Why is financing so disfavored for DVC on the boards. . . and for that matter, why do so many judge those who use it

[PrincessDisneyFan]

So I've read this entire thread and I am surprised no one has even mentioned the obvious. Whether you finance or pay upfront... absolutely no one on this board can predict the sad truth that death comes at the most inopportune time. We can sit here and argue about risk (taking on debt) verses in this threads case non-risk (paying upfront) til we are all blue in the face. But the reality is one could purchase their DVC membership and pass-on the next day. DVC in itself is a weird animal. It's not an asset like owning a home, but it's also not necessarily a sink. I say this because out of all the timeshares that exist it has historically only gone up in value. (Case in point if you bought at ground zero, you make money on resale... whether you financed or not for the most part) And there is a very healthy rental market (which allows you to not only pay off your annual dues, but have the potential to have cash for lifes necessities if needed)

Is DVC still a luxury? 100,000% yes. No one NEEDS to go on vacation to survive.

And btw I understand that people will come back and say well of course we are all going to eventually die. But it's relevant to my next points.

As I've gotten older, and had some pretty awful life scares... reminding me how finite my time is. Philosophically my life priorities have shifted. I am very fiscally responsible. And for a time all I did was work hard, contribute to my savings, and live WELL within my means. In fact I did not take a vacation for 5 straight years. Why? Because that's what one should do... not have debt... and pay outright. Prepare for your future... have a 10 year plan... be able to retire. But here's the reality its darned important to me to have a work-life balance. No one wants to work non-stop. And at some point there's such a thing as over-planning and not being able to control all aspects of things that happen.

Paying for my own DVC luxury is something I happily do. It brings joy to my life. And it gives something to work for, towards, and be proud to be apart of.

Could this money be used to overhaul my house? Yes. Could this money be used on food? Yes. Could this money be used on clothing? Yes.

But having a release from the monotony of my job. Having a place to take my family for memories. Having a release from the stress of just living. That is the 'monetary value' to me.

So I guess in a nutshell I'm saying. Don't be a person who sits back and waits for the 'perfect opportunity' If you want to finance go for it. If you want to pay in cash go for it.

Just be responsible. Make sure that whatever path you personally choose you can handle.

 

[jodifla]

My wife and I recently bought 3 contracts. One might say we got caught up in Pete's exuberance about DVC (e.g., The DVC Shows and Patreon podcasts) but we've wanted to do it for years (like since 1996). We researched it several times over several years. No one needs to worry that we don't know what we're getting into and we know that there are no guarantees other than use of our points and annual maintenance fees.

We paid cash for one contract (150 points CCV direct) and used financing for two more (100 points at CCV direct and 300 points resale OKW through Timeshare store). During the weeks we spent finally deciding to buy and the months since then we've noted that many people are of the opinion that one should only buy DVC if you can pay cash. We've also observed that some folks have a sense of superiority about this and use a tone I would call "judgey." This is top of mind because yesterday I read a thread in which the OP asked whether Disney would just take back her 3 year old contract because she couldn't really use it any more and one individual essentially responded that the OP should not have financed something they couldn't afford. Affordability was never mentioned by the OP - just that it couldn't be used. That exchange has led to this post.

I've had mortgages, car loans, student loans, credit cards - I've used all the financings. Sometimes really stupidly - mostly really stupidly. I would argue that the use of financing for DVC is one of the smartest ways I've ever used debt.

I get it that the Dave Ramsey's of the world think all debt is from el Diablo and I would agree that debt should be managed well but to say that it cannot be used for something like DVC is foolish in my opinion. And the judgement of others' decisions in this regard should be met with an old fashioned: nobody asked you and its none of your business.

Have you noticed this?

Absolutely! I had the gall to finance 23 years ago, and people will STILL try to argue that I didn't know what I was doing, it was a huge mistake, I risked financial ruin, etc. It's over the top.

In reality we view it as one of the best financial decisions we've ever made. We bought in at very low prices, did our homework, didn't buy too many points and paid it off early. We paid about $1,500 in financing. We chose not to pull money out of savings because once it goes into savings, that's where the money stays. We also saw that the point costs would start accelerating, and we knew we would continue to go to Disney during the time we were paying if off.

We concentrated our vacations at Disney those years. I've heard the argument that you could just rent or stay at a moderate instead of buying DVC. This is simplistic and doesn't acknowledge that you are paying cash and not getting any long term benefit from those stays. We were staying in two-bedroom resorts, bringing our friends, having a blast, for as much as a moderate would have been.

We also understood our situation: We would continue to want to go to Disney. We could handle the payments if even one of us was laid off. We only lived three hours from WDW, so transportation and food were taken care of. We simply packed up a cooler and drove our own car. We have access to Florida Resident passes -- really a good deal back in the '90s. So none of this YOU'LL SPEND $10,000 A YEAR just getting there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! applied to us.

In the end it was a brilliant move. Even when our job situations changed years later, it wasn't a problem. DVD had been paid off for years and years and our dues were very manageable. But we could still take fabulous trips, because we weren't afraid all of those years ago of financing.

Financing is a tool. We've used it to have a lot of great things. We've kept our money in savings, where it belongs. Because of that, life is looking good now as we approach retirement.

I'm so glad we took the plunge when we did and didn't sit on the sidelines for 20 years, while DVC prices skyrocketed.

It's interesting to me that so many people love the movie Up!, but few seem to understand it's meaning.