Worth it for every 2-3 years?

[disneynutz]

We are a family of 5 (boys ages 7, 5 and 2), with another one on the way. We seem to be traveling to Disney ever 2-3 years - I know this is not often when compared to others. We are planning to rent points for next year, for a 2 bedroom at the Beach Club (if we can get it). We are looking at spending $5K for the 2 bedroom through DVC and I just can't help but think it might be worth purchasing one instead. I am not nearly as well versed as any of you, so I apologize if this is a "dumb question", but I am curious whether people think it is worth it to buy DVC points if they are only planning to go to Disney every other year? My thought was to buy 1/2 the points we need (I thought maybe 150), bank them on the year we don't go and then go the following year? I am really having a hard time figuring out how many points we would need - I find the charts really confusing. Because we will have kids in school, I would probably be looking at peak times. The last 2 times we went over Thanksgiving - we also plan to go again next year during this time. I keep trying to talk my husband into going in September because I think it would be much more enjoyable, but it is hard with our kids in school. Sorry for the long winded question. Just curious what you experts think about whether this would be a cost effective option for us, given our particular situation. Thanks so much!!!

Decide where you want to stay and compare your price from Disney, renting from an owner, and what it would cost to by DVC.

Your answer will determine which route to take.

Bill

 

[bellablue2]

don't know the right answer for you, but i'd buy. it's a lot of fun and there are ways to hold the cost down, like renting some of the points in off years.

but if you buy, i bet your number of trips increases. it's a delicious trap!

 

[jnamadison]

If you were to just look at 5 trips over the next 10 years at BCV @ 150 pts:

Price per point is anywhere from 88-95 (passing in ROFR thread) so let's say $93 -150 pts = 13950 + approx 450 for closing. So thats about 14400 to actually purchase.

For the maintenance fees it would 878 ($5.79 per point) this year, and BCV has gone up anywhere from 13 - 22 cents per year so let's go with 20 cents per year just for spice (since I'll assume a refurb will be in there to take the average up) so this would add about $30 per year to your dues.
So with the base of 878 and dues going up $30 every year we get 10130.

This makes your cost around $24500.

878 + (30x) where X is the number of years after your first year for the yearly calculation of Dues.

If you are paying $5000 now to rent, you can bet that will increase over time. Even if it doesn't, you're ahead of the game.

If you plan to finance, you're probably adding another 4k to your total cost (depending on the rate you can find) and it will take another trip or two to be ahead.

Also, if in 10 years you decide your kids are done and so are you, you can sell. While BCV will only have 18 years left and you probably won't get what you paid for it, being Disney, I'd be willing to bet you will still get SOMETHING for it and that is pure profit.

The longer you use it, the more value you will get out of it.

This calculation does NOT take into account what you could do with that money until you spend it on renting the points or anything of that nature.

There are always other risks to consider with regards to future extra curriculars, vacation preferences, etc but that's really only something you can make a calculated guess on yourself.

We decided to buy, but that was based on our situation.

 

[a742246]

My 2 cents worth:

I would buy, but only if I met these conditions.

I have the cash in hand no borrowing.
I would not have to live paycheck to paycheck.
Buying resale, hopefully with a fully loaded contract.
Understanding how use year works.
Knowing the expiration date for each resort.
Planning to go to a Disney resort every 2 years.
And finally visiting each resort before purchasing.

I don't know where you live but if you and /or spouse can take a quick weekend "site check" to WDW and tour the resorts that would be very helpful.

Good luck!

PS Understand the point charts!

 

[jerseyduke]

My 2 cents worth:

I would buy, but only if I met these conditions.

I have the cash in hand no borrowing.
I would not have to live paycheck to paycheck.
Buying resale, hopefully with a fully loaded contract.
Understanding how use year works.
Knowing the expiration date for each resort.
Planning to go to a Disney resort every 2 years.
And finally visiting each resort before purchasing.

I don't know where you live but if you and /or spouse can take a quick weekend "site check" to WDW and tour the resorts that would be very helpful.

Good luck!

PS Understand the point charts!

No borrowing? No living pay check to pay check? What kind of American are you?

Good points though.

I would reiterate understanding UY

 

[lovin'fl]

My actuary husband would do the math like some in this thread while I go on 'feelings'. I feel, in your case, that spending $5K just to rent when you can buy in for $10k (or so)....I'd rather buy in, use the heck out of it until we no longer want to go and then re-sell.

 

[a742246]

No borrowing? No living pay check to pay check? What kind of American are you?

Good points though.

I would reiterate understanding UY

Jerseyduke, I have one comment for you. Crawfish festival in Sussex County NJ
Memorial weekend. My guess is you would enjoy it.

 

[dankil13]

We go every other year and have been renting, which has worked out well for us since its through family or a friend of the family. However I had wish I had bought 3 or 4 years ago just for the convenience factor of controlling my reservation. I just didn't have the excess cash for the upfront purchase price.

I am hoping to have enough this year to afford a 120-150 point SSR contract and we generally need 165-200 points for our stay (we go Oct or early Dec). In crunching the numbers it seems to make more sense to purchase the full amount of points I would use in a given year and rent out the year I don't go vs buying half and borrowing/banking points. Renting points would offset most of my maintenance fees going forward. Of course this only works if we stay disciplined enough to not go every year and DVD continues to allow renting. I just don't think I will have enough cash to do this before our next trip in 2016 so I may buy the smaller contract and add on later.

 

[ncurley]

We just bought 200 BLT points with the intention of staying in a 2 BR every 2 years. I really think BLT will hold its value better than the resorts with a 2042 expiration date. At about $100 per point resale, I think BLT is a bargain compared to BCV which costs almost the same upfront for a contract with 18 years less use. BCV also has higher management fees. The BLT point cost is higher for 2 br's with Lakeview or Theme park view, but not much higher if you book 11 months out to get standard view.

BLT is definitely a bargain compared to GFV which is now $165 a point direct and Poly is expected to be about the same or higher. We really wanted Poly DVC but could not justify the cost. Poly is not yet for sale but I think assuming the cost per point stays at $165 or close to it, it would have cost us $10k-$12k more to buy points direct. That is the equivalent of the cost of the hotel room for about 2 stays.

I think you said you prefer BCV, but if you could "make do" with staying at BLT or any other resort taking your chances at 7 months then if you have the cash, I would consider buying resale BLT points instead. BLT 2 BRs have 3 baths which is great for a big family, and with 3 young kids, you can't beat walking to the Magic Kingdom. I realize timeshares are not truly a real estate interest, but still for Disney DVC I think the mantra "location, location, location" is so true. I think if you did buy BLT it would hold its value much better than other DVC resorts since the cost of other monorail resorts will continue to rise. If so, you would certainly make out and in a best case scenario, you could wind up essentially paying just management fees if you sell your contract a few years from now. Of course that is a huge gamble to take if you do not have the cash now to buy a contract. If you do have the cash to buy enough points to go every 2-3 years, and you think it is more likely than not that you will hold onto the contract to break even even if the value dips, then I think you should go for it. BLT contracts seem to be pretty hot right now though (there used to be tons but they seem to be dwindling in inventory).

If you are set on buying BCV then I think it is a much more risky "investment" but could be worthwhile especially if you think there is a good chance you could hold onto the contract until 2042.

If you plan to stay at BCV in the next couple of years, be sure you are aware of the upcoming refurbishments. Also if you are staying there for the SAB pool I would see if it will be closed during the refurb. It might be worth paying a very low per point cost for a stripped BCV contract if you want to avoid the refurb and use your points 2-3 years from now.

One upside to DVC versus cash rooms is that you have the option to stay in a Grand Villa if you have the points. I do not believe there are Grand Villa rooms through Disney for cash. You can rent points for a Grand Villa, but I think the point another poster made about being able to control the reservation yourself is very important. You can be more flexible and can see the resort availability tool to know all your options.

Also, rental costs keep increasing and at most places there now is a $2 per point premium cost for renting from 7-11 months out. There is no such premium if you own points.

Finally, when you rent points even through a reputable company there's always a risk that something could go wrong (whether it is fraud, the owner not booking the reservation correctly, or whatever). If you own points you control the reservation and receive a booking confirmation.