DVC Dreams on Real World Budgets - How did you get creative to afford DVC and maximize your vacation investment?

Right on! If you use this route, I would suggest looking at the differences between the HELOC or HE paths and use the best for you!

I’m not going to argue that the prices of accelerated but you’d probably say the same thing 2018 about 2013 prices, etc.

The best time to buy direct points was yesterday, the second best time is today :)

There are two ways to easily use credit cards. When we did the original purchase we put a significant chunk on our CC which had 0 intersst for 21 months. Disney allows you to pay principle with a CC so we have been paying that way, getting the small benefit from the CC (flight points or % back) and then pay off the CC each month with the money we would have used for the monthly payment. You could also put more on a 0 interest as you pay down the original 0 interest account as well. Hope this helps!

Did t realize you could make principal payments with a credit card. That’s great to know. Thank you!

Same here, we use our Airline rewards card. Living in the PNW makes for a long and expensive plane ride. Putting DVC on the card really make the miles stack up! They also split the payments so that you dont have to max out your card in one big charge. This is one reason we have always gone direct instead of resale. At least I get something back for laying out a big chunk of cash!

It’s been fun to read through this thread and see the thought and creativity from everyone. Thank you!

You can put everything on a cc with direct purchasing for any amount at anytime. However, in most cases, It’s a big cost difference between resale and direct and we personally wouldn’t purchase direct because of being able to use a cc. It was a debate in our house at one time, especially with other variables involved that tempted to sway the ship, but we ultimately came to the conclusion the benefit wasn’t great enough for our circumstance.

If you purchase resale, ask about the various title companies you can use before the contract is set. Some offer the ability to put a greater amount on cc for a deposit than others.

My pleasure! Happy DVC’ing!

It was one reason, but not the only reason! :)

Definitely! Like I said, so many variables and each decision is so personal… The restrictions being a big one that almost tempted us to sway to add on direct. Double that down with cc flight benefits. Lakeshore is tempting again…

For me there’s just no way on direct - it’s not just the per point prices at poly or VDH, it’s also that the point charts have gotten considerably more expensive. I know I sound like “when I first had kids hamburgers were a dollar and DVC points were $96 a point!”

But it really did seem back then like a slam dunk value buying direct from Disney. Now I just don’t see it - guess it helps with addonitis!

Polynesian direct points just went up, so my investment is now more valuable. I rented points to cover annual dues.