Generally stripped contracts are not discounted enough to justify them but it's all in the numbers. It's fairly easy to compare contracts. Lets take the simple situation of the same UY and home resort. Then you're just assigning a value to every missing point. I'd generally subtract $10 for each point that's missing from the stripped contract. That calculation also assumes you're not paying for additional maint fees on the non stripped contract and if so, you'd add that back in to the $$$ difference between the 2. Remember that DVC charges maint fees based on a calendar year not a UY. If the UY are different, you'd simply adjust up or down by 1/12 of the points in a given year times the $10. For different home resorts you simply have to make an assumption of the difference if value on a purchase price between the 2. Here is a simple example and this assumes that the closing costs ($500) and total points are all the same and 100 pt contract and $5 a point fees for simplicity and closing 1 Sept. Generally you don't add much of any value for banked points but would subtract for borrowed points.
If they get asking soon they should be locked up for robbery
And it's sold! I would have to believe that it went for asking price this close to the listing date. I really thought this one would sit for awhile. I guess BWV is a highly desirable location and a small point contract is worth waiting for . . . even if it's two more years until points are available.
There's something to be said for finding the right contract, one must weight that and the efforts and time involved (both personal and lost usage) in waiting for something else.And it's sold! I would have to believe that it went for asking price this close to the listing date. I really thought this one would sit for awhile. I guess BWV is a highly desirable location and a small point contract is worth waiting for . . . even if it's two more years until points are available.
Keep in mind that even with a stripped contract, you're probably still saving money by buying resale. Although it's not how I look at things, I've figured out that there is a lot more that goes into buying a resale contract than just the math. So figure out what type of buyer you are, and you'll have your answer.
One thing I've learned from reading these boards is that different people have different motivations. If your motivation is to get a good deal, or if you are at all driven by the math behind the contract, then typically speaking you should probably stay away from stripped contracts.
However, there are people on here who have different reasons for buying. Maybe it's the perfect size/UY. Maybe they're not going on vacation until 2014 anyway and they don't want the hassle of renting out points. It could be any number of things. If this describes you, and you see a contract you want, then some would say to just go for it regardless of how much of a deal it is or isn't. (I can't say that because I'm still held captive by the numbers).
And remember, only one person can get the best deal, everyone else overpaid.
Maybe it's just me, but I must really be missing something on the "math" side of this. Worst case I see is that you might be paying for a year you're not using. Regardless, this is a 30 year (at least) investment so it really means nothing beyond that first "stripped" period.
I've seen mention on this thread that stripped contracts should be worth $20 or $30 less per point, but I guess I'm not understanding that. I'm paying $54/pt for my stripped OKW contract. Per point dollar amounts haven't really gone any lower than that (and gotten through ROFR) so I guess I'm missing something.
Not trying to spark a debate, just trying to get a better understanding so I know for next time.
No worries, you're not being argumentative at all. Let's leave ROFR aside for a moment because that is a whole different variable. (Although I will grant you that lower price OKW contracts have not passed whereas many higher priced contracts have passed). That being said, here is a real life example comparing two OKW contracts (yours and mine). Full disclosure, mine did in fact get taken by ROFR (at $41pp). I'm also going to leave closing costs out of the example to make sure we are comparing apples to apples. Also, even though my contract offer was for less than $54 a point, I am going to use that price in both examples to insure that I'm still comparing apples to apples.
My contract: $54 pp. Seller pays maintenance fees and the contract had full 2011 and 2012 points. So my out of pocket cost was $5,400 and I can then rent the 2011 and 2012 points for $10 each, bringing my total net cost of the contract down to $3,400. The next time I will be able to use points is in 2013.
Your contract: $54pp. I'm assuming that the seller paid the maintenance fees as well because they used the points. Your out of pocket cost is $5,400, and the next time you will be able to use points is 2013.
So as you can see, a stripped contract is significantly more expensive than a non stripped one, in this case $2,000 more. Had I been able to find a contract with 2010 points as well, the difference would have been more like $3,000. So that's the explanation of the "math" perspective of buying. But like I said before, for many people there is a lot more to it than the math, which is totally understandable.
One thing you did say that I respectfully disagree with though is when you alluded to the fact that it's not that big of a deal over 30 years. While I can see how you would say that, it's a somewhat fallacious argument because although you own this contract for 30 years, you are paying for it right now. So it's not $2,000 over 30 years, it's $2,000 cash right now in today's dollars.
That being said, I think it's ok to pay a little more if you're getting what you want. You're still saving money by buying resale and, like I always say, only one person can get the best deal. Everyone else overpaid.
I guess points burn a hole in our pockets. 
Thank you for the response, I appreciate the detail...
I don't know - your points are certainly valid but I'm struggling with the fact that, just because you might be able to rent a year out, that the seller of a stripped contract should be expected to account for that and adjust their price accordingly. Maintenance fee negotiation?? By all means, yes... that is an annual cost so that makes sense.
It's $5400 worth of points no matter how you look at it. If anything, divide that by the number of years left ($5400/30 = $180) and negotiate a little based on that since a stripped contract might have one fewer year.
If you're able to rent a year out because you don't have travel plans to use the first batch of points on a loaded contract - more power to you, and there is a definite financial advantage to doing that.
Like you said, everyone's situation is unique... The way I look at it, I saved a TON of money by not buying a loaded contract. If I had the points to use, we would probably have ended up planning an additional trip versus renting them. We all know how much more THAT would have costed.
