Annual Dues Question

[pigsinspace]

DH and I are thinking about buying into DVC. It seems like it might be worth it to us IF the annual dues don't fluctuate. I can't find an answer to whether or not they can go up, or if you're locked into a certain amount per point once you buy into DVC. Can anyone here tell me if the annual dues can and do go up?

Thanks!

[faline]

They are not locked in. They can, and do, go up.

[DizneyRox]

I believe one year they actually went down, although don't quote me on that. But as stated, they can and will go up.

[pigsinspace]

Thanks for the replies. I was obviously hoping that we would be locked into a certain amount with the dues. This helps with the number crunching, so thanks!

[DizneyRox]

I think the increases have been in the 2-5% range typically, but I really haven't been keeping track. They go up pennies to dimes per point a year I think.

[vizsla]

As already mentioned the the fees are not locked in and can increase on average of 2-5%. It is a very small increase which is manageable from year to year.

[Ian]

I think the 2%-5% is about right. Closer to 2% for the larger resorts and on the higher end for the smaller ones.

The one anomaly is BLT, which is able to share a lot infrastructure with the Contemporary and also benefits from being a tower and putting a lot of owners on top of a relatively small footprint.

But really an increase in dues and maintenance costs should be expected ... inflation is good for 2% per year all by itself.

[Donald A]

I would have to look at my contract exactly but I think it is a 5% max increase per year UNLESS the State of Florida raises taxes or something like that beyond the club's control.

[FiggyFan]

I just checked my contract documents for the BCV. They say that any increase of more than 15% requires that 60% of the ownership interest in any unit vote in favor before that unit's vote can be cast in favor of the increase. It further says that Disney might have to reduce sevices if they can't get an increase necessary to maintain current services.

I don't think an increase of that size has ever been proposed.

[LynneM]

It might help to understand what maintenance fees are for.

Since you're buying an ownership interest in a resort, your maintenance fees go towards the operational expenses of the resort. Utilities, housekeeping, landscaping, property taxes, maintenance of the pools, that sort of thing. Just as your costs for those items at home can and do go up, so do the costs for these things at a DVC resort.

[seanyred]

They do go up but I am positive in 2010 I paid less then 2009 but not by a ton of money. The amount they go up is not a major impact on my year to year budget.

I also agree that it is best to look at as way the resorts are maintained/updated. Lets say you co-owned a condo in the Orlando are for a vacation home, you still need to set aside money for upkeep of your property (plus doing the work yourself or hiring help). So in my mind the annual dues takes care of all of that and I don't have to do any of the work!

[Donald_Quackers]

This is one thing I was looking at as well when I was researching. My home resort, BLT, has the lowest maintenance fees (as far as I know) not to mention it was the one I really wanted to make my home resort.

Good luck in your decision.

[seanyred]

This is one thing I was looking at as well when I was researching. My home resort, BLT, has the lowest maintenance fees (as far as I know) not to mention it was the one I really wanted to make my home resort.

Good luck in your decision.

You are correct about BLT being the lowest and my resort AKL is one of the highest (but we have animals to maintain so I understand why). Either way its a trade off BLT uses more points per trip and AKL uses the least. So for me who owns a low amount of points AKL made more sense, plus AKL is my favorite anyway.

But this is why I love DVC so much choices for everyone!

[Ian]

They do go up but I am positive in 2010 I paid less then 2009 but not by a ton of money.Yeah, if you buy at a resort that isn't sold out yet your dues can go down as more owners come on board to shoulder the burden.


Either way its a trade off BLT uses more points per trip and AKL uses the least.Well ... it's a bit hard to compare apples to apples with points usage, because not all the resorts have the same tiers of accomodations.

If you look at the lowest level of room type at AKV (which is called a "value" room) then yeah their points are the cheapest. But as soon as you move up a tier to a standard room (which is entry level at all the other DVC resorts) OKW is actually the one with the lowest point cost per night.