Advice for prospective DVC buyers

[Stitch 626]

Just a correction to my post above. You need at least $500 down to close (remainder due in 30 days) or the full downpayment for your loan, after that the loan is interest free until your 1st payment is due on Sept 15 or Oct 1. If you do decide to go another route on financing, you have almost 5 months to find it before the interest starts to accrue on the disney loan.

Sorry about the confusion, but I was confused myself with all the info I received yesterday.

 

[Tina]

ooohhhh.... you're all making my head hurt!
I thought I had it all figured out until I read this thread. Originally, we planned to buy 150 points at SSR, using Disney financing, our payment would be $270.61 per month (including maintenance after the promo period) for 5 years ($2500 down). Then.... I started looking at resales because I'd like at least 25 to 50 points more than that. Now I don't know what to do. I found one SSR (DH will only buy SSR due to the extra years) for 175 points that comes out to less per month than the 150 through Disney, but they've already borrowed all 2005 points and its an OCT use year. I was thinking we could take the bargain price and borrow 50% of 2006 for this year... then use the remaining 50% next year... then start fresh in 2007.. but now I'm thinking that's not such a good deal. Oooohhhh... my head!!

 

[thegortons]

"Can't close until" means they have some sort of encumberance between now and then. Could be they are planning their own trip, could have rented points and have to keep ownership until the tenant finishes their trip, etc.

Sorry for coming so late to this thread. But I'd like some clarification on this quote from much earlier in the thread. I thought that if you have rented points from another member and they have been transferred to your account that they were considered your points now. This quote seems to indicate that those points are somehow still tied to the original account and if the original account is sold then any reservations made with those points (even reservation made with those points from my account) are gone.

So which is it?

Thanks for any clarification you can give me on this...
Lloyd

 

[JimMIA]

Sorry for coming so late to this thread. But I'd like some clarification on this quote from much earlier in the thread. I thought that if you have rented points from another member and they have been transferred to your account that they were considered your points now. This quote seems to indicate that those points are somehow still tied to the original account and if the original account is sold then any reservations made with those points (even reservation made with those points from my account) are gone.

So which is it?

Thanks for any clarification you can give me on this...
Lloyd

No, there is a big difference between renting points which are then transferred to your account, and renting points to make a reservation for a non-member. In that quote, I was talking about someone who had rented points to a non-member and needed to maintain their ownership so the renter was safely covered. Or had their own vacation planned and needed to remain a member until that was completed.

 

[JimMIA]

ooohhhh.... you're all making my head hurt!
I thought I had it all figured out until I read this thread. Originally, we planned to buy 150 points at SSR, using Disney financing, our payment would be $270.61 per month (including maintenance after the promo period) for 5 years ($2500 down). Then.... I started looking at resales because I'd like at least 25 to 50 points more than that. Now I don't know what to do. I found one SSR (DH will only buy SSR due to the extra years) for 175 points that comes out to less per month than the 150 through Disney, but they've already borrowed all 2005 points and its an OCT use year. I was thinking we could take the bargain price and borrow 50% of 2006 for this year... then use the remaining 50% next year... then start fresh in 2007.. but now I'm thinking that's not such a good deal. Oooohhhh... my head!!

And THAT, my dear Tina, is exactly why we started this thread in the first place. This is a very complicated proposition.

On the bright side...you are getting all of this before the fact, rather than doing the "Aw NUTS!" thing later.

 

[thegortons]

No, there is a big difference between renting points which are then transferred to your account, and renting points to make a reservation for a non-member. In that quote, I was talking about someone who had rented points to a non-member and needed to maintain their ownership so the renter was safely covered. Or had their own vacation planned and needed to remain a member until that was completed.

So under the scenerio where a I have rented some points from another member and transferred the points to my account, I am free to use them in any way I wish since they are my points now and the member who owned the original account is free to do anything with the account (including selling) and either person's actions would not effect the other. Correct?

Sorry for the newbie questions. Answer this one and I'll let you go back to the original purpose of the thread!

Thanks,
Lloyd

 

[simpilotswife]

Nice thread Jim. I agree that too many times people get caught up in that whole "Buy where you want to stay" thing. I used to agree with them until SSR opened. To me SSR is the best deal going right now. You get an extra 12 years on each point for about $12 + or - per point. That is a powerful selling point and is a consideration that should be factored strongly into your purchase decision.

Just a couple of other things......

There was a question on here about whether the salesperson was being on the up and up about a limited time offer. I don't think that the buyback of points is limited. I know that they do offer a discount on your interest rate that is limited. Perhaps that is what the salesperson was referring to.

As for the negative comments about SSR, I would take them with a grain of salt. Look it's Disney, how bad could it possibly be? When BWV opened there were plenty of negative comments, same with WLV and BCV. DVC owners like to feel that their home resort is the best. OKW owners are especially fanatic on this point. New resorts offer them the opportunity to justify why they are happy and like their home resorts so well. Each DVC resort has it's good points (and bad ones). Don't worry too much about the detractors.

One other comment that I think should be made is that while I can see DVC at the Contemporary, it won't happen until SSR is close to being sold out. Knowing the CRV is coming down the pike would definitely have a negative impact on SSR's sales.

 

[JimMIA]

So under the scenerio where a I have rented some points from another member and transferred the points to my account, I am free to use them in any way I wish since they are my points now and the member who owned the original account is free to do anything with the account (including selling) and either person's actions would not effect the other. Correct?

Sorry for the newbie questions. Answer this one and I'll let you go back to the original purpose of the thread!

Thanks,
Lloyd

Yes, that's correct. Once the points are transferred by MS, they are your points and the other member has no further control of them, nor responsiblity to you. That's the advantage of transferring the points to another member vs. renting a reservation to a non-member.

Transferred points are supposed to retain their home resort and use year, but the best I can tell is sometimes they do and sometimes they don't...but that's a whole other thread!

 

[crisi]

Someone asked - "isn't 12 years a no-brainer" Nope. Depends on what you value. Many of us are going to be too old to travel to Disney when DVC I expires - and don't care if we don't have any "value" left to sell when we get done using it or if we can pass it to kids. On the other hand, some of us really DO value having an Epcot location, or the theming of VWL or the low point OKW Grand Villas or BWV Standard view rooms or SAB or.......and we value not having to worry about "is it going to be available at 11 months"

 

[JimMIA]

Someone asked - "isn't 12 years a no-brainer" Nope. Depends on what you value. Many of us are going to be too old to travel to Disney when DVC I expires - and don't care if we don't have any "value" left to sell when we get done using it or if we can pass it to kids. On the other hand, some of us really DO value having an Epcot location, or the theming of VWL or the low point OKW Grand Villas or BWV Standard view rooms or SAB or.......and we value not having to worry about "is it going to be available at 11 months"

Crisi is absolutely right. There are NO no-brainers!

The important thing is to use the flexibility of DVC to the best advantage for your family's particular circumstances. Some have the ability to book more than seven months, and want to use that ability. Others are looking for lowest entry cost. Others are looking for lowest cost over the long term, or want to pass their DVC down to their children. There are right answers for every situation, but no one-size-fits-all solution.

 

[DrTomorrow]

[...] There are right answers for every situation, but no one-size-fits-all solution.

Well, there is one such solution: simply buy 300 or 400 points at each resort....

 

[JimMIA]

Well, there is one such solution: simply buy 300 or 400 points at each resort....

HA! That's true! The XXXXL solution!

 

[Stitch 626]

OK, another newbie question. Lets say I purchase 150 SSR points and down the line I want to get BWV points. I buy 50 BWV points either via resale or through DVC. Can I only book 50 points at 11 months out at BWV or can I book my SSR points 11 months out at BWV as well? Can I transfer the points from one to the other or are they considered one big pool of points to use? Ideally (for us), we would like 150 SSR and 50 BWV or 50 BCV but we are not sure how that works with the points and their availability. We would like to get 200 points, but we know that we would like the spend a few nights each year near Epcot/MGM area and the rest at SSR and are wondering how flexible the points use is if we have two different locations.

 

[JimMIA]

Can I only book 50 points at 11 months out at BWV...

Theoretically, that is correct. You definitely cannot use points from one resort to book in the 11-month window at another resort.

Can I transfer the points from one to the other or are they considered one big pool of points to use?

Yes, you can transfer. Remember that you can only transfer in one direction during a use year - so if you transferred points from SSR to BWV, you would not be allowed to transfer them back. Nor would you be able to rent points from another DVC owner to be transferred INto your SSR account during that use year; nor could you transfer points OUT of your BWV account.

Now comes the tricky part, and I don't really have the answer to this -- not sure anyone does. Transferred points are supposed to retain their original home resort and use year, which might make what you want to do impossible. However, numerous posters have said the DVC computers aren't really up to the task of keeping track of that the way the rules say, and the points end up assuming the identity of the account they were transferred into. So, the short answer is I don't know if that strategy would work for you now, and it is possible that DVC could fix the "glitch" in their system in the future to prevent it.

Transferring points is about the most complex thing I have found about DVC, and I still don't really understand anything more than the basics about transferring.

 

[Rebd40]

... want to pass their DVC down to their children.

Just curious . . . Does ROFR apply in this case? In other words, can Disney step in and buy back the contract in the case where you've given or willed it to family member?

 

[JimMIA]

Just curious . . . Does ROFR apply in this case? In other words, can Disney step in and buy back the contract in the case where you've given or willed it to family member?

I think those are two different situations. A DVC interest is property which can be willed to your children, or anybody else for that matter.

If you are going to give the property to someone via quit claim deed, that's a different matter. I believe it goes through ROFR, but Disney waives ROFR automatically.

I wouldn't swear to that, but that's what I've heard.

 

[PerkyPatty]

Hi, I don't know if i'm in the right forum but my family and i just got back from WDW and went to the presentation. I'm really interested but found out about the resales and how much $ I could save by going for a resale. Do any of you advise against the purchasing of DVC or could you point me in the right direction. It's a stretch for me financialy but I love WDW. I have an 8yr old and 5 yr old and hope that this is something i can do for them.

 

[JimC]

Hi, I don't know if i'm in the right forum but my family and i just got back from WDW and went to the presentation. I'm really interested but found out about the resales and how much $ I could save by going for a resale. Do any of you advise against the purchasing of DVC or could you point me in the right direction. It's a stretch for me financialy but I love WDW. I have an 8yr old and 5 yr old and hope that this is something i can do for them.

Welcome to our little community on the DIS!!

Read this board. There are lots of great threads and the folks here are enormously generous with their knowledge. Our sponsor, The Timeshare Store, is one of the brokers who specialize in DVC resales. They are very well run and will spend the time to explain the program and the ins and outs of contracts and purchasing resale. I have used them more than once and easily recommend them.

If you really like WDW and will come at least every three years, better if every other year, can afford the up front cost and annual maintenance fees, and normally stay in moderate or better resorts on property; then DVC may very well be for you. The resorts (all of them) are really great. However, like all things, certain resorts appeal more to some than others - theming, amenities, location, and the like are all personal preferences. You should visit the DVC web site and explore the resorts.

Good luck and ask us lots of questions along the way

 

[PerkyPatty]

that was my next question which real estate to go with there are so many it could be a bit overwhelming. I really want to kick myself for not doing this in 95 when we first looked at DVC. I really appreciate any and all information any one will give! So many people advise agains timeshare but disney is the only vacation i ever want to go on. i'm not the relaxing kind of person so sitting on the beach doing nothing is not my idea of vacation. I've been going since i was a little kid and try to go every other year. I feel a little stupid right now because i have so much to learn about the DVC but i want to know it all before i make this big commitment it's a long time 49 yrs.

 

[JimC]

that was my next question which real estate to go with there are so many it could be a bit overwhelming. I really want to kick myself for not doing this in 95 when we first looked at DVC. I really appreciate any and all information any one will give! So many people advise agains timeshare but disney is the only vacation i ever want to go on. i'm not the relaxing kind of person so sitting on the beach doing nothing is not my idea of vacation. I've been going since i was a little kid and try to go every other year. I feel a little stupid right now because i have so much to learn about the DVC but i want to know it all before i make this big commitment it's a long time 49 yrs.

Not a problem.. We first toured in 1992 and bought in 2002. As for learing I spent much time reading these boards and any other web site that talked about DVC.

Here is an opener about themes:

DVC Resort Themes

Disney's Old Key West Resort -- Caribbean influenced, Key West style Victorian

Disney's Vero Beach Resort -- Atlantic Ocean beach village, without a specific theme

Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort -- 1940s South Carolina "Low Country" hunting and fishing lodge

Disney's BoardWalk Villas -- 1930s urban Atlantic seaside village

The Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge -- early 1900s railroad workers' lodge, pre-dating the adjacent grand National Park Service lodge

Disney's Beach Club Villas -- early 20th century Mid-Atlantic "stick-style" seaside resort

Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa -- Turn-of-the-century (circa 1900) Upstate New York grand resort destination