What do you wish you knew...?

[sconnell]

What do you wish you knew before you bought into DVC?
My DH and I are planning on looking into it as soon as we can. (Probably within the next year.) But like a good DISer, I'm looking at all the angles and possibilities.

 

[sconnell]

What do you wish you knew before you bought into DVC?
My DH and I are planning on looking into it as soon as we can. (Probably within the next year.) But like a good DISer, I'm looking at all the angles and possibilities.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I wish I would have known how much I would use it so I would have purchased more points and sooner than I did. We bought an original contract 10 years ago, and within the first year nearly doubled it with an add-on. Now I'm kicking myself for not buying in 5 years earlier.

 

[I'mNoPrince]

How easy the entire process was and that it really doesn't have to be paid off right away to secure future enjoyment at these prices.

 

[lisareniff]

1- How easy resale really is. (we purchased BCV through Disney and ended up being a good choice for us but might have considered BWV more seriously)

2- Your Use Year is important and can be chosen (ours turned out to be a good one for us)

3- Multiple small contracts are better then one big one (we ended up on the wrong side of this one with at 300 pt contract.)

 

[canwegosoon]

That the properties that I really wanted were available, not just the one that DVC was selling at the time. I asked 3 people and got all no's....that was not the truth

 

[kdzgon]

Whether or not DVC @ Contemporary will be a reality, and when.

Other than that, I would have liked to know sooner that buying sold-out contracts from Disney usually includes current yr points and that resale contracts usually want to be reimbursed for MFs on top of asking price, and either way a buyer will likely need to make a "catch up" payment in Jan. for the diff in RE taxes for the prior yr.

Ultimately though none of it mattered enough to have changed our decision, as we purchased contracts with lots of extra points, and I would never have had the patience to wait for a CR DVC. (I'm sure we'll just buy more when/if it becomes a reality!)

Oh, yeah - one more thing...I would have liked to have understood just how bad add-on-itis is!!

Laurie

 

[SamSam]

I can honestly say that the only thing I wish I had known was how much we would enjoy using it. When our kids were young we didn't buy because we thought we wouldn't go once they were grown and gone.....WRONG! We started going even more and finally bought at BCV, then 1 year later added on. IMHO if you stay onsite in the deluxe resorts you can't go wrong buying DVC.

 

[shellbelle1971]

I wish we had toured each resort (including VB and HHI) before we made our purchase decision. We still would have chosen SSR for our primary home resort, but if we had known how much we were going to love VB we might have chosen a smaller contract at SSR plus a few more points than we currently have at VB.

 

[Granny]

3- Multiple small contracts are better then one big one (we ended up on the wrong side of this one with at 300 pt contract.)

This is the one thing I would have done differently as well. It really only comes into play if you are looking to sell some of your points or want to divide a contract up to different heirs. But there's no downside to having multiple smaller contracts. In the above example, two 150 point contracts would probably be better than one 300 point one.

Other than that, there really aren't any "hidden" issues...just make sure you have a really good working knowledge of the flexibility and restrictions of DVC so there are no surprises.

Good luck!

 

[3DisneyKids]

I am sure you already know about the fees (yes, I knew this before purchasing, so it is not really an "I wish I knew before" issue), but I bring it up because over the life of the contract you will end up spending more in dues payments than you do in your original purchase. It is just something to think about...even if you pay in full for your contract upfront, you will have that dues payment for the rest of your life or until you sell your contract.

Reading that, it sounds like I am somewhat negative about DVC and that is so far from the truth! We LOVE our DVC and it was definitely the right decision for us. You are right by making this a well thought-out decision. DVC should not be an impulse buy. Ask every question that pops into your head...folks here are more knowledgeable in most cases than your guide or even MS. Feel free, though, to use the search function liberally, as most questions have been answered 100x over in previous threads.

Best wishes as you make your decision...and hopefully we can all welcome you home soon!

 

[MommaX03]

You are right by making this a well thought-out decision. DVC should not be an impulse buy. Ask every question that pops into your head...folks here are more knowledgeable in most cases than your guide or even MS.

I totally agree! I backed out of our first DVC contract with Disney within the 10 day period last year because I got cold feet. It is a major decision. After reading these boards and doing a lot of analysis, I felt comfortable enough to buy DVC this year.
All the points about use year, number of points and location of your home resort are very important. The mantra heard often on these boards is "Buy where you want to stay." If you have your heart set on one particular resort keep that in mind with the 11 month home resort booking advantage. After 7 months, all the resorts can be reserved if they have availability. For key times like the Food and Wine Festival in the Fall, the Epcot-based DVCs will be harder to book if they are not your home resort.
If you think of a question, do a search, it probably was asked before. If you can't find the answer, feel free to start a thread and people will help.

You are right to question everything because this is a big decision. For some, it works for them. For others, they choose not to buy either for personal financial reasons, pattern and frequency of travel to Disney, etc. Many on these boards feel that you get the most economic use out of your points if you use your DVC points for the DVC properties and pay cash for the extras such as the cruises, Grand Floridian, etc.

For my family, DVC makes sense for us. Too many nights sharing a values room in a double bed with the TV on mute so the little ones can sleep!

Good luck with your decision.

 

[WEDINDISNEY02]

The only thing that I can say is that I wish we would have done it sooner...

 

[Nennie]

I wish I had known that the prices would keep going up (unlike a lot of other timeshares that decrease in value), and would have bought MUCH sooner!!

 

[sconnell]

Thanks everyone! Keep them coming, I have a LOT to learn!

 

[KelNottAt]

3- Multiple small contracts are better then one big one (we ended up on the wrong side of this one with at 300 pt contract.)

Ditto Ditto Ditto

 

[jimh13432]

I wish I knew that DVC was like an addiction........It's a constant vacation reminder. (We keep our confirmation letter on the fridge in the kitchen at all times)

This is a good thing!

 

[JodyTG]

Two things:
1) That I could buy at a "sold-out" resort
2) That I could break up my initial 150 point purchase into 2 or 3 smaller contracts

 

[ckgplus3]

The suggestion of touring the different resorts is a good one.
I had no idea how much I would love BWV until after I purchased SSR. We have purchased a BWV resale, but had I known, I would have purchased 2 BWV contracts and passed on the SSR contract.

 

[lisareniff]

I thought of another one...

4- That it is easy to add on small amounts later (We perhaps purchased a little too much on our first contract at BCV)