Why do folks sell DVC?

[ganban]

Maybe I should have asked this question earlier, since we are currently waiting for a closing date on our first DVC purchase. Do people sell one to buy where they'd rather stay? Do they outgrow/get tired of Disney? It seems like there are so many on the resale market. Just wondering why.

 

[vicki_c]

Those reasons, but more likely for financial hardship reasons I would say, especially at the newer resorts.

 

[magicaldisney]

It seems like there are so many on the resale market. Just wondering why.

If you think about it, with the great number of people who own DVC, the number of resale is probably very small.

 

[mjl1969]

We are planning on selling our BCV contract not because we don't love going to disney vacations but just the fear of being committed to another 25 years of ownership. We decided we prefer the flexibility of staying anywhere we want anytime we want. DVC offers very little in terms of things that non DVC owners can't get other than projected savings in the future. Disney is a giant corporation but not even the best visionary knows what it will be like in 20 years let alone 30 or 40 years from now when many of these contracts expire. .Will the inherent greed in growing the bottom line continue to erode the experience ? Will the standards of cleanliness and service erode? will we decide we have had enough of wdw? All remains to be seen but we see absolutely no point in locking ourselves into these unknowns. Although not the case now it's conceivable that these contracts could become almost unsellable like other timeshares given the right circumstances, that is our biggest fear.

That being said we are excited to go back in 7 months !

 

[BestDadEver]

Maybe I should have asked this question earlier, since we are currently waiting for a closing date on our first DVC purchase. Do people sell one to buy where they'd rather stay? Do they outgrow/get tired of Disney? It seems like there are so many on the resale market. Just wondering why.

Those reasons, but more likely for financial hardship reasons I would say, especially at the newer resorts.

I actually think it has more to do with growing out of it , or feeling they got enough out of it , then I do financial hardship .

I personally think once my kids are grown out of Disney , I will feel I got my money's worth and sell at that point . I don't see my wife and I making a Disney trip by ourselves when we are old .

 

[DizBub]

There are many reasons people sell their DVC. As mentioned, financial hardships like the loss of a job, illness, divorce, death and estate liquidation, change in travel habits. A lot of people retire and move to FL and feel they don't need to keep their membership. Also know of some families who sold to finance college educations and plan to buy again at a later date.

There have been many members decide that they would much rather stay at a certain location sell and purchase their desired resort. Lots of people did just that this year when VGF came on line. Nothing shady about the resale market.

 

[DenLo]

Another reason, as member's age sometimes they find they can longer travel as much and their children do not have the time or money to travel either. And then there is the annual dues that still have to be paid, so they sell.

Finances often are a factor. Divorce is a big factor as well. Very seldom is one member of a couple able to retain the cost of dues and buying out the ex-spouse. People sell now and sometimes repurchase later when they recover financially.

And things you enjoyed 20 years ago may not be as enjoyable today.

 

[disneynutz]

All the above plus DVC isn't what was expected.

Availability disappointment.

Didn't understand what they were buying.

Too expensive.

Bill

 

[MJ6987]

If you think about it, with the great number of people who own DVC, the number of resale is probably very small.

Do we know how many DVC members there are, approximately?

 

[supersnoop]

Do we know how many DVC members there are, approximately?

I'd guess roughly 300,000 owners. I based that on total number of points / average point ownership, and total number of units * 52 weeks. I bet you could get a better estimate using the budget and maintenance fees.

At one point, I calculated the current resale inventory to be about 0.2% of total points! which is much! much lower than single family real estate.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

We own and are very happy owners. This is our 10th year. Our children have grown up with DVC. It is a blessing. We thought that we would outgrow it but have not. Our grown children love going with us and going by themselves. But with point rentals so easy to make and at a great price, we have suggested to our children to rent or just use some of our points. So, it makes sense to me to sell just to have the liquidity.

 

[disneynutz]

Do we know how many DVC members there are, approximately?

Disney doesn't really publish the number but they have mentioned 400,000 members. A contract can have more than one owner and members might be everyone in the family or just those listed on the deed.

Bill

 

[PatMcDuck]

We did sell our OKW (150) and BWV (50) contracts when BCV came out, and re-bought back in at BCV (200). But I do not think that is typical.

I use my points at DL, for VGC most often, because I can stay for less at WDW in general with other discounts. (I now like Art of A, for the suite rooms, and I am a cast member for discounts). Ironically, I have not stayed at BCV in 6-7 years.

 

[nono]

We had two contracts. We sold one. We needed the money to help handle things financially after a layoff. And, we now have a small business that limits our travel to the lowest points times of the year. We can cover our vacations with just one contract. It worked out all around!

 

[McCrae]

We are planning on selling our BCV contract not because we don't love going to disney vacations but just the fear of being committed to another 25 years of ownership. We decided we prefer the flexibility of staying anywhere we want anytime we want. DVC offers very little in terms of things that non DVC owners can't get other than projected savings in the future. Disney is a giant corporation but not even the best visionary knows what it will be like in 20 years let alone 30 or 40 years from now when many of these contracts expire. .Will the inherent greed in growing the bottom line continue to erode the experience ? Will the standards of cleanliness and service erode? will we decide we have had enough of wdw? All remains to be seen but we see absolutely no point in locking ourselves into these unknowns. Although not the case now it's conceivable that these contracts could become almost unsellable like other timeshares given the right circumstances, that is our biggest fear.

That being said we are excited to go back in 7 months !

I can understand why you would sell if this happened.... But selling because it might happen I don't get? You can sell at any time, why the need to rush?

 

[a742246]

Why do people sell their DVC?
Because they can, DVC is sellable at least for the forseeable future. There are many timeshares out there that can not be sold or rented out for a profit. As a DVC owner we are fortuate that we can sell our timeshare or rent it out for a profit. There are even people out there that bought resale (DVC) 3-4 years ago and sold them for a 50% profit.

 

[JimMIA]

I'm sure there is no accurate answer to this question, but my guess is that "out-growing WDW" is that main reason people sell. The hard reality with DVC is that, once you're not going to WDW regularly, it becomes a very limited system.

I also wonder whether the skyrocketing costs of a WDW vacation are having an effect on resales. WDW has become a VERY expensive vacation. In the last few years, ticket costs and airfare for many people have gone WAY up and at some point that has to have some effect.

Surely, there are deaths, divorces, etc which prompt sales, but statistically I think those situations are a minor contributor.

During the worst of the economic downturn a few years ago many people lost jobs or income and had to make painful cutbacks. Unfortunately, a lot of those folks had financed and really took a beating getting out. A lot of them couldn't sell because they couldn't bring cash to closing, and they ended up in foreclosure.

 

[bakerworld]

our last contract has put us in a place of either staying in a larger 1BR instead of a studio or making a decision between selling or renting. Interesting place to be - we hesitate to sell because life is so changeable.

We really enjoy our DVC. Many become dis-enchanted - after a few years the actual cost of stay becomes forgotten and people begin to feel their DVC is 'over priced'. I wonder how many sell and walk away versus sell and realized how expensive the deluxe rooms have become while they were staying in their DVC.

 

[TBLaube]

I sold my BLT contract for financial reasons last year which was financed. Although we owned there, we never stayed there either. I retired from the military, but when still on AD, we never could plan that far in advance. Plus, we werent fans of the resort as much as others.
I have been missing it so just closed on an SSR resale which was much less expensive and we love staying there so dont mind if it is the only open resort. We fly from San Diego so like to see our points go further for longer stays. We have stayed at AKL Jambo & Kidani, OKW, SSR, and VWL on our old contract so hope to try the others in the off seasons. We dont mind split stays either.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

We are going to sell our BWV contract (the larger of our 2 contracts). We have been members for over 10 years, bought resale. Our reasons:

1) Last stay at BWV was so bad that we won't rebook there until it's rehabbed. Therefore the 11 month window is now useless, and we have been unable to secure what we want at 7 months.

2) No availability for pretty much anything we want when we look, but yet easily find those dates on RCI for trade for a fraction of the cost

3) See no. 2. Ease and cheapness of trading in via RCI

4) After staying offsite at Marriott and Westin timeshares via trade we see that DVC has location but not much else for us. At this point, a DVC trade is a last resort for our family if we can't get Marriott.

5) Cost of dues makes no sense given how cheaply we can trade in, the fact that we can just rent points for not much more than dues, and the fact that we cannot ever seem to book what we want anymore.

All that said, we'll keep the 50 point vero contract for deals on APs as they seem to happen annually now.