fairly frequently in January, which isn't good if we have to cancel at some point. So I wish I would have thought more about use year and asked about getting a late summer/fall use year instead of winter/spring.

And to be honest, I don't know why I hadn't considered this before buying because otherwise I did my research so well I knew everything our guide told us about DVC and knew some things she didn't tell us!

 

[tothebeach9]

wish I would have known that beach club dvc was coming earlier. wish I would have known that the catalogue for dvc merchandise would be discontinued. wish I would have known how high the point values are for going on a cruise and activies that are not the actual dvc resort. wish the grand canyon rafting trip was still available.

 

[Doctor P]

I regret not buying more OKW points up front, and not realizing how much we would like HH at that time, either. But, one initial purchase (August 2000) and three add ons (April 2002, April 2003, and October 2004) later we are very happy!

 

[luvindisneyworld]

I wished we would have known about DVC before we did (2002).We would have bought in a long time ago.

 

[Kadorto]

I asked the same question right before we bought ...and the overwhelming response from everyone is that they wished they would have bought in/more sooner. Now that we're members....I couldn't agree with them more..and buying resale through the TTS was a good move for us

 

[cristbaby]

I wish I knew about choosing a use year. I also wish I had bought 2 small contracts instead of one large contract. Still happy with it though. Wouldn't trade it for all the tea in China.

 

[NYMomof4]

I wish that I would have known that I could have afforded it. I walked by those booths many times in the 90's thinking that it was out of range or that there would be some "catch" to it all. Meanwhile, I'm quite sure I spent more than what I paid for my 150 points between those trips. I had no idea....

That said, I wish I could have purchased then when the cost was lower

 

[Harley-Mouse]

We looked in it a the stsrt . O that would be good That was Me, My sister And brother. But never did it. To bad. Now me and DW took the toyr in 2002 and new we had to have it. BCV is the best wish I had got 200 point or so not just the 170. Looking now at HHI resale that resort is great and the point are cheaper. Well my brother and sister did the wright thing because now I take them with us and it don't cost them ant thing. Also take my Sister in Law so every 3 years we take them. This year we will do HHI with in laws on rentad point and 5 nigth at BCV with Sister in law 2nd time around for them.

Don't forget if you don't have the point you can alway rent .

 

[AnnaS]

I am with NYMomof4

We stayed away from the kiosks like the plague. Besides the whole "timeshare" catch-getting trapped idea - I wish I had known that it was within our means and that they were very low-key, no pressure whatsoever - having said that, we also wish we bought more OKW points the first time (have added on three times since our initial purchase). A very, happy satisfied customer here.

 

[Plutofan]

I would have had my contracts split up into three so that I could pass individual contracts to my three kids. Also you should only buy enough points for the amount that you will use. Some people buy in the hope of renting off the extra points. A lot of people do not figure their true cost of owning their points before they set a rental rate (cost of purchase, yearly dues and yearly interest costs). People are willing to rent out points as such a low value and the renter is getting any where from 20% to 60% off Disney's rack rate. By the time that you figure out your actual yearly cost, the return that you could have gotten on your money and the time you spent doing reservations you really do not make much. For me you need to buy DVC for the love of Disney and for your family.