Best way to purchase RIV

[rubybutt]

Because the resell market is way to hot right now, I am going to most likely buy into RIV. This will be our first purchase. I have spent way to many hours researching and reading. I should have just purchased without research and then worked all the hours I have spent researching and I probably could have paid for it. LOL

I am considering a couple of different options. Would it make more sense to purchase 2 Preferred view studios FW #44 or 1 two-bedroom Standard view FW #44? I think the main question I am asking is which will be easier to rent/more money if I can't use the points that year? I understand I can just rent the points out also. I am not married to that week. I have an idea in my head what is the best way, but I want to hear from others first.

 

[wnielsen1]

It's difficult to rent FW. Not everyone travels that way. So, if you have a valid reason to get a FW for you personally, then do so. Otherwise, I'd skip a FW.

 

[RoseGold]

I would talk to a local lawyer and buy as an LLC or a trust. This way you can transfer ownership without Disney being involved. This matters.

I would get the best week I could for a studio, 52, 1, 51, thanksgiving, spring break. My understanding is that they are allocating more as more points get declared. I don't see why you'd buy Week 44 at all, unless that's actually your plan. But yea, the studios are going to be easier to rent/resell in the future, as they are smaller value contracts. There's no downside to a FW if they give you the incentives and it's the right amount of points.

 

[dvc lover 1970]

Renters are looking for the best bang for their buck. Usually they are renting because it is cheaper than disney rates. I have often times found disney cash rates for one beds are better than point rentals. Studios are a better rental.

 

[masupo]

I bought Week 44 at RIV in a standard view studio. It's Jersey Week and coincides with the Wine & Dine half marathon. I am traveling to WDW that week this year, but I opted out and I'm booked Tues thru Sat instead of Sun to Sun. There was availability at 11 months, but it booked quickly.

I'm glad I have it personally but I agree with previous posters that a Guaranteed Week might be hard to rent out, except maybe holiday weeks. Not a lot of people travel Sun to Sun.

 

[rubybutt]

RoseGold, we have a family trust so it will be bought in that.

I am sure all of you know that a FW gives you the option, not requirement to use your points that week. It was set up that a FW cost a 10% premium to the original point chart. From the best information that I can gather (I will know definitely Sunday when I speak to my Disney rep) the FW point chart does not change. That means that the studios have no built in premium to week 44 and the 2 bedroom actually have an almost 10% discount for the Sun/Sun week. Week 44 is Wine & Dine half marathon and it is my understanding this doesn't change. I was initially going to buy 300 points normally, but it seems like it might be worthwhile to spend up and get week 44 two bedroom at a guaranteed "discount".

Does that make sense? Am I missing something?

 

[defrogger]

Im still new to dvc, but from a renting standpoint, for the FW, cant you decline that year and get all the points in your account and then rent them?

 

[wnielsen1]

Im still new to dvc, but from a renting standpoint, for the FW, cant you decline that year and get all the points in your account and then rent them?

Yes you can.

 

[masupo]

RoseGold, we have a family trust so it will be bought in that.

I am sure all of you know that a FW gives you the option, not requirement to use your points that week. It was set up that a FW cost a 10% premium to the original point chart. From the best information that I can gather (I will know definitely Sunday when I speak to my Disney rep) the FW point chart does not change. That means that the studios have no built in premium to week 44 and the 2 bedroom actually have an almost 10% discount for the Sun/Sun week. Week 44 is Wine & Dine half marathon and it is my understanding this doesn't change. I was initially going to buy 300 points normally, but it seems like it might be worthwhile to spend up and get week 44 two bedroom at a guaranteed "discount".

Does that make sense? Am I missing something?

I'm very happy that with the 2022 point chart, I no longer have a point premium for my Week 44 RIV studio. It's great that there will be a discount on 2 bedroom!

We're just advising not to count on renting out your GW. Some people will be excited to get a point discount on a week's stay, but many families don't travel for 7 nights Sun-Sun.

Just one other thing to mention. You can't advertise a 7 night confirmed reservation that starts Fri, Sat, or Sun here on the Dis Rent/Trade board. I'm not 100% sure why they have that policy, but they do. You can advertise a 7 night reservation that starts any other day.

You can place Sun-Sun weeks on other sites and with brokers.

I love the flexibility my Guaranteed Week gives me and you can always opt out. Just wanted to play devil's advocate and hopefully help with your decision.

 

[CarolMN]

Just FYI. If you plan to rent yourself (i.e., without using a broker), you will not be able to offer Fixed Weeks for rent on the DIS. You would have to cancel the FWs and offer the points for transfer or use them to make reservations for others. FWIW, more renters are looking for studios than larger accommodations. Many members prefer to transfer rather than make reservations for others.

 

[rubybutt]

I'm very happy that with the 2022 point chart, I no longer have a point premium for my Week 44 RIV studio. It's great that there will be a discount on 2 bedroom!

We're just advising not to count on renting out your GW. Some people will be excited to get a point discount on a week's stay, but many families don't travel for 7 nights Sun-Sun.

Just one other thing to mention. You can't advertise a 7 night confirmed reservation that starts Fri, Sat, or Sun here on the Dis Rent/Trade board. I'm not 100% sure why they have that policy, but they do. You can advertise a 7 night reservation that starts any other day.

You can place Sun-Sun weeks on other sites and with brokers.

I love the flexibility my Guaranteed Week gives me and you can always opt out. Just wanted to play devil's advocate and hopefully help with your decision.

I understand the limitations of renting, but I still just see no real down side by going with a FW. The only downside I see is I would be buying 47 more points than I was planning if I go with a 2 bedroom. The question is, is it worth it to do that? The other option is 2 studios and then a small contract to get to 300. If we use the FW in the future, the 2 bedroom would be much preferred. I could also do a 1 bedroom with a small contract to get to 300. The reason I initially didn't consider the 1 bedroom is because it seems like there isn't that much demand for those units from what I have read.

So is it worth the 47 points to get the 2 bedroom vs getting a different combo? I guess the other thing is I have to figure out what they still have left as far as FW in week #44.

The other option too, is week 52 studio with an add on contract, but I don't see week 52 increasing much more in points than where it is. I think week 44 can continue to increase. RunDisney week, occasionally diwalli, halloween occasionally, great weather etc.

 

[masupo]

I understand the limitations of renting, but I still just see no real down side by going with a FW. The only downside I see is I would be buying 47 more points than I was planning if I go with a 2 bedroom. The question is, is it worth it to do that? The other option is 2 studios and then a small contract to get to 300. If we use the FW in the future, the 2 bedroom would be much preferred. I could also do a 1 bedroom with a small contract to get to 300. The reason I initially didn't consider the 1 bedroom is because it seems like there isn't that much demand for those units from what I have read.

So is it worth the 47 points to get the 2 bedroom vs getting a different combo? I guess the other thing is I have to figure out what they still have left as far as FW in week #44.

The other option too, is week 52 studio with an add on contract, but I don't see week 52 increasing much more in points than where it is. I think week 44 can continue to increase. RunDisney week, occasionally diwalli, halloween occasionally, great weather etc.

I'm all for FW's. I have Week 44 plus a small contract and it's working out really well.

I'm just not sure about getting two Week 44 studios. Another option would be one Week 44 studio and one Week 51 or 52. That would put you at 326 pts vs 347 pts for the Wk 44 two bedroom. It would give you more options for traveling yourself or renting out.

The two bedroom fixed week sounds good too. That one's a personal choice since there's a bit more competition for studios but 2 bedroom could be advantageous as well. I was looking to buy 150 pts so the studio fixed week + 25 pts worked out for me.

 

[benedib99]

If you are making your FIRST DVC purchase, and you're considering RIV, I would buy DIRECT. It gives you access to ALL the current DVC locations (and likely all the future locations). The incentives are not bad, but it's worth some premium to have access to all the locations.

RIV gives you the longest contract currently available. If I were buying RIV, I'd buy a FW, just because you can. If you can't go some years, you can just cancel the reservation and sell the points.

Also, if I were buying saying 300-350 points, I'd have it issued as two studio FW's. If you do ever decide to resell, 100-150 pt contracts go for more than 300+pt contracts.

 

[RoseGold]

Week 44 is Wine & Dine half marathon and it is my understanding this doesn't change.

DVC has been selling event floating weeks for events. Someone bought a Run Disney CCV one before Covid. They move to match the event, and if there is no event they go to some other week. I would ask about this.

I'd be interested to see how they write it out, or if they even offer it with the events on hold right now.

 

[striker1064]

DVC has been selling event floating weeks for events. Someone bought a Run Disney CCV one before Covid. They move to match the event, and if there is no event they go to some other week. I would ask about this.

I'd be interested to see how they write it out, or if they even offer it with the events on hold right now.

I am at least one of the people who bought a runDisney CCV for Wine and Dine weekend. We talked briefly about buying it at RIV but decided not to because of the restrictions; however, before deciding I did talk to our guide. She confirmed the runDisney weeks were not popular and they were not being offered for RIV. This was some time ago though and it's entirely possible they've changed course on this, but as far as I am aware CCV is your only option for a runDisney week.

 

[rubybutt]

Soooooo..... I am closing on my RIV currently. Here are a few things I have learned so far.
- There are no event weeks, that sucks.
- But I did do FW for week 1 and 44 in a standard view studio. One contract is 120 and the other is 130. (both weeks are runDisney weeks)
- at the current 2022 point chart these weeks would have been 116 and 130 points. So the "premium" for a FW for these weeks is almost nonexistent If you move up to the 1 and 2 bedroom at these weeks you actually get a discount. I decided I would rather have 2 studio weeks at peak times than 1 bigger room at just 1 time. Also it was nice they added up to 250 points exactly.
- It was NOT required to have one contract at 150. Also since I am buying a total of 250 points I will get the blue card, but I was told if I sell one of the contracts I would lose it *shrug*
- 2020 points were free and because I bought fixed week they gave me a Sept UY that I requested. 2021 points MF were prorated.
- hold times for MS were crazy today because of the change
- My salesman worked with me and was able to get my Magic stay at an almost sold out time even for cash pay rooms. Apparently you only get one of these ever.

 

[benedib99]

Soooooo..... I am closing on my RIV currently. Here are a few things I have learned so far.
- There are no event weeks, that sucks.
- But I did do FW for week 1 and 44 in a standard view studio. One contract is 120 and the other is 130. (both weeks are runDisney weeks)
- at the current 2022 point chart these weeks would have been 116 and 130 points. So the "premium" for a FW for these weeks is almost nonexistent If you move up to the 1 and 2 bedroom at these weeks you actually get a discount. I decided I would rather have 2 studio weeks at peak times than 1 bigger room at just 1 time. Also it was nice they added up to 250 points exactly.
- It was NOT required to have one contract at 150. Also since I am buying a total of 250 points I will get the blue card, but I was told if I sell one of the contracts I would lose it *shrug*
- 2020 points were free and because I bought fixed week they gave me a Sept UY that I requested. 2021 points MF were prorated.
- hold times for MS were crazy today because of the change
- My salesman worked with me and was able to get my Magic stay at an almost sold out time even for cash pay rooms. Apparently you only get one of these ever.

Thank you for your post! I found your current experience and thought process with your direct RIV purchase very informative and helpful.

 

[masupo]

Soooooo..... I am closing on my RIV currently. Here are a few things I have learned so far.
- There are no event weeks, that sucks.
- But I did do FW for week 1 and 44 in a standard view studio. One contract is 120 and the other is 130. (both weeks are runDisney weeks)
- at the current 2022 point chart these weeks would have been 116 and 130 points. So the "premium" for a FW for these weeks is almost nonexistent If you move up to the 1 and 2 bedroom at these weeks you actually get a discount. I decided I would rather have 2 studio weeks at peak times than 1 bigger room at just 1 time. Also it was nice they added up to 250 points exactly.
- It was NOT required to have one contract at 150. Also since I am buying a total of 250 points I will get the blue card, but I was told if I sell one of the contracts I would lose it *shrug*
- 2020 points were free and because I bought fixed week they gave me a Sept UY that I requested. 2021 points MF were prorated.
- hold times for MS were crazy today because of the change
- My salesman worked with me and was able to get my Magic stay at an almost sold out time even for cash pay rooms. Apparently you only get one of these ever.

Congrats! The fixed week combo sounds great!

 

[macman123]

Im also a new RIV owner. I brought direct but a studio, fixed week 52.

I imagine it would be more appealing should I come to sell it.