Banking/borrowing question

[GoofyB]

We just sent off our check today to close on a 260-point resale at OKW. The previous owner did not use any 2003 points (August use year). We're planning to go in August 2004 and will use the 2003 points. My question, do I need to immediately do anything with the 2004 points that will become available in Aug 2004 since we don't plan to use them for our August 2004 trip?

I'm just afraid I'll mess this up somehow and lose my points, since I think I actually made out pretty well and immediately have 520 available to me right now.

thanks for any clarification. I've been reading these boards for a while now and have had so many questions answered--usually w/o asking, just reading other posts!

 

[PamOKW]

Congratulations on your purchase!

August 2003 points must be used by July 31, 2004. To use them for an August trip you will have to bank them. You have until the end of this month to bank all the points. From Feb 1-April 30 you can bank 50% or 130 points.

You say you have 520 points available so I assume this means they banked their 2002 points. Those 260 points must be used prior to August 1, 2004.

Your August 2004 points are the only ones that could currently be used for an August trip (until you bank the 2003 points). You will have from August 1, 2004-January 31, 2005 to make up your mind on whether you want to bank all of those forward.

 

[GoofyB]

Yikes -- so I guess the first thing I do is call MS and bank the Aug 2003 points AND book our Aug 2004 vacation at the same time?

I figured I got 520 with this purchase since the previous owner didn't use the 2003 points and the 2004 points will become available.

Would I have lost the 2003 points if I waited until February to book? Boy that would have made me mad! So glad I posted this.

 

[GoofyB]

follow up -- why can't I bank all of the 2003 points since none of them were used and I want to use them for a 2004 trip? We weren't planning, can't really schedule a vacation before Aug 2004. If I find out I can only use half of the 2003 points I just purchased I'm not going to be happy. I thought you could bank a whole year's points if you needed to...Please clarify before I make myself crazy.

 

[PamOKW]

To bank 100% of the points you do have to let them know by January 31 -- actually January 30 since the 31st is a Saturday and they require you to let them know the preceeding day for a weekend or holiday. You would still have been able to bank 50% of the points but the other 50% would have to be used by July 31, 2004.

I'm not sure when you are allowed to bank -- whether it has to be done after closing? This could present a problem for you but hopefully one that can be worked out.

 

[GoofyB]

Whew--we're closing sometime next week -- tho Disney will still take 7-10 days to transfer the deed. Still time to bank 100% of the points, but I think I'll give them a call tomorrow to lay out my situation and find out exactly what I need to do to make sure I can book the vacation and not lose anything.

Wow, had a little heart attack there. Was trying to figure out how I was going to work things out after my husband killed me He's been totally behind this, but I've been doing all the searching, choosing, phoning, etc. he did, however, send off the check today, so that counts!

thanks so much for your help!

 

[PamOKW]

I'm not sure what kind of documentation you'll get with a resale. If you get the Public Offering Statement take some time to read through it. There's a lot of legalese but you'll be surprised what info will stick in the back of your brain until you need it. If you don't get that, you will be getting a Member Guidebook -- same thing -- read through it so you get a sense of some of the special circumstances. You can go back to it when you need the specific answers.

As I guess you just learned -- there are deadlines to deciding when to bank. For Aug. Use Year you have up until Jan. 31 to bank up to 100% of the points. From Feb 1-Apr 30 you can only bank up to 50% of the points. From May 1-31 you can still bank up to 25% of your points. From June 1-July 31 you can no longer bank any points.

The percentages are of your total points. If you banked 75% in January, you are done for the year come Feb. 1 You have already banked more than 50% of your total so you can't bank any additional points for the remainder of the year.

 

[GoofyB]

I just sent an e-mail to my broker and the closing official stating my concerns. I still think we'l be clear by the 30th, but it might be a little closer than I'd like!

Now I've just thought of another little snag -- although OWK is our home resort, we wanted to book BWV for this trip for a couple of reasons. I was going to book OWK right away and then see if we could transfer to BWV at the 7-month window. Given the point difference between the 2, I guess I should book the 2-BR at OKW, which is about the same for a week as BWV 1-BR, Boardwalk view. If for some reason I couldn't get BWV, we'd want to use as many of those banked points as possible for OKW, which would mean a 2-BR, right? 'Cause once you bank them you lose them if you don't use them, I understand.

You know, I really DID do a lot of research and reading about this before I took the plunge, but I'm starting to feel like I didn't understand the timing issue well enough.

Oh well, I'll make it work somehow, though changing our vacation dates is not really an option since we've got the cruise booked for the 2nd half of our trip (it's our 20th anniversary this year and this is our big trip!)

Thanks again for all your clarification on this. Thank goodness I asked!

 

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by GoofyB
Now I've just thought of another little snag -- although OWK is our home resort, we wanted to book BWV for this trip for a couple of reasons. I was going to book OWK right away and then see if we could transfer to BWV at the 7-month window. Given the point difference between the 2, I guess I should book the 2-BR at OKW, which is about the same for a week as BWV 1-BR, Boardwalk view. If for some reason I couldn't get BWV, we'd want to use as many of those banked points as possible for OKW, which would mean a 2-BR, right? 'Cause once you bank them you lose them if you don't use them, I understand.

Well, I think it's silly to book larger accommodations than you need just to use up the points. If you are able to get a room at another resort for more points, then you can draw additional points from what you have available.

If you have banked points that will expire before you can use them, how about asking a family member to join you on your trip? You can always reserve a room in someone else's name. Or you could add a few days to the trip you have planned. Or, if all else fails, you could rent the points to a DVC member that needs a few more.

There really are many options available. Just make sure you get them banked before your deadline.

 

[FOTM_Ring_Bearer]

Maybe your broker could get the seller to bank the points for you. We had the same problem. We wanted to bank the points before the banking deadline but we hadn't closed yet. Pat at the Timeshare Store asked the seller to do that for us. Everything worked out great.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Originally posted by FOTM_Ring_Bearer
Maybe your broker could get the seller to bank the points for you. We had the same problem. We wanted to bank the points before the banking deadline but we hadn't closed yet. Pat at the Timeshare Store asked the seller to do that for us. Everything worked out great.

Linda, I don't think it works that way. It is my understanding that they cancel all banking and borrowing on the resale contract when the contract changes hands.

 

[GoofyB]

thanks for the tip about renting any unused banked points -- makes sense! As for the seller banking the points, my broker said that was what she was going to do tp be on the safe side. Seemed like she'd dealt with this situation before and it was not a problem.

thanks everyone for all of your advice and help!