Thinking about buying DVC....again

[katriscari]

We started going to Disney in 2014 when our first son was 5. We stayed at All Star Sports. We went again the following year in May & November--stayed at BC split with AKL and then SSR (all on rented points). We LOVEEEEEEEEEE AKL! We skipped this year because I had a baby at the end of June. He is our second and last child. We have a May trip planned for 2017 for 10 nights and an adults only trip in October 2017 for a 10 year wedding anniversary. We also plan on going in 2018 before my first son is a Disney adult. I know life starts to get in the way, and as kids get older timing starts to become more of an issue, but I feel like a small 50 point contract to bank & borrow to stay a week every other year at AKL might be a good fit for us. We could also just use it for a yearly couples trip as well for 3-4 nights. I saw one yesterday on a resale site for $80/point for 50 points at AKL. I am not sure of the details, but I just thought to myself....for a little over $4k I can own a small amount of points and dip my toe in the DVC water.....I know their annual dues are higher because of the animals, but it is the resort we love the most. I just feel like I either need to take the plunge and make it work, or completely forget about it because every time I look back I feel like I am losing time not doing it sooner. I would pay cash for a contract this size as well. I am pretty risk averse and the type that loves a plan as well. I know I would not allow myself to let points go to waste, etc. I am 34 years old (my husband is 33).My job is secure (his is secure as well), our modest home will be paid off in less than 18 years (we have no plans to move or add debt for a bigger home), My student loan which is a decent chunk of money ($440/month) will be done in less than 4 years). I am not concerned with not being able to afford a contract this size. Thoughts?? Advice??

 

[J and R's mom]

I say GO FOR IT.

It's obviously not a rash decision. You've put a lot of thought into it and it seems to make sense for your current vacation plans. And if that changes, you can always sell it later.

 

[Nicole N.]

I agree, go for it!!!

 

[Marionnette]

We started going to Disney in 2014 when our first son was 5. We stayed at All Star Sports. We went again the following year in May & November--stayed at BC split with AKL and then SSR (all on rented points). We LOVEEEEEEEEEE AKL! We skipped this year because I had a baby at the end of June. He is our second and last child. We have a May trip planned for 2017 for 10 nights and an adults only trip in October 2017 for a 10 year wedding anniversary. We also plan on going in 2018 before my first son is a Disney adult. I know life starts to get in the way, and as kids get older timing starts to become more of an issue, but I feel like a small 50 point contract to bank & borrow to stay a week every other year at AKL might be a good fit for us. We could also just use it for a yearly couples trip as well for 3-4 nights. I saw one yesterday on a resale site for $80/point for 50 points at AKL. I am not sure of the details, but I just thought to myself....for a little over $4k I can own a small amount of points and dip my toe in the DVC water.....I know their annual dues are higher because of the animals, but it is the resort we love the most. I just feel like I either need to take the plunge and make it work, or completely forget about it because every time I look back I feel like I am losing time not doing it sooner. I would pay cash for a contract this size as well. I am pretty risk averse and the type that loves a plan as well. I know I would not allow myself to let points go to waste, etc. I am 34 years old (my husband is 33).My job is secure (his is secure as well), our modest home will be paid off in less than 18 years (we have no plans to move or add debt for a bigger home), My student loan which is a decent chunk of money ($440/month) will be done in less than 4 years). I am not concerned with not being able to afford a contract this size. Thoughts?? Advice??

You're going to get a wide range of opinions on your plan. Each one will have merit. Here's my own experience:

I waded into DVC ownership the same way that you're contemplating. I bought a very small AKV contract and began to learn how to navigate the waters. Having a small contract was worth it for that.​

What I learned was that owning a small contract limits you a lot. Look at the points chart for all of the seasons. A week in a Savannah View studio will cost you more than 2 years of points in most seasons and you will never have enough to stay during Premier Season. You would need to stay in Standard Studios to make a 1-week stay work.

You're also limiting yourself to studios with such a small contract. Even with young children, there are a lot of advantages to staying in a 1-bedroom villa. You would not have even enough points to bank/borrow in order to stay a week in a 1-bedroom Std. View during Adventure Season.

AKV is a large resort that can be booked easily inside the 7-month window. If you love AKV, you should be able to stay there whenever you want without owning there. SSR is considered to be a better value.​

I still have my AKV contract but I have not added to it. I use the points mostly for short stays or split stays, and always for studios. I don't regret the purchase, but if I were making my first venture into DVC today, I would purchase at SSR knowing that getting AKV isn't as difficult as some of the other resorts.

 

[katriscari]

Thank you for the thought. I am not sure I could convince my husband to purchase if it was not at AKL. Saratoga was OK. We actually stayed there and did a "no parks" relaxing trip in November of 2015 because I was newly pregnant. As our kids get older we would probably need the one bedroom because they are almost 8 years apart in age. If we used it for the latter idea I had, 3-4 nights for an adult trip every year we would never need more than a studio. We are May travelers because we love that time of year. I could see us going in October/November as well. I know there will come a time where sports schedules will limit vacations & school will limit vacations. That is why I only wanted to dip my toe and then add if we needed wanted to down the road. I will look at Saratoga too. I was thinking AKL was better because the contract expires later & it is our fave, but it is only 3 years difference....I cannot help but feel like I am wasting a little money every time I rent someone elses points or book through Disney when we currently go all the time.

 

[wdw4rfam]

We have visited the idea of DVC since 2002 so many times. I could never sell DH on the idea because we always stayed value and moderate until last year. Now as we planned our 2017 trip we both decided there's no going back, we love deluxe. We then just looked at the price climb from 2002 when we started our annual visits to now and realized that we have to price lock or they are going to price us out. With the point rental market so high, you can always rent the points if you decide to not go or want to go somewhere else. ( I dont see that happening for us- we've been saying we are going to skip "next year" and go someplace new for 10 years now) So we just finally cracked and bought this week actually. I'm still waiting to hear on ROFR and it's killing me- I check my email 10x per hour. It better not take the 30 days........

 

[katriscari]

We have visited the idea of DVC since 2002 so many times. I could never sell DH on the idea because we always stayed value and moderate until last year. Now as we planned our 2017 trip we both decided there's no going back, we love deluxe. We then just looked at the price climb from 2002 when we started our annual visits to now and realized that we have to price lock or they are going to price us out. With the point rental market so high, you can always rent the points if you decide to not go or want to go somewhere else. ( I dont see that happening for us- we've been saying we are going to skip "next year" and go someplace new for 10 years now) So we just finally cracked and bought this week actually. I'm still waiting to hear on ROFR and it's killing me- I check my email 10x per hour. It better not take the 30 days........

I feel like this is us exactly! Even when I entertain other places to visit there is no place I'd rather be with so much to do than Disney. Flights from Ohio are not awful either. 2.25 hours non stop. My almost 8 year old is just as excited to go now as he was when he was 5. I have an infant who will be going for the next serval years at the very least. It just makes sense. Even when they are older, I will still very much enjoy it myself or with my husband.

 

[robinb]

I think that a 50-point contract will be too small. You already have a pattern of going once or twice a year and have a trip planned for May 2017. I think you'll be looking for more points pretty much immediately and adding onto a contract via resale can be very difficult to find the right number of points and the right use year. Plus, you'll owe closing costs all over again on your second contract.

I think that buying DVC is perfect for a family with young children, but you just can't think about what would work best for your family now ... you also have to think about what will work best in 5 or 10 years. Even if you plan on taking your kids out of school to go on vacation, that may change when they get to middle school or high school. Even a single missed day can be a problem as they get older. Also, some people are fine with a standard view while others need the animals outside their window. You may book a standard view thinking it would be OK and then realize it's not. I would look at the point charts for AKV and see how much a week costs when school is out (basically, Magic and Premier seasons) and work from there to select a contract. Be aware that Value villas are very limited and often sell out within the first month of the 11-month window so I would not use those for pricing.

I would say that you'll need, at the bare minimum, 100 points. Over 7 years (borrowing every single year) that will get you 6 straight weeks in a standard view Magic studio, 5 weeks in a Magic savannah view, 5 weeks in a Premier standard view (skipping years along the way to replenish contract) or 4 weeks in a Premier savannah view (every other year). There are ways to stretch points. You can stay less than a week or you can grab a value studio which will save you a minimum of 19 points per year.

FWIW, We love AKV! We own a 100 point contract there and we use it to stay at the concierge level over Christmas.

 

[gluestickgirl]

We bought our first contract earlier this year, and started small (50pts / Poly). We have older kids and do our longer stays at moderates, so we didn't want to get tied into a bigger contract - especially knowing that scheduling gets harder and harder as they get older. We figured 50pts would either cover a long weekend trip without them, or a couple of deluxe days at the end of a moderate stay with them. We DID end up adding another 50pts (SSR this time) - so that we can have both the long weekend AND a couple of deluxe days with them.

I'm glad we started with just 50.. it let us get a feel for the system and availability, and adding on a second lower priced contract was a good fit for us. It sounds like you have a good feel of what might work well for your family, so don't worry too much about what other people might do in the same situation!

 

[skier_pete]

Don't sweat the "AKV has more expensive dues" issue. On a 50 point contract, the difference between AKV and the LEAST expensive dues (SSR) is less than $50 a year. Never understood why someone would base a choice of where to own on such a small amount of money. Where you factor in buy-in and years left on contract, AKV is the 3rd best "bargain" for a resort. (SSR is #1, and believe it or not BLT is #2.) I am in the boat of buy at a resort you like to stay at. Sometimes your home resort is the only one you can get into - so be happy that you are there.

As far as whether to buy in, you asking a bunch of owners, so of course you will get a near 100% "yes". My advice would be that if you consider that you want to go regularly for the next 5-10 years, that you can plan your trips well in advance (ideally >7 months out but absolute minimum 5 months), that you would be spending the money to stay moderate or deluxe on property, and that you have the financial wherewithal to do it, then yes buying resale is a good idea.

However, be warned - you will rapidly discover that your 50 point contract is not satisfying your "needs".

 

[icydog]

I appreciate all the work you did in researching the points situation. Having owned, sold, and repurchased many many points--here's what I'd do. I'd buy a 150 point Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas contract (make sure it has all of the points banked from the previous use year). That way you'd be paying for only 75 points AND your first year you'll have 300 points to use!

In future years, using your allotted 150 points, you can combine 2 years to equal 300 points every-other-year. 300 points is enough points to stay in a two bedroom villa for a week. With three kids that'll be wonderful.

Or you can stay in a one bedroom villa Standard view every single year. Since AKV had two bathrooms and can sleep 5 in a one bedroom this is An outstanding value! (I looked it up. A one bedroom stand view is actually 168 so you would need to borrow 18 points)

50 point contracts are not a good buy. They cost more. They don't give you the ability to stay when you want to. And if you add points on, as you will HAVE to do imho, then you'll end up paying for closing TWICE.

If you would like help with this, I am NOT a broker, then shoot me a PM. I'll be glad to help!

 

[katriscari]

Don't sweat the "AKV has more expensive dues" issue. On a 50 point contract, the difference between AKV and the LEAST expensive dues (SSR) is less than $50 a year. Never understood why someone would base a choice of where to own on such a small amount of money. Where you factor in buy-in and years left on contract, AKV is the 3rd best "bargain" for a resort. (SSR is #1, and believe it or not BLT is #2.) I am in the boat of buy at a resort you like to stay at. Sometimes your home resort is the only one you can get into - so be happy that you are there.

As far as whether to buy in, you asking a bunch of owners, so of course you will get a near 100% "yes". My advice would be that if you consider that you want to go regularly for the next 5-10 years, that you can plan your trips well in advance (ideally >7 months out but absolute minimum 5 months), that you would be spending the money to stay moderate or deluxe on property, and that you have the financial wherewithal to do it, then yes buying resale is a good idea.

However, be warned - you will rapidly discover that your 50 point contract is not satisfying your "needs".

I get it. In May of 2017 we are doing a 10 night trip staying at AKL, then a shorter 3 night in October for our anniversary. I figured with a small contract I could always add on when I had enough cash saved if I wanted to get more points in the same use year. If not, I would use the small amount of points I had for bonus trips. If we wanted to still go every year we could always continue to rent the needed points or stay moderate. I do not think value is for us anymore. I just am not crazy about having to finance a timeshare. If I am going to go that route I would probably just wait for the few years until my loan is paid off for college, and have much less debt (I should not say much less...its under $20k, and $99 per month is done at the end of 2017 with the remaining being done in 3.5 years from now....although my debt is fixed and not revolving for the most part (car pmts, mortgage, school loan--very little CC). Who knows how much these contracts will be then or if they will be cheaper due to a recession or skyrocket for some other reason. Plus, I will be taking this on when I am 38 years old, instead of 34 years old. My oldest son will be 12, and my baby will be 4. I love Disney, and I know I will want to continue to vacation there...even if it is just my husband and me for a few nights. I would hope that I could add on to give a little something to both of my boys too. I would have loved to get something like this from my parents....too many travel sports getting in the way growing up though with 3 kids in our family...

 

[katriscari]

I appreciate all the work you did in researching the points situation. Having owned, sold, and repurchased many many points--here's what I'd do. I'd buy a 150 point Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas contract (make sure it has all of the points banked from the previous use year). That way you'd be paying for only 75 points AND your first year you'll have 300 points to use!

In future years, using your allotted 150 points, you can combine 2 years to equal 300 points every-other-year. 300 points is enough points to stay in a two bedroom villa for a week. With three kids that'll be wonderful.

Or you can stay in a one bedroom villa Standard view every single year. Since AKV had two bathrooms and can sleep 5 in a one bedroom this is An outstanding value! (I looked it up. A one bedroom stand view is actually 168 so you would need to borrow 18 points)

50 point contracts are not a good buy. They cost more. They don't give you the ability to stay when you want to. And if you add points on, as you will HAVE to do imho, then you'll end up paying for closing TWICE.

If you would like help with this, I am NOT a broker, then shoot me a PM. I'll be glad to help!

I only have 2 kids....one is 7, and one is an infant I do not have cash for 150 points...I would have to finance..wouldn't this end up costing just as much? How would I only be paying for 75 points? Thank you for your opinion too! I always second guess myself when it comes to this!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I only have 2 kids....one is 7, and one is an infant I do not have cash for 150 points...I would have to finance..wouldn't this end up costing just as much? How would I only be paying for 75 points? Thank you for your opinion too! I always second guess myself when it comes to this!

It is very wise and money conscious to just buy the small contract and pay cash. I also would not do otherwise as financing suddenly adds even more to an already high cost. You have your planned use and are not planning on it covering all vacations. It's a good way to try it out and is an easy exit out if you find it is not providing value in your vacations or you find that your vacation interests change as the kids get older.

 

[skier_pete]

I only have 2 kids....one is 7, and one is an infant I do not have cash for 150 points...I would have to finance..wouldn't this end up costing just as much? How would I only be paying for 75 points? Thank you for your opinion too! I always second guess myself when it comes to this!

I agree - if you don't have the cash for it - don't spend the money. Admittedly I financed my purchase, but put it against a home equity loan at a very low interest rate. If you take 10 - 15 % interest for a timeshare it's a bad bad move.

What he's saying is if you got a loaded contract with banked points that you don't have to pay the MF for, then it's like you are getting those first two years worth of points for half price. (Getting 300 points for the MF of 150 points = 150 points per year for the cost of 75.) That's assuming that you don't pay extra for the loaded contract.

Another person DID make a good point, if you buy points in 50 point increments, it IS going to cost you more in the long run - small contracts are more expensive, and then you are paying mutliple closing costs - but in the end if all you can afford is 50 points, then that's all you should buy. We just did 8 nights at AKV for 96 points in October, so your 50 points are enough to give you a week every other year in a studio. (Check out my latest TR if you want to see opinions about AKV.) MF would only be ~$350 a year.

 

[ironz]

I totally understand. My DH and I are doing our research about hopefully becoming DVC owners. He has grown kids, so it is usually just the two of us adults going, and not planning on more than one trip a year (the rest of the travel bucket list is so long and varied!). We have been thinking about a 50-75 point contract ourselves. We have one tiny grandbaby, so in a few years, we would need more points to bring her, but a smaller contract would work for now, is affordable, and would allow us to experience DVC before potentially adding on.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I say go for it also! You have cash perfect! Like you say you can always add on later. Word of warning you always do! Welcome home AK is a lovely resort. I think you should always buy where you want to stay the dues on 50 points I wouldn't worry. Much better to have the resort you love.

 

[lovin'fl]

I also say 'do it'. We too love AKV. We also have bought many smaller contracts (one big 200 pointer at OKW and then we added 50, 50, 25 at HHI and then 55, 25 and 25 at BWV). It is always possible to add on when you have the cash to grab another smaller contract. And as a mom of 3, who will ALL soon be in college, we wondered if we'd still make use of our initial 200 OKW contract once the kids got older...look how many more we've added on since. I have 3 trips booked in the next 11 months and 2 more trips waiting for 11 month openings to book. I have older kiddos asking me to book certain trips (this May for twin DDs graduation, then March 2018 when DDs will be down there with college softball team and then DS wants a 2018 F&W trip because he'll be 21...not to mention DH and I do F&W every year ourselves).

Also a little tidbit to keep in mind for down the road: If you buy direct you can use the Disney Chase Visa (or any CC really) to pay and that will get you the rewards dollars. Our last three adds (the 3 BWV contracts) have been direct. The rewards dollars pretty much covered the closing costs which are lower when you buy direct. With direct you can match UY and you get fully loaded contract and you get the points right away. So adding 25 more AKV later on....

 

[katriscari]

I also say 'do it'. We too love AKV. We also have bought many smaller contracts (one big 200 pointer at OKW and then we added 50, 50, 25 at HHI and then 55, 25 and 25 at BWV). It is always possible to add on when you have the cash to grab another smaller contract. And as a mom of 3 who will ALL soon be in college, we wondered if we'd still make use of our initial 200 OKW contract once the kids got older...look how many more we've added on since. I have 3 trips booked in the next 11 months and 2 more trips waiting for 11 month openings to book. I have older kiddos asking me to book certain trips (this May for twin DDs graduation, then March 2018 when DDs will be down there with college softball team and then DS wants 2018 F&W trips because he'll be 21...not to mention DH and I do F&W every year ourselves).

Also a little tidbit to keep in mind for down the road: If you buy direct you can use the Disney Chase Visa (or any CC really) to pay and that will get you the rewards dollars. Our last three adds (the 3 BWV contracts) have been direct. The rewards dollars pretty much covered the closing costs which are lower when you buy direct. With direct you can match UY and you get fully loaded contract and you get the points right away. So adding 25 more AKV later on....

My husband has a Disney Visa, so I will definitely think about this if I want to buy smaller contracts down the road direct from them

 

[katriscari]

I agree - if you don't have the cash for it - don't spend the money. Admittedly I financed my purchase, but put it against a home equity loan at a very low interest rate. If you take 10 - 15 % interest for a timeshare it's a bad bad move.

What he's saying is if you got a loaded contract with banked points that you don't have to pay the MF for, then it's like you are getting those first two years worth of points for half price. (Getting 300 points for the MF of 150 points = 150 points per year for the cost of 75.) That's assuming that you don't pay extra for the loaded contract.

Another person DID make a good point, if you buy points in 50 point increments, it IS going to cost you more in the long run - small contracts are more expensive, and then you are paying mutliple closing costs - but in the end if all you can afford is 50 points, then that's all you should buy. We just did 8 nights at AKV for 96 points in October, so your 50 points are enough to give you a week every other year in a studio. (Check out my latest TR if you want to see opinions about AKV.) MF would only be ~$350 a year.

I thought about it costing more per point and adding in closing costs, etc, but to finance a contract for a timeshare is expensive...the rates are around 9-10% which would kill any savings I could have by buying a larger one. Plus, a payment of $350 or so a year in dues is easily doable any month of the year for us...whereas owing close to $700-$800 in a month might not be that easy. Our oldest son plays hockey which is a kick in the teeth in September through March with the cost to play, traveling all over the place, equipment....that is easily $2,000.00 a year, etc. I am so risk averse I would rather pay a little more per point, I think, than worry about paying for something down the line. Decisions, decisions.