Seriously considering DVC with a few questions...

[dkosdros]

So I pretty much have a good grasp on the whole concept, the prices, what you get, what you don't get. I get that you buy in at your home resort because then you can book out 11 months for your home.

My question is so what is the benefit of lets say I own 200 pts at AKL, what benefit does it give me buying another 50 pts at lets say Boardwalk?

Am I then able to book boardwalk at 11 mos in advance as well? Does it matter how many points I have for boardwalk or I just have to have the minimum of 25 (through reseller)?

Seems to me it would get confusing adding on points here and there but I could see the benefit if you got to book 11 months out and had a few favorite spots. Just trying to decide if I buy a chunk at one resort or buy a few smaller ones to get the same chunk but they are spread out over a few resorts.

Any help appreciated. Thanks

 

[dkosdros]

oh and lets say i have 25-50 pts at boardwalk would I be able to book all my points at boardwalk for my stay 11 mos out or would I only be able to book my 50 pts, then wait till the 7 month mark and book the rest of the pts from the AKL group?

 

[dreamfinder]

At 11 months, you can only book what you own, where you own it. So if you buy 50 at BW, you can only use those 50 at 11 months, but then you can toss your AKL 200 in as well at 7 months. Some people will bank and borrow the points at the resort they own less at and then only stay there once every 3 years (or whatever the math works out to). So it might be a cheaper way to stay at BW for F&W every few years, while doing your other trips at AKL. The long and short of it, buy where you want to stay. If you try to play around with buying cheaper points at a non desired resort, you might end up getting burnt and having to stay there.

 

[dkosdros]

Ok makes sense, Am I able to use my 50 at 11 months for BW, then borrow and bank another 100. Then when 7 mos rolls around use my 100 from AKL and then put back the 100 I banked/borrowed? just curious to see if it works that way or no.

 

[toolsnspools]

Banking/Borrowing is a final transaction. So when you bank 2013 point to 2014, you have to use them in 2014. Even if you decide to use some points in 2013, you would need to borrow 2014 points to do it. You can't get the 2013 points back.

The scenario that @dreamfinder is describing would look like this.

2013 - Bank 50 points from BW
2014 - Make an 11 month reservation at BW using 50, 2013 points + 50, 2014 points, plus 50 borrowed 2015 points = a total reservation of 150 points.
2015 - You have no BW points. You used them in 2014.

You could use some of the AKL points on your 2014 BW stay, but they would need to be within 7 months of the stay when you make the reservation to use them.

I think the more likely scenario would be to reserve 2 rooms at the 11 month mark; one at BW the other at AKL. Then try to merge the stay at one resort at the 7 month mark.

 

[DVC4bestvacations]

Although DVC rooms have been tougher to get on short notice of late. We have only booked at the 11 month window once. And that was for Christmas week this year. All other times we have booked 7mos or less.

 

[Disneykidder]

When we made our recent reservation for our stay last week, we were going to take away a day but if we did we'd lose those points because it was the left over 2012 points, not the 2013 points. I still have 153 2013 points left but it didn't matter because when I reserved the room, I obviously used the 2012 first so I couldn't give it back. So we kept the night. Does that make sense? It's weird but just how it works.

Now use year is also different. My points become available in March. Keep that in mind also when you purchase multiple contracts.

 

[harryk]

......and if you buy off the resale market you lose some of the off site benefits (should you want to use them) .... check with DVC to see what benefits are not available....

 

[Ralphlaw]

Also, don't forget that moving can be fun. Yeah, packing and unpacking can be annoying, but it kind of turns one vacation into two vacations. We've done this several times. It can actually be a part-time job to keep it all straight. But jump on in, the water's fine.

 

[Disneykidder]

Also, don't forget that moving can be fun. Yeah, packing and unpacking can be annoying, but it kind of turns one vacation into two vacations. We've done this several times. It can actually be a part-time job to keep it all straight. But jump on in, the water's fine.

Yup. We did a split stay on our recent trip. We did 5 nights at BLT and 3 nights at AKL. It was a great way to experience two resorts and were like two different vacations. We are already discussing which two we will stay at in July!!

 

[dkosdros]

Thanks everyone for your replies. It has given me more insight into DVC. I have pondered it for years. Heard so many say they wish they got into it years ago because they really can afford it. I just want to bite the bullet now and in 10 years or sooner have it paid off. Just trying to sort out some finances. Sell off some stuff and clear up any last bit of debt and then I am jumping in because I heard the water is fine.

 

[EOD K9]

It can also be a tax write off as well.

 

[DVC4bestvacations]

Also, don't forget that moving can be fun. Yeah, packing and unpacking can be annoying, but it kind of turns one vacation into two vacations. We've done this several times. It can actually be a part-time job to keep it all straight. But jump on in, the water's fine.

We have points in BWV and VWL if I had to do it again I would have them al at the BW. We have never had to switch in the middle of a vacation and hell would freeze over before I would plan such a thing.

Be smart buy all of your points in on place.

Also look into what the maintenance fees are they are not the same for all of the properties. Consider SSR I'm told the points are cheaper there it's not a bad place to stay but people seem to turn their noses up at that resort.

 

[MadMax11]

It can also be a tax write off as well.

I'm assuming you mean if you use it for business travel...correct?

 

[EOD K9]

I'm assuming you mean if you use it for business travel...correct?

Negative. It is similar to owning real property. Its sorta kinda like a second mortgage.

 

[Nero the dog]

I don't know how old you are, but check the expiry date of the contracts. You might find a nice price on BWV ( my home) but it will only have 30 years left.
If it were me buying at this moment in time, I would look for an extended OKW contract. Good value for money in a nice resort.

 

[MadMax11]

Negative. It is similar to owning real property. Its sorta kinda like a second mortgage.

What deductions are we talking about? I'm aware of interest deductions for homestead....

 

[GoofGoof]

What deductions are we talking about? I'm aware of interest deductions for homestead....

If you have a loan on your DVC purchase and don't own more than 1 home already you can deduct the mortgage interest just like a mortgage on a vacation home. You can also deduct the portion of your dues used to pay real estate tax.

 

[twebber55]

At 11 months, you can only book what you own, where you own it. So if you buy 50 at BW, you can only use those 50 at 11 months, but then you can toss your AKL 200 in as well at 7 months. Some people will bank and borrow the points at the resort they own less at and then only stay there once every 3 years (or whatever the math works out to). So it might be a cheaper way to stay at BW for F&W every few years, while doing your other trips at AKL. The long and short of it, buy where you want to stay. If you try to play around with buying cheaper points at a non desired resort, you might end up getting burnt and having to stay there.

exactly...we want 50 points for vero so we can go to vero every few years..really the wife wants maybe 100 so we can book an ocean cottage every three years at 11 months

 

[Ralphlaw]

If you have a loan on your DVC purchase and don't own more than 1 home already you can deduct the mortgage interest just like a mortgage on a vacation home. You can also deduct the portion of your dues used to pay real estate tax.

I'm no tax expert, but my job does put me into the tax world. I'm not confident that these deductions are available. I assume anyone can take the deductions and will probably get away with it if there's no audit, but I don't think such deductions are truly available. If, however, you pay for your DVC from a 2nd mortgage on your house, that interest may be deductible. If your small business "owns" the DVC contract, then interest and maintenance may be deductible. Of course, it all has to be owned for a legitimate business purpose for that to work.

Again, I'm no tax expert, but I am a lawyer with daily delvings into tax issues. Perhaps GoofGoof has more expertise than I do.