What are the most cost effective DVC?

[Joed88]

Good info thanks. This thread probably just cost me another 4k!!!

 

[littlestar]

True, but it's not necessarily that one is that much better (overall) than the other. A portion of it is comfort level with the brand and market awareness. The price is definitely not a reflection of the differences, ignoring theming and the "on property" amenities, basically side by side, Wyndham BC is equal to most DVC resorts overall and better than some in many ways.

It depends. In many ways Wyndham is better than Marriott and even within each system, it depends on what you compare to. Assuming resale you'd have to break it down between Wyndham points, Marriott weeks and Marriott Trust points plus I'd add in Bluegreen, Hilton, Hyatt and maybe Worldwark as a minimum. And there is a potential value component as well, Wyndham is significantly cheaper overall or at least can be. What's best depends on MANY variables beyond an appropriate level of exploration appropriate for this thread. I own several of those I mentioned including DVC and DVC would not be my first purchase if I started over.

Totally agree. We own resale SSR points and Wyndham resale points. We have found the Wyndham resorts to be beautiful - we've stayed at Wyndham Panama City Beach (beautiful up-scale units right on the water), Wyndham Waikiki Beachwalk (gorgeous), Wyndham Smoky Mountains, and Wyndham Bonnet Creek. Not all of our vacations are spent going to Disney so the combination of two ownerships is great for us. We sold our Marriott timeshare as Wyndham was a better value on fees and offered more locations within their system.

You might find a combination of resale DVC points and another timeshare system a good fit for your family. Since you are researching, it doesn't hurt to think about it and weigh your options.

 

[djohn06]

If money were no object, I wouldn't own DVC. If money were a significant object - i.e. it HAD to work financially - I wouldn't own DVC. In my opinion, DVC fits a sweet spot financially that is pretty narrow. In addition to looking at resorts, consider two other possibilities. Owning offsite - Bonnet Creek is close and lovely and can be bought resale for much cheaper. Its program is far more flexible than DVC. Renting points - renting points can give you a lot of flexibility that owning can't. You get the eleven month window anywhere you can find an owner for. You don't have your capital tied up in ownership and you trade risks (with brokers, I think you come out ahead on risks now - before brokers - I think renting was the riskier proposition). (We own BWV and buying again today without looking at cost we'd own BWV. We bought it long ago when there were fewer resorts pretty much by chance and it wasn't our first choice. But its worked well for us.)

If you don't mind selling points DVC is by far a much better offer than Bonnet Creek. I see 2 bedroom BC resorts being resold for $700 a week. It's definitely a reason for this. Not sure what maintenance fees cost there, but guessing it's more than $700.

An SSR or BLT owner can pretty much sell points in this current environment at 2.5x to 3X yearly maint fees. Plus if a downturn came in your life, if you purchased DVC resale, you have a great shot at making a profit, or getting at least 90 percent of your money back.

I have other non DVC timeshares thru Sheraton, Bluegreen and Quarterhouse in New Orleans. Nothing provides greater flexibility and return on investment as DVC.

Because I can sell points at a premium at DVC, I pretty much guarantee myself one or two free trips every year at my home resort that I love. Again, I am not sure other timeshares can do this.

 

[goldilocks_63]

For space I'd consider Okw grand villa

 

[searlproudbottom]

I could be the exception to the rule. I purchased ownership at SSR in 2005 and our family has yet to stay there. All of our stays at the world have been a minimum of a 8 days. We have stayed at the Beach Club Villas Twice. Once in a two bedroom in 2007 during the Food and Wine Festival and last year in June for eleven days in a one Bedroom. The Boardwalk Villas we have stayed twice both time in a one bedroom during Food and Wine Festival. We have stayed at the Bay Lake Towers five times Once in a Studio twice in a one bedroom and twice in a two bedroom. all of these stays were in June.

That said I had made every reservation at exactly the seven month window and when member services opened at 9:00 am eastern time. Also a couple of our stays at the Epcot Resorts we were missing a couple of days so we were put on the waiting list and both times our waitlist came though within 10 days.

Buying at SSR has worked for us. We have a long contract at a reasonable price.

Searl

 

[skier_pete]

This is an interesting thread as the OP asked a question that could be answered many ways, but this is because they asked the question of "what makes value". To some value is "I can walk to MK", but I think the OP really was looking at financial value.

There's little doubt in my mind that the best value by this criteria is to BUY at SSR, and to use your points at OKW. (Low MF @ SSR, lower point totals at OKW.) But to rank all the resorts based on financial value, is trickier. But, what the heck - this could be fun!

These four primary things I considered affect of financial value of DVC resort are as follows (in order):

1) Cost of MF (based on current rates).
2) Cost of initial buy-in (resale).
3) Ability to book select (lower point) room categories at 11-months.
4) Length of contract.

The WDW DVC ranked best to worst in financial metric value:

1) Saratoga Springs - lowest MF and almost lowest buy-in trumps higher point requirements (and again can use those points at OKW or anywhere else)
2) Old Key West - lowest buy-in and fairly low MF, but not low enough to beat SSR.
3) Animal Kingdom Villas - I had a hard time choosing this versus BWV at #3 because AKV loses by about 5 % on MF and that is my #1 category. However, the initial buy in is 10-15 % lower at AKV, the ability to book a value room (though smaller), and the fact that you get a contract until 2057 instead of 2042 gave this one the slight advantage over BWV, though just by a (yak's) hair.
4) BoardWalk Villas - See my AKV comments - a standard room here is probably the best location/deal on site. The MF are in the middle. Shorter contract hurts.
5) Bay Lake Tower - I surprised myself on this one, as I find it hard to believe this ranks so high. The buy-in is quite high - but you are getting the lowest MF (though they are rising faster than most), the ability to book a "standard" view room, and the long length of contract adds up to actually quite a good "deal" for those buying re-sale here. (However, this ONLY ranks here because of the "standard" rooms. If you are not booking in those - ranking drops one spot.)
6) Wilderness Lodge Villas - Almost put this at #5 because of the fairly low buy-in, but no "value/standard" rooms, fairly high MF, and shorter contract length make this actually not a very good value. If they announce more DVC here with a different contract length, it may also drive the re-sale value down, though I didn't take resale into account in my rankings.
7) Beach Club Villas - High buy-in, fairly high MF, no "value" room, short contract remains. BCV loses in every category. Much of the year you can still get into this resort at the 7-month mark. Only reason to own here is if you MUST stay here during high seasons. Those looking for financial value stay away.
8) Villas @ Grand Floridian - MF are low, but extremely high buy in, and extremely high point requirements trump that. VGF is luxury accomodations @ luxury pricing.
9) Polyneisan Village Resort - Not opened yet, but see VGF and then add some more.

So - there you have it - a absolutely definitive value ranking.

Until the next poster, who rips it apart.

 

[dankil13]

I plan on buying a resale contract next year and I have analyzed this question a little differently in I am looking at my costs per point by resort, which I calculated as total costs divided by total number of points available over the life of the contract plus maintenance fee per point. I exclude the cost of rooms because one could book at OKW pretty much any time of the year at the 7 month window (based on what I have read on the boards). My financial data is based on the ROFR thread for July-Dec 2014, so the information is a little bit limited. Maintenance fees are based on 2015 fees. My rankings are:

RST - Cost p/pt - Mtc p/pt - total annual cost

SSR - $1.77 + $5.17 = $6.95
BLT - $2.02 + $5.05 = $7.07
AKV - $1.69 + $6.30 = $7.98
OKW- $2.24 + $5.84 = $8.08
VWL - $2.67 + $6.03 = $8.69
BWV - $2.73 + $6.07 = $8.80
BCV - $3.20 + $5.97 = $9.17

The longer contracts help the top 3 resorts. They would also have significantly more resale value in 20 years than the 2042 resorts, so one could recoup some of their purchase price.

We are staying at SSR in a few weeks, and if I find I could enjoy staying there I will most likely buy a SSR contract with plans on adding at BWV down the road. If not I more than likely will look at buying at BLT.

 

[skier_pete]

RST - Cost p/pt - Mtc p/pt - total annual cost

SSR - $1.77 + $5.17 = $6.95
BLT - $2.02 + $5.05 = $7.07
AKV - $1.69 + $6.30 = $7.98
OKW- $2.24 + $5.84 = $8.08
VWL - $2.67 + $6.03 = $8.69
BWV - $2.73 + $6.07 = $8.80
BCV - $3.20 + $5.97 = $9.17

The longer contracts help the top 3 resorts. They would also have significantly more resale value in 20 years than the 2042 resorts, so one could recoup some of their purchase price.

I like how you did that, because you basically incorporate my #1, #2, and #4 into a single number. It really comes down to hard dollars. Phrasing it that way, you end up with BLT being an excellent value.

However, the difficulty here is that downplays the "value" of a upfront expense, versus the ability to still use points 25 years or more from now. Paying an extra $10,000 up front versus could be perceived as less valuable than having those points in 2057. (You could argue that buy the cheaper contract now, and then in 2042 when your contract expires, pick up the other contract with only 15 years left for much, much less money.) This is why I intentionally weighed the up front money higher (#2) than the length of contract (#4).

 

[keysersoze981]

I think the ultimate question is are you trying to select a resort that's going to give you the most bang for your buck? Or are you looking for the resort with the best ROI? Because the stack rankings would be different for each of those scenarios.

 

[dankil13]

I like how you did that, because you basically incorporate my #1, #2, and #4 into a single number. It really comes down to hard dollars. Phrasing it that way, you end up with BLT being an excellent value.

However, the difficulty here is that downplays the "value" of a upfront expense, versus the ability to still use points 25 years or more from now. Paying an extra $10,000 up front versus could be perceived as less valuable than having those points in 2057. (You could argue that buy the cheaper contract now, and then in 2042 when your contract expires, pick up the other contract with only 15 years left for much, much less money.) This is why I intentionally weighed the up front money higher (#2) than the length of contract (#4).

I excluded the time-value of money, so my analysis certainly has its flaws. When I started this process I initially excluded BLT and to some extent AKL but looking at the costs on a total point basis buying there doesn't seem like a terrible bargain. However the extra years may not be worth it in the end if resale prices don't hold up and our needs change (since I will be in my late 60's and 70's by then). Its like grocery shopping - do you buy the smaller sized jar which has a cheaper price tag or the larger jar which has a lower unit price but may go stale before being used?

Ultimately SSR seems like the best of both worlds - longer contract and low up front costs. We stay there in a few weeks so if I like the resort that is where I will most likely purchase.

 

[misspelledone]

There is an insane amount of info in this thread!

Originally it did start out to be best value for dollar just from a financial standpoint, but as more info comes in I can see it's more than just cheapest. Definitely a combination of factors that decide what's best, and these factors are clearly different for each family. So I don't think that answer would ever be the same...... different families, different answers.

That being said, I VERY much appreciate hearing everyone's opinions and there reasoning for the choices. I find it very helpful to hear what other people think. It's always easier to put it in black in white when your on the outside. So thank you very much to everyone and feel free to keep it coming!

Cheers!!

 

[dankil13]

I think the ultimate question is are you trying to select a resort that's going to give you the most bang for your buck? Or are you looking for the resort with the best ROI? Because the stack rankings would be different for each of those scenarios.

I was trying to give myself an apples-to-apples cost comparison. Just because OKW has a lower up front costs doesn't make it the cheapest if other resorts have a longer shelf life. So I took a cost accounting approach. I also put my data together so when I make an offer on a contract early next year its based on the market data that is readily available to me.

 

[skier_pete]

Ultimately SSR seems like the best of both worlds - longer contract and low up front costs. We stay there in a few weeks so if I like the resort that is where I will most likely purchase.

I agree - but with our first stay at SSR in October, I was not particularly enamored with the resort and I think if I were to expand our ownership, I wouldn't buy there even if it is the best value, and I certainly consider that an important factor in the purchase.

There is an insane amount of info in this thread!

Originally it did start out to be best value for dollar just from a financial standpoint, but as more info comes in I can see it's more than just cheapest. Definitely a combination of factors that decide what's best, and these factors are clearly different for each family. So I don't think that answer would ever be the same...... different families, different answers.

That being said, I VERY much appreciate hearing everyone's opinions and there reasoning for the choices. I find it very helpful to hear what other people think. It's always easier to put it in black in white when your on the outside. So thank you very much to everyone and feel free to keep it coming!

Cheers!!

Yeah, I guess I didn't say where we bought in my post earlier. We own at AKV. NOT because it was the BEST value, but because it was both a good value, AND we really like it there. In fact, much like my analysis, I was waffling between BWV and AKV, but decided to go with AKV because of the longer contract life, and the fact we had not stayed at BWV. What's funny is I likely wouldn't consider BLT, but after my own analysis and also dankil13, I think I would take it into consideration should be increase our ownership.

 

[Dean]

I excluded the time-value of money, so my analysis certainly has its flaws. When I started this process I initially excluded BLT and to some extent AKL but looking at the costs on a total point basis buying there doesn't seem like a terrible bargain. However the extra years may not be worth it in the end if resale prices don't hold up and our needs change (since I will be in my late 60's and 70's by then). Its like grocery shopping - do you buy the smaller sized jar which has a cheaper price tag or the larger jar which has a lower unit price but may go stale before being used?

Ultimately SSR seems like the best of both worlds - longer contract and low up front costs. We stay there in a few weeks so if I like the resort that is where I will most likely purchase.

There are many ways to compare, variables, assumptions and unknowns. Personally I don't think one can ignore the TVM but I realize it makes the process more complicated.