Thinking of buying DVC

[lisajl]

For any of you that are "older" and considering buying, what is holding you back? My DH and I are in our 60's and I just introduced him to staying in a DVC room. He loved it. I had previously stayed at OKW with my niece and her family.
We also stayed at HH one night. I purchased the room directly from Disney website. He really loved HH.
It looks like if you buy HH you can't use your points for WDW, is that correct?

Our house is paid off, low CC debt, no car payments, etc. He sways from being ready to buy in to maybe we should wait. I won't push him to do it, we are both in this or not.
Thanks for any input.
Lisa

 

[UrsulaWantsYourSoul]

You can use your HH points at all the DVC resorts at WDW except Riviera (and any new ones they build from here on out). Currently the resale market is very strong so in theory you could buy a contract, use it for a good chunk of years and then sell it. Some resorts’ contracts do expire in 2042 though so the value of those will be much lower soon by then very likely. If you go with a property that has a longer time until deed expiration…
You might also consider if there’s is someone you will leave it to once you are at an age you can’t attend as often or ever. Exciting to be considering though!

 

[DVCsloth]

If you buy direct, you can use them at Riviera.

 

[Sandisw]

Buying HH allows you to book there between the home resort priority, 7 to 11 months before check in.

At 7 months, you can use them at the other DVzc resorts, assuming their are rooms. If you buy resale, you can not use at RIV or future resorts.

If you buy direct, they are valid everywhere.

 

[DonMacGregor]

We also stayed at HH one night. I purchased the room directly from Disney website. He really loved HH.
It looks like if you buy HH you can't use your points for WDW, is that correct?

If you buy the points directly from Disney, at ANY resort, you can use those points to book at Riviera, and any current or future resorts.

If you purchase on the resale market at any resort other than Riviera, then yes, you can't use those points at Riviera.

 

[Minniemoo15]

My parents bought in their 60s.. they bought at the same time Dh and I did. They had seriously looked into it for many years back when it was just OKW, but it wasn’t in the cards back then.

When I had kids of my own and we started traveling to disney regularly again, we all decided to buy DVC. Since then they have added on more points, while dh and I have shown restraint !

 

[RoseGold]

DVC has a strong resale market. It is definitely possible to buy points and sell them in a few years. All of the resorts have interchangeable points except Rivera and anything after that (currently just CA Disneyland Tower).

HH are some of the most expensive points in the system, but HH is small and you need HH points to book at certain times of year. If you're traveling off-peak, you can buy WDW points and just use them at HH.

Mathematically, I'd buy BLT if you plan to sell in a decade or so. But the most important advice is to buy where you want to stay. If you want to mostly go HH, buy that.

If your interest is HH, I'd be looking seriously into other timeshares in the area, maybe renting some weeks in other systems on Redweek. Heck, there's a Marriott one that comes with eight free rounds of golf. There are MANY competitors, and DVC's property is older and pricy. It's clear that Disney in general is focusing its operations on the parks. DVC is quite expensive, and HH is among the most expensive in the system. You might find other timeshare systems work better in that area, and maybe you don't even need to buy at all, when you can just rent weeks here and there.

It's also worth noting that DVC as a timeshare system is very strict on deadlines and requires a great deal of advance planning. That isn't true in all the other systems, where sometimes it is possible to book last minute or maybe with less notice than DVC needs.

I'd never buy DVC or any timeshare if it required financing. It flips the math, and there are so many other competitive choices, like Redweek or Airbnb.

https://www.dvcresalemarket.com/blog/best-economical-dvc-resorts-to-purchase-fall-2021/

 

[bigorsmall]

In the past two years, some miserable things happened in my life that made me really down for a while. I've started looking into DVC since last summer and feel much better now. Buying DVC saved me from dwelling on the past but looking forward to the future.
I don't think age is a problem at all. If you can afford it without sacrificing the quality of life, then go for it.
Is purchasing DVC a good investment? Maybe. But for me, it is, emotionally.
By the way, this thread has many good ideas about buying DVC:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/regrets.3865829/

 

[LoveToDisney]

We are older and love our DVC. Buying the points is only part of the expense though. Be prepared to pay yearly maintenance fees that will escalate every year. As long as your cash flow works out, I would do it and not look back if I could easily pay cash with money not earmarked for anything else. If you buy direct you also can get the discount toward Annual Passes. Once retired our trips to WDW increased, as well, so we use our annual passes so much more.

 

[eandt]

For any of you that are "older" and considering buying, what is holding you back? My DH and I are in our 60's and I just introduced him to staying in a DVC room. He loved it. I had previously stayed at OKW with my niece and her family.
We also stayed at HH one night. I purchased the room directly from Disney website. He really loved HH.
It looks like if you buy HH you can't use your points for WDW, is that correct?

Our house is paid off, low CC debt, no car payments, etc. He sways from being ready to buy in to maybe we should wait. I won't push him to do it, we are both in this or not.
Thanks for any input.
Lisa

We are mid 50's and just bought in 2021 (125 direct AKV) after considering it for a long time and many cash trips at mods/values with our kids (now adults). We rented points twice before buying and have take one trrp since becoming members and love it. We are looking at adding a few points on already. If it's something that brings you joy and you have the cash to buy it go for it!

 

[brazzledazzler]

My parents are 70 and just bought DVC! They bought a small contract at Poly (resale) to be able to go for 2-3 nights during the holiday season. But, now they are looking for a smaller contract at SSR (resale) to try other resorts.

My dad was convinced by the cost difference between owning versus cost of renting DVC points or cash-stay. To be noted, they live within driving distance of WDW and go at least once a year to the parks.

 

[Her Dotness]

Something that may sway him a bit is calculating how soon you'd break even on the buy-in cost.

Whether or not you go frequently right now--annually or multiple times per year--as well as your customary stay level--Value, Moderate or Deluxe--are more important to factor into your DVC decision than you may be aware. We stayed club level mostly at the GF so broke even in a couple years; other stay types can stretch that point out to 8-10 years or more. That could be a major concern when you're not far from retirement age and may be affected by income changes soon.

As LoveToDisney said above, figuring how much dues will add to the cost annually is crucial.

Something else to consider is what size villa you'll want most. Buy at least 50 more points than you would need currently to stay in that villa for the times of year when you're most likely to go.

We thought we'd have enough points at buy-in to have a 1br every other year, certainly a studio every year during our preferred week. We hoped that'd last for a few years at least, aware that point costs can change somewhat from year to year. We got two years before we ended up in the bank-borrow cycle for a studio every other year. Not our preferred stay, but we couldn't afford enough additional points to get back into a 1br at our home resort until our 5th year as members.

Juggling bank-borrow is doable, of course, but disappointing when you can go only every 3 years to get the stay you really like.

Some things to factor in that may not have occurred to you...

 

[upritbass]

For any of you that are "older" and considering buying, what is holding you back?

Nothing. We bought VGC a couple of years ago, I just turned 70 (going next week for my b-day ). The DL closure really piled up our points, so since reopening we have taken 4-night trips (mix of studio and 1BR) 4/21, 9/21, 11/21, 12/21, with scheduled trips 1/22, 4/22, 9/22, 12/22 and so on... Life is short. If you love Disney trips don't waste your time waiting for the 'perfect' timing.

As usual, buy where you want to stay.

 

[lisajl]

Thank you all for your advice!

 

[Divaofdisney]

My husband is in his 70's and I will turn 60 this year- we have 2 contracts 1 resale and 1 direct thru Disney at Old Key West and Riviera- we bought last year and do not regret it one bit! Our daughters will have it when we pass on and be able to share it with our granddaughter. Just wish we had done this earlier. We are thoroughly enjoying it and using it 2x year so far.

 

[kanerf]

I am 62 and bought 4 add-ons in the last year or so. AKL, BLT, BWV and RIV. One advantage of being older is that you usually have more vacation time especially once you retire. I plan on holding on to all of my points. Perhaps dump them in a trust at some point.