What would you do?

[saintrob]

I'm a relatively new DVC member since purchasing in August 2011 and can't thank this board enough for all the help and advice I've gained since then. This is my first post and hope that you can help?

We're from the UK and currently own 260 points at AKL. We usually visit WDW twice a year, normally for 14 night stays both times, once during the summer and then over Christmas/New Year. We love AKL but our favourite resort is BWV and in all honesty I think we purchased in haste as we were given a great deal on DCL. We were able to use our points last Christmas at the Boardwalk as member services booked us in as a favour as we only closed in September.

At the moment I have a reservation at Kidani for Christmas and I'm going to waitlist at 7 months for anything that I can get at BWV and hope for the best. We like to stay in a pool/garden view so I'm keeping fingers crossed.

I've read all the posts about selling points and rebuying but I'm so unsure as to whether this would be the best route for us to take. I think we'll always want to use out points for the Christmas trip and pay cash in summer and we really prefer the Boardwalk for access to Epcot at this time of the year.

What do you think?

Thanks in advance for the help

 

[starry_solo]

1. Do you still owe money on the points you purchased at AKV? If so, would you be able to sell your AKV points for enough to cover all that you owe? If not, there really isn't an option to sell and then buy somewhere else.

2. You might look into whether someone is looking for AKV points for the 11-month priority (maybe they want to do AKV concierge, value, or something like that) and see if that person can trade you BWV points for your AKV points (an equal transfer of points).

3. You could consider transferring your AKV points to someone for $10-12 per point and then transfer in the BWV points for the same price (similar to #2, but this would involve different people in case you can't find someone that has BWV and needs your AKV).

4. Possibly renting your points to cover your maintenance fees ($10-12 per point) and then renting points for BWV. This, though, means you're not in control of your own reservation so I would recommend #2 or #3.

No, I'm not an owner of DVC points, although I am a renter. One successful rental so far, 3 more to go (3 different owners, 3 different resorts in a 2 week time period).

EDIT: Oops, just realized you couldn't do #2 or #3 since there's only 1 transfer per use year. So, maybe transfer in some BWV points and then rent the AKV points?

 

[princesscinderella]

Why don't you look at buying resale for BWV so you don't have to pay cash for your summer stays and you can stay at AKL in the summer and BWV in the winter. I would think that the cost for one cash reservation at a deluxe resort for 14 days in the summer would be close to the resale buy in cost for bwv.

 

[ELMC]

I'm a relatively new DVC member since purchasing in August 2011 and can't thank this board enough for all the help and advice I've gained since then. This is my first post and hope that you can help?

We're from the UK and currently own 260 points at AKL. We usually visit WDW twice a year, normally for 14 night stays both times, once during the summer and then over Christmas/New Year. We love AKL but our favourite resort is BWV and in all honesty I think we purchased in haste as we were given a great deal on DCL. We were able to use our points last Christmas at the Boardwalk as member services booked us in as a favour as we only closed in September.

At the moment I have a reservation at Kidani for Christmas and I'm going to waitlist at 7 months for anything that I can get at BWV and hope for the best. We like to stay in a pool/garden view so I'm keeping fingers crossed.

I've read all the posts about selling points and rebuying but I'm so unsure as to whether this would be the best route for us to take. I think we'll always want to use out points for the Christmas trip and pay cash in summer and we really prefer the Boardwalk for access to Epcot at this time of the year.

What do you think?

Thanks in advance for the help

There are a couple of things to keep in mind if you decide to sell and then repurchase. I'm also sure I'll forget a few things, but I'm sure other posters will be able to help.

Reselling for you might be a big financial hit. You'll pay a 10% commission to the broker and as a foreign seller there will be a tax (I think about 10%) that will be due to the government. That's not to mention the depreciation you will experience as AKV resale prices are quite low right now. I think that your assertion that you may have bought in haste may be accurate, but in my opinion that's no reason to throw money away by getting rid of the contract.

You're right that you most likely won't be able to stay at BWV during Christmas week unless you own there or you rent from an owner at the 11 month window. However, BWV resale contracts are in short supply right now, which means that prices are pretty high. A 260 BWV will undoubtedly cost more than what you can get if you sell your AKV contract.

If you want to stay at AKV during Christmastime using your points (did I read that correctly) then your best bet at this point would be to keep your AKV contract. One way or another you are going to need more points as 260 points is not enough for four weeks. So my opinion (based on your financial situation) would be to either look at getting a BWV contract through resale or to use a point broker to rent points from a BWV owner that can be used to book at the 11 month window.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[saintrob]

Thanks for the quick replies

I never realised that DVC was so complicated! How do I find out about resale? Is there a set price that resale contracts will be selling for at the moment? I don't particularly want to sell our contract at AKL as we really like the resort - on reflection and after reading lots of posts maybe I should have split some of our points between AKL and BWV.

 

[permavac]

...At the moment I have a reservation at Kidani for Christmas and I'm going to waitlist at 7 months for anything that I can get at BWV and hope for the best. We like to stay in a pool/garden view so I'm keeping fingers crossed...

I would advise waiting to see how this year works out first. Will it be possible to get BWV for your Christmas trip? Maybe...

...I've read all the posts about selling points and rebuying but I'm so unsure as to whether this would be the best route for us to take. I think we'll always want to use out points for the Christmas trip and pay cash in summer and we really prefer the Boardwalk for access to Epcot at this time of the year...

What happens if, after months waiting to see if your waitlist will come through, you end up not getting BWV for Christmas? My first question would be: so was AKV so bad to stay at during your Christmas trip? If not, maybe just hang on to your AKV points and waitlist for BWV every time. You also mention that you would only use your DVC points for Christmas. I am guessing that means you only really have enough points for one trip per year. If that's the case and you pay cash in the summer then you will always be at BWV in the summer. Is it enough to have BWV in summer and maybe live with AKV in the winter?

If you aren't so happy with your AKV stay this December (if your waitlist doesn't come through) and you will ALWAYS want to be at BWV then you have a decision to make. You could sell your AKV points and buy BWV instead - as ELMC points out - this could be a very expensive proposition. You are the only one who can decide if it is "worth it" to you, financially or otherwise.

The other route (and mentioned by another poster) is to get a transfer into your account of some other member's DVC points from BWV and that will give you the 11-month booking advantage. Then you will need to use your AKV points for your summer trip instead of paying cash - booking BWV at the 7-month window for summer should be an easier task (depending on when you go) than trying to get Christmas. Keep in mind, you can only do one transfer (in or out) per use year - so you wouldn't be able to get a transfer into the same use year that you transfer out of.

Good luck with your decision!

Terri

 

[Missyrose]

As the PPs have pointed out, you have to quantify how much staying at BWV means to you.

If you're going to be unhappy staying at AKV, then you can sell the contract (taking a pretty significant financial hit). Like ELMC said, your AKV points won't be worth anything near what you paid Disney for them, which is often the problem with buying direct.

BWV, with its proximity to Epcot, is pretty well booked most years from late September (when the Food and Wine Festival starts) through the holidays. So it will be tough to find a few consecutive nights, let alone two weeks (which may be downright impossible at any non-home resort at Christmas).

I think one PP suggested that you could buy a resale BWV contract to cover the second of your two-week trips each year. That way you could use the BWV points at Christmas and then the AKV points during the summer.

 

[taaren]

Thanks for the quick replies

I never realised that DVC was so complicated! How do I find out about resale? Is there a set price that resale contracts will be selling for at the moment? I don't particularly want to sell our contract at AKL as we really like the resort - on reflection and after reading lots of posts maybe I should have split some of our points between AKL and BWV.

Resale contracts do not have a set price and are negotiable between you and the owner. I bought my second contract through the Timeshare Store who is a sponsor of these boards. There are a few other companies that also specialize in DVC resales, with mixed reviews all the way around, so IMHO just go with whoever has the right to sell the contract that you want.

There's an ROFR thread floating around here that tells you what people have been buying contracts for recently. It varies greatly by whether the contract is "loaded" (has last years points and this years), "stripped" (doesn't have this or next years points), the size of the contract, and how badly the seller wants to get out of the contract, whether the seller is willing to pay closing costs, etc, etc.

If you read a bunch here, then talk to the resalers, you'll feel comfortable with it after a while.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

You also might want to give it a year or two and see what luck you have exchanging in to BWV before you worry too much about not being able to. At this point you haven't even been denied yet! In saying this I am assuming that at least you do like AKV, which is sounds like, so that you won't be completely disappointed if you stay there a Christmas or two, and that your trips to WDW are going to be going on for several years so that if you still feel you need points at a different resort you'll have many trips to enjoy there as well. And if your waitlist wasn't coming thru you also could pay cash for your Christmas trip and book the summer one on points.

Then, if that isn't working out and since you like AKV you might also consider buying a second BWV contract to use at Christmas and to use the AKV contract for summer.

Selling your AKV points for BWV isn't a bad idea if that's what you feel will make your family happiest but there will be a cost to it so you might want to at least give it another year or two and see how things are working out.

 

[ELMC]

Thanks for the quick replies

I never realised that DVC was so complicated! How do I find out about resale? Is there a set price that resale contracts will be selling for at the moment? I don't particularly want to sell our contract at AKL as we really like the resort - on reflection and after reading lots of posts maybe I should have split some of our points between AKL and BWV.

If you read the threads on here you will learn most of what you need to know about buying resale. You can also Google "DVC resale" and most of the major brokers will come up. Search their sites and learn what you can.

The resale process was best explained to me by a broker at The Timeshare Store (you can find them by clicking the banner ad at the top of the page) when he said that buying a resale contract is just like buying a house. The seller has a price they want to get but you are free to offer anything you want.

I would like to echo the post about checking the ROFR thread, that will give you actual real sales that took place recently to help you get an idea of what the prices are.

Good luck!

 

[saintrob]

Thank you so much for all the advice. We've been going to Disney for about 12 years and only wish that we'd bought into DVC sooner. I'm going to waitlist for BWV and if we managed to get even a couple of nights there over the Christmas period I'd be happy but I'm also still happy with our reservation at AKV as we do really love that resort.

I'm not going to rush into any major decisions but wait to see how things pan out but will maybe look at the idea of a resale contract at BWV. No doubt I'll have lots more questions in the future.