Advice for a newbie

[Musicmomroc]

Hi all, thanks in advance for reading!

Buying resale is seems like a good opportunity for us right now. Looking for advice or opinions about how best to spend our funds since I’m new at all this.

Would like to spend around $13k, not financed.
Around 150 points
Prefer AKV but open to other ideas!

Hoping to take a trip this summer, think this will be possible if we buy soon? (Not sure how quickly things sell out, etc.)

Thanks again!!
Musicmomroc

 

[JETSDAD]

Hi all, thanks in advance for reading!

Buying resale is seems like a good opportunity for us right now. Looking for advice or opinions about how best to spend our funds since I’m new at all this.

Would like to spend around $13k, not financed.
Around 150 points
Prefer AKV but open to other ideas!

Hoping to take a trip this summer, think this will be possible if we buy soon? (Not sure how quickly things sell out, etc.)

Thanks again!!
Musicmomroc

With the current market it will likely be tough to find a 150 pts AKV contract at $13,000. Plan to be around $15,000 plus closing costs or to buy less points.

If you get a contract accepted soon then you should be able to get a reservation for the summer months, you just may not have much selection.

Get on the email lists of a bunch of companies and keep watching the sites as well. Know what you want and be prepared to make an offer immediately if something comes up that suits your needs.

 

[Musicmomroc]

Thanks so much for responding!
Would it make more sense then to get a contract with less points or try to lowball an offer that’s been up for a while?

With the current market it will likely be tough to find a 150 pts AKV contract at $13,000. Plan to be around $15,000 plus closing costs or to buy less points.

If you get a contract accepted soon then you should be able to get a reservation for the summer months, you just may not have much selection.

Get on the email lists of a bunch of companies and keep watching the sites as well. Know what you want and be prepared to make an offer immediately if something comes up that suits your needs.

 

[JETSDAD]

There's no harm in trying to negotiate a deal but don't hold your breath. With the recent news of direct pricing going up I'd suspect that people are going to hold to their price a bit more. The best deals typically are sold within minutes of being advertised so just keep watching and something will come along. We came up with a range of points that we wanted and factored in buying 25 direct and had a few UY's that would work for us. We were then ready to make an offer as soon as a contract fitting our needs appeared.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

It usually takes 90-120 days after an offer is accepted to be able to make a reservation. Wild cards include international sellers (or buyers) and ROFR.

 

[The Jackal]

AKV is a bigger resort and further away from most parks. It has one of a kind views, but a lot of DVCers want to be near Epcot or on the Monorail loop. AKV is usually available at 7 months except for the value rooms. It also has a high annual dues.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

AKV is actually generally the 4-6th best value amongst resorts in resale, depending on the contract, definitely beating out the Epcot resorts (which are not good values; they need to be passion purchases).

Best value is typically Saratoga, then BLT, then it depends on the contract. AKV usually lands between 3-5 there. Hard to say where it comes out to as the direct prices go nuts, but it is by no means a bad value if one wants to stay at AKV.

 

[Matty B13]

Don’t be afraid to put in a low ball offer, there are lots of AKV contracts out there. Fidelity’s prices are on the low end so I would start there.

 

[Musicmomroc]

Yes I’m definitely concerned about the time it takes to close, and rushing into a decision so we can book this summer. Considering renting instead and waiting for the right resale to pop up. Might be better in the long run!

It usually takes 90-120 days after an offer is accepted to be able to make a reservation. Wild cards include international sellers (or buyers) and ROFR.

 

[Musicmomroc]

Awesome thanks so much! I will definitely check out fidelity’s availability.

Don’t be afraid to put in a low ball offer, there are lots of AKV contracts out there. Fidelity’s prices are on the low end so I would start there.

 

[Musicmomroc]

Really like POLY and BLT but the price per point is so high... maybe better to hold our and save more so we can purchase there.

AKV is a bigger resort and further away from most parks. It has one of a kind views, but a lot of DVCers want to be near Epcot or on the Monorail loop. AKV is usually available at 7 months except for the value rooms. It also has a high annual dues.

 

[gharter]

Welcome. This site has a HUGE amount of information that was really helpful to us when we first decided to purchase.
If you haven't already, read through the sticky threads.
Then, decide where you want to stay. There are thoughts of buy where you want to stay (we did) and buy where you can buy cheap and hope for booking at the 7 month window (becoming more difficult depending on the time of year),
Watch the different resellers until you find a good contract. Realize many sellers use multiple resale sites ( we put an offer in on one site only to find it had been sold by a different reseller).
Good luck!

 

[zavandor]

Really like POLY and BLT but the price per point is so high... maybe better to hold our and save more so we can purchase there.

BLT and especially Poly are not only more expensive to purchase, but also cost more per night to stay there so you have also to buy more points to stay there for the same lenght of stay.
AKL standard rooms are very cheap and allow you stretch your points more. Value rooms are a real bargain but competition is fierce so better not to count on always getting those.

 

[kboo]

...

Get on the email lists of a bunch of companies and keep watching the sites as well. Know what you want and be prepared to make an offer immediately if something comes up that suits your needs.

There's no harm in trying to negotiate a deal but don't hold your breath. With the recent news of direct pricing going up I'd suspect that people are going to hold to their price a bit more. The best deals typically are sold within minutes of being advertised so just keep watching and something will come along. We came up with a range of points that we wanted and factored in buying 25 direct and had a few UY's that would work for us. We were then ready to make an offer as soon as a contract fitting our needs appeared.

This is really good advice - have a home resort or resorts in mind, a price per point, UY and # of points in mind, and make an offer within those parameters when you see a good candidate come up. If the asking price is within the price per point range that is acceptable to you, it may be worth it to just pay the asking price, because as others have said, some of the good contracts go at full asking within minutes of being listed/emailed. Getting $2 per point off on a 150 point contract is saving $300, which probably isn't worth it.

AKV is actually generally the 4-6th best value amongst resorts in resale, depending on the contract, definitely beating out the Epcot resorts (which are not good values; they need to be passion purchases).

Best value is typically Saratoga, then BLT, then it depends on the contract. AKV usually lands between 3-5 there. Hard to say where it comes out to as the direct prices go nuts, but it is by no means a bad value if one wants to stay at AKV.

Don’t be afraid to put in a low ball offer, there are lots of AKV contracts out there. Fidelity’s prices are on the low end so I would start there.

https://www.dvcresalemarket.com/blog/best-economical-dvc-resort-to-purchase-fall-2017/ (if that link doesn't work, search online for the best economical DVC resort to purchase) Here is a decent chart (using 2017 dues prices) to calculate a price per point for each resort. You can use this chart to create one of your own with updated 2018 dues and potential price per point. What you may find is that if you get a decent price per point that is significantly lower than whats on the chart, the resort you're looking at may suddenly jump up the chart. We just passed ROFR paying $135 per point on a VGF contract. If you assume you use the prices on the chart for the other resorts, I think *our* VGF price puts it at #1 or #2 most economical resort. (But also keep in mind that I have friends who also just passed ROFR paying $120 pp on BLT, so the numbers on the chart may not represent what you could get a "great" deal on).

But then again, as others have noted, it costs more points to stay at BLT than at some of the other resorts, and still more points to stay at VGF. But depending on your view of the sizes of the villas you'd likely book more often, it may be worth it to you.

Yes I’m definitely concerned about the time it takes to close, and rushing into a decision so we can book this summer. Considering renting instead and waiting for the right resale to pop up. Might be better in the long run!

We actually did this, sort of. We were originally planning to buy in 2018, and thought we might want to buy at BCV and VGF, so rented points for stays in 2017. We had already stayed at BLT and BWV and had decided those 4 resorts were the top contenders. Turns out we loved all of them... But as of Feb 2017, we started looking, hadn't stayed at VGF yet, and got a good deal on a BLT contract (even though there were lots of BWV and BCV contracts for sale then that were the right # of points and going for under $100 per point). What was nice was that we could hold out for the right UY and # of points and not feel pressured that we had to get the deal moving quickly to use the points for a trip we already had planned. As it was, we closed 9 months before the 2018 trip we *were* planning, which ended up causing a little trouble with booking exactly the room we wanted. Then this fall we decided we wanted more points (slightly changed family priorities and we had a great time on our August trip) and again, knowing the earliest trip we would be planning with the new contract was going to be in 2019, we had the luxury of waiting for the right contract to come up and not feeling pressured on the price. I'm very happy with the 2 contracts and home resorts, and feel like we got a terrific deal on them.

 

[kboo]

AKV is actually generally the 4-6th best value amongst resorts in resale, depending on the contract, definitely beating out the Epcot resorts (which are not good values; they need to be passion purchases).

Best value is typically Saratoga, then BLT, then it depends on the contract. AKV usually lands between 3-5 there. Hard to say where it comes out to as the direct prices go nuts, but it is by no means a bad value if one wants to stay at AKV.

This too. We realized that we had a lot of SPG points and could stay at the Dolphin and be walking distance to EP and HS using "points we already paid for," and then suddenly BWV and BCV didn't look so necessary any more. BWV and BCV, especially at current asking prices, but even before prices went up, tended to be the most expensive per point, by far, of the WDW resorts.

 

[kristenrice]

You are on the right track and everyone has given you excellent advice. The only two cents that I would like to add is to advise you not to think too hard about your summer trip. Don't rush yourself into thinking that you have to buy something NOW to get that summer vacation booked. You don't want to buy something that might not be ideal simply because it will work for this ONE trip. You have 25-50 years of trips ahead of you so, like you said, if you need to rent points for this summer and keep looking, then that's what you should do. If you find something in your price range that is maybe a smaller contract than you were originally looking for, you can always jump on it and add on later.

 

[frabjous]

This is really good advice - have a home resort or resorts in mind, a price per point, UY and # of points in mind, and make an offer within those parameters when you see a good candidate come up. If the asking price is within the price per point range that is acceptable to you, it may be worth it to just pay the asking price, because as others have said, some of the good contracts go at full asking within minutes of being listed/emailed. Getting $2 per point off on a 150 point contract is saving $300, which probably isn't worth it.

https://www.dvcresalemarket.com/blog/best-economical-dvc-resort-to-purchase-fall-2017/ (if that link doesn't work, search online for the best economical DVC resort to purchase) Here is a decent chart (using 2017 dues prices) to calculate a price per point for each resort. You can use this chart to create one of your own with updated 2018 dues and potential price per point. What you may find is that if you get a decent price per point that is significantly lower than whats on the chart, the resort you're looking at may suddenly jump up the chart. We just passed ROFR paying $135 per point on a VGF contract. If you assume you use the prices on the chart for the other resorts, I think *our* VGF price puts it at #1 or #2 most economical resort. (But also keep in mind that I have friends who also just passed ROFR paying $120 pp on BLT, so the numbers on the chart may not represent what you could get a "great" deal on).

But then again, as others have noted, it costs more points to stay at BLT than at some of the other resorts, and still more points to stay at VGF. But depending on your view of the sizes of the villas you'd likely book more often, it may be worth it to you.

+100 Don't get too hung up on initial purchase price for resorts still early in their term. You'll find that annual dues are the far more significant cost driver. Even more so if you plan to sell before the deed expires, where you will recover a major portion of it.