A hypothetical situation

[melissa70]

Yes. Everyone does.

I believe it! You all must have some big annual fees!

 

[Brian Noble]

I guess I’m just afraid of making a mistake not so much financially but more of where to buy, why, etc.

There's a chance you will later decide that something might have been a slightly better fit for your needs. But you clearly know that you like BRV. A lot. So it will never be a terrible choice to have purchased there. Remember: The value of a timeshare is in using it! This is something that the broader DVC community does not always understand in their bones in the way that TUGgers might.

I’ve been watching YouTube videos and have heard a few “experts” say they always can find whatever they want at the 7 month window

So, about those "experts". A lot of them are involved in the broader DVC ecosystem--either they are sponsored by the resale brokers, or they are directly affiliated with one. So they will tend to put the best spin on things. If you really want to know what past booking patterns have looked like, there is hard data here: https://dvcfieldguide.com/availability-tables

DVC Help has some too, but it appears they have had some data collection issues, because they have a swath of weeks for which no availability was available anywhere at any time, which I am pretty sure means they weren't collecting data those weeks.

And, as mentioned above, past performance is no indiciation of future results. There are a vareity of reasons for this, not all of which are necessarily going to get worse. For example, we are just coming out of a period where there was an excess of poitns sloshing in the system because banking rules were significantly relaxed during the lockdown. Things also ebb and flow with the macroeconomic environment---when times are tough, more points go into breakage.

Stalking is heartbreaking, I feel like a prisoner to this system, home resort priority please set free me

I've had surprisingly good luck with waitlists. I do find other things by stalking, but so far, my waitlists have hit before I have found the same thing online most of the time. I am not typically looking for unicorns, though, so that might help.

 

[melissa70]

So someone on Reddit decided to call me combative and annoying. and sent a link to this chat. Happened to see it as I was scrolling through Reddit. Wonder if it’s anyone from this group. Again, I am sorry if I have offended anyone - I know you all are much more experienced and I do appreciate all the help. You’ve actually opened my eyes up to a lot of things I wasn’t aware of. My broker is probably on here too. Apologies to everyone

 

[intamin]

I believe it! You all must have some big annual fees!

We do.. I need to buy probably 4 to 5 more 1k gift cards and I already preloaded 3k worth on the DVC website :X

So, about those "experts". A lot of them are involved in the broader DVC ecosystem--either they are sponsored by the resale brokers, or they are directly affiliated with one. So they will tend to put the best spin on things. If you really want to know what past booking patterns have looked like, there is hard data here: https://dvcfieldguide.com/availability-tables

DVC Help has some too, but it appears they have had some data collection issues, because they have a swath of weeks for which no availability was available anywhere at any time, which I am pretty sure means they weren't collecting data those weeks.

And, as mentioned above, past performance is no indiciation of future results. There are a vareity of reasons for this, not all of which are necessarily going to get worse. For example, we are just coming out of a period where there was an excess of poitns sloshing in the system because banking rules were significantly relaxed during the lockdown. Things also ebb and flow with the macroeconomic environment---when times are tough, more points go into breakage.

I like how we all put experts in quotations but really the real experts have been right here on disboards and I'm grateful for all the info/opinions from the members on here because it was only a couple years ago when I was asking similar questions

So someone on Reddit decided to call me combative and annoying. and sent a link to this chat. Happened to see it as I was scrolling through Reddit. Wonder if it’s anyone from this group. Again, I am sorry if I have offended anyone - I know you all are much more experienced and I do appreciate all the help. You’ve actually opened my eyes up to a lot of things I wasn’t aware of. My broker is probably on here too. Apologies to everyone

You haven't offended any of us. I'm just excited to figure out what you end up doing Seriously though, figure out what seasons you're most likely to travel, what room types you want and then reference the field guide that @Brian Noble posted and see where you think you might want to stay and is it hard during that time? Does it require home resort priority? If it doesn't, then maybe going for somewhere with more value would be a better option or simply somewhere else that may provide a valuable 11m booking at another time you're interested in going.

 

[melissa70]

I’m sure you guys won’t be surprised, but I am back to square one. I know not everyone will agree with this, but after a long, long discussions we definitely are people that do not care where our home resort is as the appeal to us to buy into DVC is to stay at the various resorts. Super flexible about when we can visit except for the deadly heat of summer. So I guess now to figure out how many points I need and should I get a hybrid of resale and direct. Looks like I will need a minimum of 400 points to be able to have two stays in one bedrooms.

 

[VGCgroupie]

I’m sure you guys won’t be surprised, but I am back to square one. I know not everyone will agree with this, but after a long, long discussions we definitely are people that do not care where our home resort is as the appeal to us to buy into DVC is to stay at the various resorts. Super flexible about when we can visit except for the deadly heat of summer. So I guess now to figure out how many points I need and should I get a hybrid of resale and direct. Looks like I will need a minimum of 400 points to be able to have two stays in one bedrooms.

So did you cancel your BRV purchase is that what you mean by square one?

 

[melissa70]

So did you cancel your BRV purchase is that what you mean by square one?

Yes. I realized while I do like BRV it’s not an issue that I have to stay there every year and the value just wasn’t there. I think I knew that deep down which has been part of my frustration.

 

[Brian Noble]

Given everything you've posted so far, I think this is wise. I'd add one more piece of advcie: go slowly from here. No need to rush into anything!

 

[VGCgroupie]

Yes. I realized while I do like BRV it’s not an issue that I have to stay there every year and the value just wasn’t there. I think I knew that deep down which has been part of my frustration.

I stick with my original advice of waiting until the resale market picks up and prices go down a little and dues info comes out. Also for direct waiting until when new incentives come out. You can take my advice or leave it. I am somewhat new to DVC but I have made 9 separate DVC purchases, so I speak from experience in that way. I do not regret a single purchase I have made.

 

[mkatsy]

So someone on Reddit decided to call me combative and annoying. and sent a link to this chat. Happened to see it as I was scrolling through Reddit. Wonder if it’s anyone from this group. Again, I am sorry if I have offended anyone - I know you all are much more experienced and I do appreciate all the help. You’ve actually opened my eyes up to a lot of things I wasn’t aware of. My broker is probably on here too. Apologies to everyone

That happened to me once during the Poly Tower construction. There were two camps regarding same vs. new association and some days the debate got away from us. someone actually made a YouTube video critiquing the conversation. low key creepy for sure.

 

[melissa70]

I stick with my original advice of waiting until the resale market picks up and prices go down a little and dues info comes out. Also for direct waiting until when new incentives come out. You can take my advice or leave it. I am somewhat new to DVC but I have made 9 separate DVC purchases, so I speak from experience in that way. I do not regret a single purchase I have made.

It’s good advice. Did you buy them all resale?

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

I think the next round of direct incentives comes out maybe 12/10ish? You have 10 days to rescind, I believe. We have 400 points, 300 at Riviera and 100 Poly. As I explained earlier, the 100 is almost useless *for us* because we travel peak weeks and PIT is pricy. I really thought we were good at 400 total, but I am thinking 300 at each resort is the way to go so I have a big enough pool of points to book what I want as a full week. We're not big fans of split stays anymore.

So, yes, I think you getting 400 points is a good approach. If you buy direct, please separate the contracts 150x150 or 150x75x75, and you can waive title insurance to save a little bit of money. You'll get the bonus year's points to play around with most likely and points loaded in your dashboard very quickly.

If you buy direct, you can have MS book your "welcome home" trip at BR 1B for December of 2026 (tough reservation all of December at both BR/CC any room category,) and then you can play around with booking your secondary trip and creating waitlists.

I think the past few years the best deals have been midsummer, but who knows what's coming in December. Just know that prices are raised every February by $6-$9pp-ish on direct, and resale can be a better deal in December/January when dues are announced and folks have to pay the bill.

 

[Wedgeout]

Ouch. Wish you the best but I thought you had a perfect start to this DVC Life. Hope you go into your next contract focused to the end.

 

[Brian Noble]

someone actually made a YouTube video

Some people have way too much time, and probably need to touch grass.

 

[ShaneDJ]

So did you cancel your BRV purchase is that what you mean by square one?

Yes. I realized while I do like BRV it’s not an issue that I have to stay there every year and the value just wasn’t there.

You mentioned that BRV is where you wanted to stay (and stay in December). With the BRV contract cancelled, that option is likely gone (since BRV is so hard to book in December).

So how many contracts have you started and then cancelled now?

Seems like going very slow and waiting until you know “for sure” what you want is probably the prudent next step.

 

[Add-On-Itis]

Do not need to buy all 400 points to begin with.

To begin with, buy a smaller contract. Ideally with previous UY banked points. You can borrow next year's point giving you 3 UY of points. This will be enough for a trip to begin with. Once you are in the system you will understand it a lot better.

For example, you'll understand certain 1 bedroom is fairly easy to book without home booking window in certain time of the year.

Add on from there. Addonitis is part of the fun.

 

[VGCgroupie]

It’s good advice. Did you buy them all resale?

6 times resale, 3 times direct.

 

[AstroBlasters]

I’m sure you guys won’t be surprised, but I am back to square one. I know not everyone will agree with this, but after a long, long discussions we definitely are people that do not care where our home resort is as the appeal to us to buy into DVC is to stay at the various resorts. Super flexible about when we can visit except for the deadly heat of summer. So I guess now to figure out how many points I need and should I get a hybrid of resale and direct. Looks like I will need a minimum of 400 points to be able to have two stays in one bedrooms.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/most-economical-resort-beyond-year-1.3950476/

 

[melissa70]

So how many contracts have you started and then cancelled now?

Why, Shane?

 

[AstroBlasters]

Yes. I realized while I do like BRV it’s not an issue that I have to stay there every year and the value just wasn’t there. I think I knew that deep down which has been part of my frustration.

Have you considered renting for a trip to check out all of the resorts in person?