Resisting the urge to buy...convince me to walk away.....or pull the trigger

HallDisney2019

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 30, 2019
Keeping the message short and sweet! I have been reviewing/researching DVC purchases (direct and resale) for the last 2 years.

I would have to finance, so you are looking at a 10-year loan. Between 220-275 points

I grew up going, and now have a 2-year old, a 4-month old, and likely 1 more in the future. Wife is not a crazy Disney fan but enjoys going and only has stayed at DVC resorts. Since my 2-year old was born we have gone once/twice a year (staying with my family who are DVC members at SSR)

Pull the trigger or not?
 
Do the numbers. See if it is cost effective. But I have to agree its a luxury purchase and you have no idea if you will be in a position to service the loan 12 months, 2 years, 5 years from now.

I personally wouldn't want to finance such a purchase for 10 years. But you need to do the math yourself to see if it works out for you.
 
I know a lot of people do it, but I wouldn't recommend financing. 10 year timeshare interest rates are insanely high, to the tune of somewhere around 15%. I would suggest buying a smaller contract using cash. I bought 100 points, I plan to add on 50 more in 2-3 years. Part of why I bought DVC was to spend less money over the course of my lifetime attending WDW. Having to pay interest on a big purchase like this takes that away, in my opinion.
 


Pull the trigger or not?
I think not at this point in time. You have a lot of financial draws on you - 2 kids, maybe one more. Kids suck the money out of you. IF you said you had the cash to buy I would say yes, but financing and planning on paying it off over the full term of the loan isn't wise as the interest rates are very high.

If you can afford a smaller contract of 100 points that will cover your families needs for one trip a year in a studio for your family of 4 then go that route first and then you can add on down the road. Keep in mind when you then become a family of 5 with the 3 kids all over 3 yo you will have to get a 1BR or have bought at a resort which can accommodate 5 in a studio. That then will cost you more points, which might lead you to needing to buy an add on contract. There are many variables but i think you need to talk yourself off the ledge right now and give it more time to think about the financial impact. It isn't just the loan, you will also have monthly maintenance fees on top of your loan payment.

None of us know your financial situation - are you the only one working, does your wife financially contribute too, are your kids going to be in daycare, will you need a new car soon? There are so many factors which can make owning DVC with a loan a burden vs an enjoyment.
 
I would recommend not financing it. When we were looking into it, the consensus we came to was it was not worth it financially in the long run if we had to pay interest on a loan. We bought a 75 point contract direct from Disney (I think they upped the minimum to 100 thought) that will serve us as long as we can stay in studios. Our thinking being we can buy another contract in the future when we need to start booking more bedrooms and we are able to buy it outright again. Our basic vacation strategy is to use banked/current year points, then current/borrowed points, then take a break and repeat the cycle. My in-laws are DVC owners as well and we will also split vacations - one of us booking a 1 or 2 BR villa for a few nights, followed by the others booking a 1 or2 BR villa for a few nights.

We also chose to buy direct from Disney thinking we could tap into the resale market in the future, but retain whatever perks come from buying direct that they already started taking away from resale contracts.
 
I would recommend not financing it. When we were looking into it, the consensus we came to was it was not worth it financially in the long run if we had to pay interest on a loan. We bought a 75 point contract direct from Disney (I think they upped the minimum to 100 thought) that will serve us as long as we can stay in studios. Our thinking being we can buy another contract in the future when we need to start booking more bedrooms and we are able to buy it outright again. Our basic vacation strategy is to use banked/current year points, then current/borrowed points, then take a break and repeat the cycle. My in-laws are DVC owners as well and we will also split vacations - one of us booking a 1 or 2 BR villa for a few nights, followed by the others booking a 1 or2 BR villa for a few nights.

We also chose to buy direct from Disney thinking we could tap into the resale market in the future, but retain whatever perks come from buying direct that they already started taking away from resale contracts.

Are you local? I just do not see the perks of buying direct. I live a plane ride away and the only perk right now is the future DVC resorts you could stay at if you purchase thru Disney vs. resale
 


I would recommend not financing it. When we were looking into it, the consensus we came to was it was not worth it financially in the long run if we had to pay interest on a loan. We bought a 75 point contract direct from Disney (I think they upped the minimum to 100 thought) that will serve us as long as we can stay in studios. Our thinking being we can buy another contract in the future when we need to start booking more bedrooms and we are able to buy it outright again. Our basic vacation strategy is to use banked/current year points, then current/borrowed points, then take a break and repeat the cycle. My in-laws are DVC owners as well and we will also split vacations - one of us booking a 1 or 2 BR villa for a few nights, followed by the others booking a 1 or2 BR villa for a few nights.

We also chose to buy direct from Disney thinking we could tap into the resale market in the future, but retain whatever perks come from buying direct that they already started taking away from resale contracts.
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I think not at this point in time. You have a lot of financial draws on you - 2 kids, maybe one more. Kids suck the money out of you. IF you said you had the cash to buy I would say yes, but financing and planning on paying it off over the full term of the loan isn't wise as the interest rates are very high.

If you can afford a smaller contract of 100 points that will cover your families needs for one trip a year in a studio for your family of 4 then go that route first and then you can add on down the road. Keep in mind when you then become a family of 5 with the 3 kids all over 3 yo you will have to get a 1BR or have bought at a resort which can accommodate 5 in a studio. That then will cost you more points, which might lead you to needing to buy an add on contract. There are many variables but i think you need to talk yourself off the ledge right now and give it more time to think about the financial impact. It isn't just the loan, you will also have monthly maintenance fees on top of your loan payment.

None of us know your financial situation - are you the only one working, does your wife financially contribute too, are your kids going to be in daycare, will you need a new car soon? There are so many factors which can make owning DVC with a loan a burden vs an enjoyment.

Great advice. Thank you for sharing. The tough part is I did the math and right now financing a 10-year loan on the amount of points cost less than purchasing 75-100 point contracts to build on. Obviously not taking into account maintenance dues
 
I'd stay away from financing as well. It might make you happy to own DVC (and that's certainly important) but financing basically eliminates any/all financials benefit of the transaction. If you'r really just looking to get some of the bigger/better rooms at a relatively reasonable price, look into renting points. Prior to purchasing a DVC contract (just recently) we did several stays (2BR @ BLT and 1BR @ AKV) via rented points and it was a great experience.
 
I'll jump in on Team "do it". Young kids. It's 50 years of vacations. After the loan is paid off you are literally getting deluxe accomodations for just the cost of dues. And Disney is only going to get more expensive while the point charts stay the same. We bought 75 direct through Disney for the perks. Then bought another 160 on the resale market. We used Vacation Club Loans for some of it at less than 10%, albeit a 5 year loan. Their rates are a lot better than financing through Disney. We were going twice a year and figured that we would make back our initial investment in about 9-10 trips. Well, its only been two years since we joined and we have been on 6 DVC trips so far, with 3 on the books for this fall and early next year.

Investing in my future vacations has given me peace of mind. I grew up in a Disney family and just talking to my mom... I can't believe how much more expensive it is now than back in the 80s/90s EVEN when accounting for inflation. Since I'm in my 30s with no kids yet, I like knowing that my vacations are set. And if I am long gone, my kids can enjoy our Disney legacy.
 
I'd buy less points now or save the money first. You also have to remember that that many points will have a pretty high yearly dues cost too. You can't finance that.
 
I don't recommend financing DVC. I'm big on making money work for me and being creative with budgeting. Assuming you are not vacationing this year, why not combine that amount with your down payment and buy a small contract resale? Look at OKW or AKL for low studio points. Not ideal, but it's a start.

Prices are slowing dropping and you can certainly add on as finances allow. I believe you are better off owning multiple smaller contracts anyway, so if you need cash you can sell one and keep the others. Saving 10-15% additional on your contract by not paying financing is a win for you. Cool to own DVC, not owe DVC.
 
I wouldn't do it if you have to finance over 10 years. I don't even know what the break even point would be once you take interest in to account.
 
I'd not finance. If I really wanted DVC and financed, I'd buy less points also. Esp. as your wife is not a huge Disney fan.
 
Are you local? I just do not see the perks of buying direct. I live a plane ride away and the only perk right now is the future DVC resorts you could stay at if you purchase thru Disney vs. resale


No, we’re in Maryland. We like having the access to the discounts (we buy annual passes to cover 2 trips at a time so the pass discounts works well for us). And just knowing that we will have the direct benefits from Disney. Also, the smaller contracts get snapped up so fast on the resale market, so they can be hard to find.
 
If you can afford the payments it's up to you, but maybe try a smaller point contract at a lower year loan and try pay it off early then look at adding on if your in a position to.
 
I guess my question is HOW are you planning on financing it? Is it a HELOC at like 4% that is secured against your house? An unsecured private loan through like a SoFi at like 8 or 9%? Or via one of the DVC financing companies that charge double digits?
 
I gotta say no. None of us know your situation, but I'll make some assumptions (right or wrong). You've got a young family. Presumably you've got a mortgage. When you visit WDW now, you're on parents' dime when it comes to staying DVC. Right now you only buy tickets for two adults...soon, your 2 yr old will be three and will require a ticket. Soon after that, the baby will need a ticket too. Prices will add up faster than you realize. On another thread, someone asked about the costs associated with buying a house, and I gave the same advice I'll give you - when you tie your money up while you are young, you limit your options. Give yourselves breathing room - make sure you've got healthy emergency savings. Make sure you can handle daycare for 3 children. Make sure big loans (cars?) are being paid off as quickly as possible. When you feel that these are taken care of, then start saving the cash for DVC.
 
I gotta say no. None of us know your situation, but I'll make some assumptions (right or wrong). You've got a young family
concur. try to get a deal with free dining. or stay in a moderate. they're quite nice. if you still want, and can manage it financially a few years from now, reconsider buying.
 
At the end of the day we all use finance for stuff we don't really need, it's how the world works. We don't NEED the new SUV we don't NEED the house 5x our yearly salary on a 25 year mortgage. But we feel we can afford it so we sign on the dotted line.

There is obviously a big market for DVC on finance otherwise there wouldn't be several companies that specialise in financing DVC. So this board is either not representative of the average DVC owner or a few people are not telling the exact truth.

The average Joe doesn't usually have 10 - 20 grand lying around to drop on DVC.

If you have a stable job and think you can afford the payments who am I to stop you.
 

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