Advice, go directly through Disney or go through broker?

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

We are trying to decide on either purchasing directly through Disney Vacation Club w/ no closing costs and not having to pay for 1st year maintenance up front and it be $84/pt OR purchase through The Timeshare Store and get a resale package at the price of $72/pt, but have to pay $600 in closing costs and $1403 in 1st year maintenance up front.

We have a contract with The Timeshare store that we are looking over right now and it is at Wilderness Lodge Villas 350 pts/year receive every September. 350 points are banked from Sept. 2002 and 9/1/03 will receive another 350 points. The Timeshare Store has told me that I would have to pay by closing: $25,200 for the 350 pt package at $72/pt, plus $600 in closing, plus $1403 for the 1st years maintenance fees. In the end we would have spent $27,203.

Disney Vacation Club is offering me a 320 point (received every February) package at Beach Club Villas for $84/pt. We will receive 320 points for the year of 2003 and then in February get another 320 points. At closing all the cost is $26,800 and that is it, no closing costs and no up front maintenance fees. I was told that the monthly maintenance fee would start the month after closing.

We are thinking of going with Disney directly. Is that what you all would do?

We are also wanting to do the following:

Wanting to see if we can also use our points on this Labor Day weekend, that is our wedding anniversary weekend (Sept. 4th is actual anniversary) date, but I don't know if we will be able to get anything. Closing, so they say, should take up to 3 weeks, so that would be pushing my luck if by closing we will find something to use during Labor Day weekend.

Any advice on these things I have mentioned would be appreciated!

 

[RobDoc]

You will pay prorated maintenance fees for this year (about $600) with the direct purchase- so be sure to add those into your costs.

You will also get the 350 points from 2002 with the resale.

Both deals are similar and you can't go too wrong with either plan. The resale will get you a few more points each year. The direct purchase will allow you to reserve that as soon as your deposit has been paid (you won't have to wait until closing). With the resale, you will have to wait until DVC has okayed the purchase (they have 30 days to review the offer). Once closing has been completed you will be able to make a reservation usually within a week.

Just figure all costs for each purchase and then look at the whole package.

Good Luck with your decision.

 

[WDWorld2003]

The 2002 points on the resale (if you want WLV as your home) would sway me. They could be used until next September.

If you do go with Disney, I would buy two smaller contracts - maybe 160 and 160 - easier to sell if you ever want to....... Seems like the larger contracts take longer to sell.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

Humberto at Disney said I wouldn't have any pro-rated maintenance to pay at closing. My first maintenance fee would be the month after closing. Could it be because I am paying in full with cash?

I have gotten a Home Equity Loan with the fixed 6.5% interest rate. It was a much better interest rate then Disney was offering (which was 10.75%).

 

[RobDoc]

Originally posted by I Luv Disney Cruise
Humberto at Disney said I wouldn't have any pro-rated maintenance to pay at closing. My first maintenance fee woudl be the month after closing. Could it be because I am paying in full with cash?

The maintenance fees will be prorated from purchase date thru the end of the year. They are not owed at closing, but should still be included in your total costs, regardless how you will pay them. They still have to be paid by the end of the year- whether paid all at once or divided into monthly payments.

The interest rate sounds fine...and could be used for either purchase.

Personally, the resale sounds like the better deal, but either will get you into DVC. Welcome Home!

Enjoy!

 

[mmmcq]

It doesn't sound like you did "magical beginnings" and put the 2002 points against the downpayment ...so are you getting the 2002 pts as well with DVC? If so then the pts are even, if not, then the resale looks to be the better deal (1050 pts to use over the next 2+ years). I just can't tell.

We just closed on an add-on of 230 pts and used the 2002 (Dec use year) points to lower our downpayment. I'm just wondering why you aren't getting those same points....but we do have different use years...maybe that's the reason.

As someone else has stated, if you commit to Disney the points are usually available to you sooner - as soon as they get your deposit. Since we were already DVC owners, as soon as the paperwork was mailed to us for our signatures (April 30th) the points were in my account and I was able to make reservations for July and April '04. So you'd definitely be able to find something at WDW over Labor Day if you go with DVC. If you go with the resale....you'll probably have your pts by then...it's just cutting it close.

 

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

We thought about "magical beginnings" but decided that we wanted the 2003's 320 points up front because of our anniversary coming up and wanting to take a special weekend trip before our baby is born.

The Disney rep. told me that if I were to go with him the first maintenance fee would start in August and would be $106 and would always be $106 from that point forward every month. Does that sound about right?

Basically, I have $27,000 to spend and I want to get as many points as I can per year, but at the same time I don't want to waste money on closing costs if I don't have to.

Now, we are thinking more and more towards the resale package. We don't like how it is going to take so long to finish the deal from start to finish if we went with the resale package, but hey maybe it is worth it.

We were thinking of something like the Grand Floridian or Polynesian Resort for our anniversary weekend. We have never been to one of those and had always said if we could ever afford it we would like to have a anniversary weekend at one of them. Do you think that will be just as hard to get being we are cutting it close?

Thanks for everyones input... this is helping us think out which way to go.

 

[Poorman]

I would rent the 2002 points out for $3500.00 so your final price is $23,703. Or $67.72 per point.
You'll still have 350 points to play with.
With the DVC deal you would add approx. $600.00 in maint. fee's for the rest of the year. You are only getting 2003 points,so your maint. starts again for 2004 points ,same as the resale.
But if you want BCV and Feb. UY you only have one choice.

Good luck either way, hopefully soon we will be saying "Welcome Home" Regards. Rich

 

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

I think we are going to go with the resale. I personally want to have the 350 pts/year.

How do you rent out points?

 

[Dean]

Where do you want to stay most trips, that should be your biggest factor with these two choices. Assuming it really makes no difference, I'd go with the resale. That way you have about a half years worth of points (Sept to Feb) plus you are getting 30 pts per year more every year. Fees are about the same in the long run but you will pay about half a years dues when all is said and done on the direct purchase. The actual dollar amounts are so close it's uncanny. Of course you could counter offer for somewhat less swaying the resale to a more favorable stance. If you don't care which home resort you get or if OKW is just as good for you, that's what I'd suggest as the points are less, dues are less and you can likely get it for less than you're looking at. just make sure the points were banked on the resale.

 

[chrissyk]

The resale is the better deal IMHO. We've done both. Our first contract is a 200 point BWV contract that we bought resale. It was a great experience. I don't know if it was even a month from start to finish We just bought a 50-point contract at VB through Disney this week. They had a decent incentive for VB ($10 off/point and keep your points), and really, the fees on such a small resale would have negated the advantage. In the case of a larger resale like the VWL resale you're talking about (plus all those banked points and everything), the resale definitely comes out ahead. Good luck with your decision...joining DVC is a win-win no matter what you choose to do

 

[lacool]

Originally posted by I Luv Disney Cruise
The Disney rep. told me that if I were to go with him the first maintenance fee would start in August and would be $106 and would always be $106 from that point forward every month. Does that sound about right?

It will be $106 for the rest of the year, but be aware that maintenance fees do change annually, so that monthly fee figure is likely to climb a few dollars every year. It is not a significant increase, but be aware that it probably will not be $106 per month for the next 39 years.

 

[jimmytammy]

We purchased thru Disney with no problems. Sounds like either deal is ok, but you can get more pts for less $$s thru resale. So in choosing, consider that. Add-in what Dean said, Where do you want to stay the most since the 11 mos window factor is becoming more important as more folks are joining DVC? We are VWL owners and love it there! But BCV are nice too, so Ive heard

Good luck on your decision, you want go wrong either way cause you will be in DVC and either place you go, you will be "Home"

 

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

We have decided to do the resale. Now I am worried that Disney will practice that ROFR on our deal. I hope not, I am so looking forward to coming aboard the DVC!

If I was wanting to add more points later, in your opinion, who should I purchase those with (Disney or Timeshare Store)?

 

[5infam]

I Luv Disney Cruise,

I am waiting for my ROFR to clear as well...so good luck with it. When I go to add more points, if it is in a small amount, I will probably add through Disney because for a small amount of points, paying the closing costs on the resale market bumps up the per point cost quite a bit. Plus, for a full price offer, you may get stuck paying a full years maintenance fees and I believe Disney prorates theirs to match the month you purchase in(although I may be wrong on add on points).

The difficulty is finding a smaller amount of add on points for resale, especially if you are trying to match your exact home resort and renewal month

 

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

I have now looked at "A Timershare Resale Broker, Inc." and spoke with Jaki Apetz and there is a 350 points (use month June) at Old Key West for $70/pt. There are 211 banked points plus another 350 they just received.

We spoke about a offer to make to the seller and she and I agreed that I should probably offer $72/point and pay just 9 months of maintenance up front instead of $70/point and the full years of maintenance up front. We are worried that since Disney has been exercising their ROFR more lately that the $70/pt would get the ROFR.

My other deal I had looked into at "The Timeshare Store" was $72/point but had to pay all years maintenance up front.

This offer would put me $494 cheaper than the other deal.

She left a message for the seller so hope we will see what happens soon.

5infam: Good luck on your deal! Hope it works out for you.

 

[5infam]

I hear what you are saying in offering $2 more per point to get past the ROFR. I am dealing with Jaki as well on my purchase and I also bid a little more to get past them since I had lost one already.

As far as your new deal goes, I would look at the total of usable points that you are going to get that best fits into your travel schedule, or if you get a lot of extra points that you won't use, rent them out to help offset the purchase price. On my deal, at face value, after all costs and first years maintenance, I am paying $79 per point. But after I rent out the points I am not going to use, I am down to $65 per point. That's why I bid more to make sure that this time, the ROFR doesn't get me, and I still get the value of a resale!!

 

[I Luv Disney Cruise]

Sounds like a good plan to me! Thanks for the advice! Oh, I can't wait to become a DVC owner! Reading all the different threads in this forum is exciting.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by I Luv Disney Cruise
If I was wanting to add more points later, in your opinion, who should I purchase those with (Disney or Timeshare Store)?

It depends on your preference, whether you're financing or paying cash, how many points you want and what is available through DVC. Many times, especially now days, it's better to go through DVC for less than 100 points but it never hurts to check out the resale options.