A Couple of Questions... Looking for advice...

[PoohBear119]

Hello all and thank you for responses in advance. DH and I are thinking of buying into the DVC this summer when we go to the World. I have a couple of questions for seasoned veterans out there.

1. Is it worthwhile to buy into DVC before buying a house? We are looking to be buying a house this coming spring once DH knows if he will have tenure at his job. We have been going to Disney every year since we got married, so I know DVC is the place for us. We will be putting a substantial amount down for DVC and then financing the rest.

2. Can you over pay the payments if you finance to pay down your interest and balance? I know there are some things you cannot do this for.

Any advice or help is appreciated. Also if anyone has been to BLT, do you reccomend that or should we also consider AKV?:shrug:

 

[Big Ben]

Can't give to much advice about buying the house(now would probably be the time though). But I say go for it.

You can "overpay", I did it with every payment. Take the ten year payment plan, this way your monthly minimum will be low. If you don't have the extra to send on the principal for that month you can just send the regular payment, that's how I did it.

Only advice I can give you as far as BLT or AKV is BLT will have cheaper annual dues, someone else may be able to weigh in on that one

Also, I like to tell people if you are going to do it, buy more than the minimum amount of points, you won't be sorry later on.

 

[DonMuppetFan83]

I just bought into BLT for the minimum. Can you upgrade after your paid up or just add points for cash?

 

[PoohBear119]

Thanks Ben! I know my DH will be happy to hear that news.

 

[Big Ben]

I just bought into BLT for the minimum. Can you upgrade after your paid up or just add points for cash?

You can upgrade later, no problem. But keep in mind that the price per point will increase, and you may not be able to add on at BLT if it is sold out(not too big a deal).

I originally bought the minimum, now I'm looking at adding points for the second time. In my opinion it would have been easier to just get them all up front. I'm not saying to go nuts and buy 500 points, but an extra 50 or so over minimum. Especially if you have a lot of people in your family that like to go to Disney(or elsewhere) like I do.

 

[Phonedave]

Hello all and thank you for responses in advance. DH and I are thinking of buying into the DVC this summer when we go to the World. I have a couple of questions for seasoned veterans out there.

1. Is it worthwhile to buy into DVC before buying a house? We are looking to be buying a house this coming spring once DH knows if he will have tenure at his job. We have been going to Disney every year since we got married, so I know DVC is the place for us. We will be putting a substantial amount down for DVC and then financing the rest.

2. Can you over pay the payments if you finance to pay down your interest and balance? I know there are some things you cannot do this for.

Any advice or help is appreciated. Also if anyone has been to BLT, do you reccomend that or should we also consider AKV?:shrug:

If you cannot pay the $16,000 or so for the DVC, how are you going to make a down payment on a house. Or is it that you have the down payment earmarked allready, and now you have 10K or so "left over" for DVC.

I guess the answer to this is, only you know your monetary situation. I personaly rent my primary residence, and own DVC. I would buy a house, but I want to stay in the town where I currently live, and amazingly, house prices have not dropped here, so I just sit on my down payment for now.

As was said, yes you can pay down your DVC mortage without penalty

As far as BLT vs. AK, I would go with AK, but thats just because I don't paticulary like the decor of BLT. Its nice and all, just not my style.

If SSR is available, I would go there, strictly from a price standpoint. I own at SSR and have never had a problem booking elsewhere. I am at AKL and WL this summer in fact. Of course if you go during peak times, thats a different story.

-dave

 

[tjkraz]

If you really want honest feedback (as opposed to a group of obvious Disney fans just saying "oh, buy DVC and the rest will take care of itself!") I would wait.

We first became aware of DVC on our honeymoon in '97. I scoffed at the idea because we hadn't even purchased a home yet.

By '98 we were in our first house and living on a shoe-string budget for the next 3-4 years. Then came child #1. Then came child #2. Finally DVC followed about 6 months later.

I can't take credit for planning everything out like that in advance, but it really was for the best. If we had bought DVC at any point earlier in our lives, it would have undeniably been a hardship. We might have been forced to buy a smaller house or wait altogether. My wife might not have been able to take time off work to stay home with the kids while they were young. We still got to Disney several times before buying...we just didn't have the recurring financial commitment that is part-and-parcel of DVC.

Home ownership is MUCH more important (IMO) in the grand scheme of things. I would put that as a top prioity on your list and only buy DVC later. DVC will always be there.

 

[njDizFan]

as a mortgage banker I can only give you one piece of advise. Make sure that this new loan will not increase your "debt to income" ratio beyond exceptable limits for the new Fannie Mae/ FHA guidelines. Lay out all your debts, include what you think the monthly payment will be for your mortgage, then add in the monthly ewxpensive for the DVC loan, then divide by your gross income. If this ratios is much over 40% you may have trouble purhcasing a new home. Be responsible but if you can afford it go for it...!!!

 

[PoohBear119]

Thanks for all the advice... DH and I do have money put aside for DVC... we were just wondering about payments... I am now leaning towards paying outright and then just worrying about the dues and maintenance fees.

Does anyone have an approximate amount for that? Does it depend on how many points you buy the first time?

 

[wdwfan100]

Hello all and thank you for responses in advance. DH and I are thinking of buying into the DVC this summer when we go to the World. I have a couple of questions for seasoned veterans out there.

1. Is it worthwhile to buy into DVC before buying a house? We are looking to be buying a house this coming spring once DH knows if he will have tenure at his job. We have been going to Disney every year since we got married, so I know DVC is the place for us. We will be putting a substantial amount down for DVC and then financing the rest.

2. Can you over pay the payments if you finance to pay down your interest and balance? I know there are some things you cannot do this for.

Any advice or help is appreciated. Also if anyone has been to BLT, do you reccomend that or should we also consider AKV?:shrug:

we just purchased a DVC. I am thrilled beyond measure. With that being said if it comes down to a house or DVC. I would probably lean toward the house. I consider Disney vactioning a luxury. It works into our budget. It is not the first thing we pay for. It comes when we know that it will not strain other parts of our budget. God has blessed us to be fairly comfortable so we are able to travel to WDW fairly often. But the needs always come before the wants. Not to mention this is the one of the strongest buyers markets in years for a home purchase. If it is an either or situation than get the house,

 

[Big Ben]

Thanks for all the advice... DH and I do have money put aside for DVC... we were just wondering about payments... I am now leaning towards paying outright and then just worrying about the dues and maintenance fees.

Does anyone have an approximate amount for that? Does it depend on how many points you buy the first time?

Dues are calculated per point and by your home resort. I believe currently BLT is @ $3.67 per point, SSR is @ $4.34 per point.

 

[DisneyPirate85]

Just really depends on your lifestyle and we as a group, don't know that. There is millions of ppl out there that have never and will never buy a residence even tho they could. I have family members that could buy whatever they want and still only rent they look at it as they have no upkeep in a residence or tax's. I personally own my home and DVC.
We purchased a loaded resell SSR contract saved $21.00 a point over Disney's price per point plus got a WAY better interest rate for the term. It will just depend on your situation GOOD LUCK with whatever you decide.:wave: Shawn

 

[PoohBear119]

Just really depends on your lifestyle and we as a group, don't know that. There is millions of ppl out there that have never and will never buy a residence even tho they could. I have family members that could buy whatever they want and still only rent they look at it as they have no upkeep in a residence or tax's. I personally own my home and DVC.
We purchased a loaded resell SSR contract saved $21.00 a point over Disney's price per point plus got a WAY better interest rate for the term. It will just depend on your situation GOOD LUCK with whatever you decide.:wave: Shawn

I think it would be strange if you knew what I was thinking... LOL:lol: But on a serious note, thanks for the advice. My DH and I are currently going over finances and it's looking like we may be DVC owners before the summer is over.