dreaming of DVC

[lavatea]

We rented points last year and stayed at AK. We took the DVC tour and really wanted to buy, but it was just beyond our budget. So now I'm thinking of buying resale and dreaming of how to make it work.

My first question is which DVC resorts offer rooms that accomodate larger groups? My family alone is about to be 6, and we will probably often travel with my sister and parents. I've read that you should choose a home resort that you wouldn't mind staying in in case it's hard to get a room, so a home resort that can accomodate us is a must.

Next question is what is exactly lost in buying resale instead of direct?

And lastly, how is the payment of resale different from buying direct? I'm assuming you pay the yearly dues to Disney in the same way. Do you finance the initial point cost in the same way? I'm guessing it doesn't go through Disney.

What else do I need to know to plan this out?

 

[bookwormde]

Take your time an research a lot.

2br AKV holds 9 and a GV 3br 12. When we have a big group we just add on a studio or 2.

If you are looking for best value then resale is just as good as buying direct, since using your points on site for a DVC room is buy far the best value. If you want maximum flexibility and do not care about maximizing value then duying direct may be worth looking at.

If you have to finance a resale then if you payments and maintince fees (ususally 4.50 to 6.00/pt/yr) are more than you are currnetly spending on your rooms then it is probably wise to wait untilyou have the cash (you can buy in reasale sometimes for a small number of points (say 50) for as little as $3000.

One thing poeple often miss in the calculations is how many $ you save on food if you have a full kitchen.

 

[disbound09]

Next question is what is exactly lost in buying resale instead of direct?

And lastly, how is the payment of resale different from buying direct? I'm assuming you pay the yearly dues to Disney in the same way. Do you finance the initial point cost in the same way? I'm guessing it doesn't go through Disney.

What else do I need to know to plan this out?

Not much is given up buying resale vs direct. Cons No access to Disney Cruises, Adventures by Disney, and Concierge Services. Pro's You save a ton of money.

Search this site for the following threads.

Resale vs direct to answer a lot of various questions you are contemplating.

UY thread the pie chart makes it easy and visual to decide the best for you.

Buying 2 or 3 contracts so you have options on resorts that are available 11 months out. SSR and OKW are available usually at 7 month mark. Most other resorts are not as easy to get in.

Do the research for overall cost. Don't finance it if you can avoid it. Our 320 pts cost 17K plus closing. The overall price over the span of next 41 years 150K min. The initial outlay is nothing compared to what you are committing to. Adding interest to equation makes it uglier.

If you can afford it great if you can't rent DVC instead.

ROFR thread gives you an idea of what things are selling for rather than what the Realtor tells you. We were told 65 was going price and 61 was a stretch after reading ROFR thread offered 50 and settled at 53 per pt.

3 best things you can do to help yourself are Read the threads, Research and Relax don't be in a hurry.

There is tons of advice and experience on this site use it to help you make a decision. Then be happy with your decision and enjoy whatever you decide is best for you and your family.

I'm still reading and earning my ears. LOL

 

[lovin'fl]

All the DVC resorts will accommodate your family size...like PP mentioned with a 2BR and a studio or 2 added on. We are a fam of 5 and Xmas 2011 we went with the inlaws to WDW where we used our points for 10 of us in total. We did a 2BR and a studio at OKW with MIL and FIL sharing the 2BR with my fam of 5 and SIL and her fam were in a studio. We are looking to go again this Xmas and we are looking at a 1BR at OKW (for MIL and FIL) then at AKV- a 2BR (for my fam) and a studio (SIL)...also debating a 1BR (MIL and FIL) and 3 studios. It's nice for each family to have their own space...KWIM.

Disbound is right about what is lost when buying resale (Disney crusies, concierge collection and the non-DVC Disney resorts....all those things aren't the best use of DVC points anyway, so most folks don't see it as much of a loss). With direct you can finance through them with resale you pay cash (I think you can finance, but it won't be through Disney...more of a loan on your own???? Not too sure as we pay cash). With direct you can use a credit card as well, but you cannot with resale. Once you own a contract (direct or resale) you can set up monthly payments of the annual dues...not too sure about how as we just pay a lump sum in January (the bill comes right around Xmas time). If you have the Chase Disney Visa you can use rewards dollars to pay towards your annual dues (my SIL does that each year). Resale takes about 2 months (give or take) to go through where direct is immediate if they have the points (if you are looking at a sold out resort like BCV, BWV, OKW, SSR, VWL, HH, VB or BLT...there might be a wait list for the use year you want...AKV and Aulani are still selling new and you'd get that immediately but we are buying AKV resale for $66/point whereas direct is $145/point). You can negotiate price/point on resales. Closing costs are more with resale (but still lower total cost...most of the time. If you are looking at 50 HH points than direct might be almost the same cost as resale since you wouldn't be paying the high closing costs that are with a HH resale). It is also nice to get a loaded contract (meaning one that has current points and maybe even banked points...if the sellers used up all the points and even borrowed future points than that is what's called a stripped contract and you might get that for a great deal but you won't have points to use for a while).

Good luck and happy DVC buying!!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

All DVC resorts have studios (which sleep four), one bedrooms (which sleep four or five depending on the resort), two bedrooms (which sleep eight or nine) and Grand Villas (which sleep twelve). Except for VWL and BCV which have no Grand Villas. Grand Villas at Vero Beach are called Beach Cottages. SSR also has the Treehouse Villas which sleep nine.

 

[cfw213]

We financed through Timeshare Lending since we bought resale. The interest rate sucks (12.9%, ouch!!), but we are on track to pay it off in about 2 years instead of 5 so well have only added $1500 in interest to our initial purchase price...which over 40 something years isn't too awful.

I don't even want to think about what we would be paying if we did 5 or 10 years at those rates though.

If you are set on financing (obviously better to pay cash!), our contract was loaded with 2 years worth of points. We were able to rent them all for about $3200, and pay it right back to our loan. That reduced the cost quite a lot.

At the time we purchased, we didn't have a home so a HELOC wasn't an option for us, but I know you could do that as it offers a much lower rate.

 

[ELMC]

We financed through Timeshare Lending since we bought resale. The interest rate sucks (12.9%, ouch!!), but we are on track to pay it off in about 2 years instead of 5 so well have only added $1500 in interest to our initial purchase price...which over 40 something years isn't too awful.

I don't even want to think about what we would be paying if we did 5 or 10 years at those rates though.

If you are set on financing (obviously better to pay cash!), our contract was loaded with 2 years worth of points. We were able to rent them all for about $3200, and pay it right back to our loan. That reduced the cost quite a lot.

At the time we purchased, we didn't have a home so a HELOC wasn't an option for us, but I know you could do that as it offers a much lower rate.

I agree with just about everything you said here, except for the sentence I put in bold. If you had the option of paying that $1,500 over the course of 40 years, then I would agree with your reasoning. However, you paid that $1,500 over the course of two years, so that the time frame you should be amortizing that amount over. I'm not saying that it should have changed your actions at all, or that this method of purchase wasn't a good idea. I'm simply saying that this type of reasoning to justify the decision is mathematically flawed.