Buy from DVC or Resale?

[CTFamilyCruisers]

We are seriously considering buying a DVC membership. I have spent months reading the great information on this board, talking with friends, and I think it makes sense for us. I am struggling with the details, though.

First - a little about how we intend to use our DVC points. We are a family of 4, would likely go to WDW every other year. We would generally stay in a 1 BR villa, but could easily manage in a studio and may from time to time bring friends and family and need a 2 BR. Kids are school aged, so we are not travelling in the off-season. That being said, we aren't going Xmas week either (well, maybe once.) More than likely, we would go in April for school break (not usually Easter week) or in the summer when we can be flexible. In the odd years, we would use the points to go to a non-Disney property. Most likely the Caribbean, but as the kids get older, Europe and other destinations are appealing. Those vacations are peak times - typically President's Week in February for the Caribbean and summer for Europe.

So.... my question is - does DVC make sense for us in the first place? Assuming it does, I am thinking of about 220 - 250 points. If I buy direct, I would be at SSR which has the upside of the extra 12 years (though I'll be 84 when it expires. Looking at the resales, I can save about $11 per point at BWV or $21 per point at OKW. We like to try new places so the guarantee of a specific home resort doesn't mean much to me - unless we are unlikely to get in to a specific resort if it is not our Home resort. I would like to try them all, but most interesting are BWV and BCV. Again, probably would rotate through all of them, and at every other year, it will be years before I return to the same resort. If we aren't going to WDW every year and are flexible as to home resort, does it really matter which resort I choose?

So, if any of you DVC experts out there are willing to weigh in and give me your advice, I would appreciate it.

Thanks so much!

 

[spiceycat]

you are trading out too often.

buy enough points (resale) for a 1-bedroom for 5 days - take the rest of your money and buy another timeshares to trade with.

DVC is too expensive to use every other year as a trader.

they were are much cheaper timeshares out there - that would trade just as well as DVC does.

 

[Plutofan]

I agree with the previous post. I have bought 5 resales and one through Disney. We will only use our points for WDW since it is not a good value to go outside the DVC resorts. Most of the time you are better off renting the points and paying cash when you go outside the DVC resorts. You should be able to rent your points for at least 11 + per point. When I priced trips outside of the DVC resorts the value of the points were placed at around $7.5 per point.