Down To The Final Decision

So last week I asked all of you if Disney Vacation Club is worth the investment.  I have spent the last week really digging into the club along with the resale market on DVC.  I have had several conversations with real estate agents, financial investors, and friends who own or know someone that owns.  After much investigation I have come to the conclusion that for my family DVC would be a good investment especially if we buy resale.  I talked with a resale company this week and was really impressed with their service and advice; the trick to making this a good investment is the following:

-Don't get caught up in which DVC resort you buy in, rather buy in at the lowest point and the resort with the lowest annual dues.  Currently Saratoga Springs in Disney World is the best deal.  The only difference in your "home resort" versus any other DVC Resort is you can make reservations at 11 months prior to your trip at your "home resort" and 7 at any other resort.  The people I talked to indicated that this has never been a problem and even at 7 months out you can usually get what you want.

-Really dig into the point values of the resorts and plan accordingly as to how many points you plan to use in a year.  I'm looking at 250 points as this would allow us in many cases to actually get 2 weeks rather than 1 based on our current travel situation (kids are small so we don't need a 2 bedroom in many instances a studio would work, and we can travel during non peak times).

- Calculate how much you spend on hotels currently during the year and make sure that you plan to use DVC yearly to get more out of your investment.  Given that I love to travel and DVC are great resorts I know that my family would use yearly.  An example is I'm looking to spend $10,000 on 250 DVC points that expire in 42 years: this is $238 per year.  In addition there are annual dues that can adjust yearly; however they have stayed pretty consistent over the years: current annual dues at Saratoga Springs for 250 points is $1107.  $1107 per year x 42 years= $46,515 in annual dues.  $46,515 + $10,000 initial investment = $56,515. The total cost per year is approximately $1,345.  If you use all your points on 7 nights that = $192.22 per night at a $400+ resort.  If you are able to stretch your points to 2 weeks you are only spending $96 per night at a $400+ resort.  As you can see by the math if you use your points you are going to save a lot of money and get away from a standard hotel room and actually get a spacious condo unit that includes a kitchen (another way to save by not eating out every meal).

-If you want to go to a nicer resort or want to have a 2 or 3 bedroom know that you can bank your points into the next year and also borrow from the next year.  So in reality I could have 750 points to use in one year if I wanted, which is a great feature.  The key is to plan ahead. 

It's pretty clear to me that DVC is a great decision for my family..now my next step is I need to convince my husband Paul.  I am confident I can convince him now that I have done the research and have done the math on the investment.  Wish me luck!