Buy from DVC or Resale??

[Cheryl N. WI]

Hi I'm new to the DVC board.

We just got back from our cruise on the Disney Magic yesterday and while onboard I finally convinced DH to buy DVC!!!! They were offering a "special" where if you booked onboard you got $10.00 off per point for Saratoga Springs bringing the purchase price to $85.00/pt. We filled out the paperwork to purchase 200 points and were told to expect Fed Ex to deliver the contract to sign by the end of this week. When flying home yesterday DH mentioned that he thinks maybe we should buy less points through the resale market. I am a little nervous about this for our first purchase and would rather continue through DVC where they cover all the closing costs and our first payment wouldn't be until June 1 with our use year being June. I would be OK with buying fewer points than the 200pts. We only have DD 10 so we could easily stay in a studio to maximize points. We are used to the Moderate resorts and Pop Century for our last Disney trip so a studio would be a "upgrade" for us. I would like to purchase at least 160 pts though so we could do a trade to go elsewhere if we want and our sales person said we could adjust the amount of points after we get home. I'm just not sure about buying resale though.

Does anyone have any recommendations on buying resale vs through DVC??? Which is the better way to purchase???

 

[crisi]

There are advantages to both.

You have to be a little more educated to buy resale. The value of a stripped contract is less than the value of one with current points and next years points available (when you get the $10 discount buying direct, you are functionally buying a stripped contract).

With a resale you can pick some other resorts. If SSR isn't your favorite resort, you can look for points at OKW, BCV, BWV or VWL. Its often a little cheaper - even once closing costs are added in.

But direct is easy. Financing is available. There isn't a lot of second guessing. Its a sure thing (with resale, sometimes Disney options to buy the contract you want, sometimes the seller backs out). You can buy exactly 160 points. Resale is a little like buying a used car - you may want a blue Civic 2002 with less than 40,000 miles, and end up with a red Civic 2002 with 42,000 miles, or wait three months for the perfect car to show up.

The nice thing about resale however is that unlike a used car, you get the same thing as people buying new. The resorts are all in good shape. You are treated the same way regardless of who you buy.

 

[Desnik]

We just had to make the very same decision. We went back and forth with buying into DVC for about 4-5 years!! DH was finally sold on the idea but then we weren't sure if we would buy a resale or purchase through DVC. On our past trip last week we purchased 150 SSR points via Disney. We got the same deal you mentioned, $10 off per point. We were able to sign all the contracts there. What made us buy through Disney rather than a resale was this: no closing costs, financing available through them, the extra 12 years over a resale, the ease and comfort working with Disney. There were no hassels, it was so easy! No ROFR, no waiting for paper work and searching for the "right" contract. DH really wanted the extra 12 years, that was the deal maker for him! We also fell in love with SSR! We wanted it to be our home resort.
If you decide to go with Disney, you could get less points,I believe the minimum is 150 points, but you could do 160, 170, 172, whatever! I know after you sign you have 15 days to change your mind. Once you talk to DVC the $10 off deal expires in 3 days. So, if you want to stick with Disney and change your points I would call them right away. The deed would have to be changed.

Also, keep in mind if you buy into SSR now you cannot vacation till after May 2005. If you finance you don't pay any dues, or monthly payments until May. You can book now for stays after May. This worked well for us since we always go to WDW in Nov. Also we liked the no payments till then!

Good luck desiding! We are so happy we went with Disney to purchase!

 

[NMW]

We bought a resale. However our primary motivation in doing so is that we wanted our home resort to be either BCV or BWV. This is because our 2 fav resorts are BWI and BC. If home resort didn't matter to us I probably would have bought through Disney. It seems much easier, and no ROFR worries. There are people on this board who went through HUGE ordeals buying reasales with ROFR taking contracts on their first and second attempts. We were pretty lucky to have no problems and our rep at the Timeshare Store was great. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[carlos1117]

Resale equals more points for less money. You could buy into OKW for 75.00 per point and that's a full loaded cost. TTS is easy. ROFR is nerve racking, but considering you'd save 10 dollars per point it may be worth it for you.

 

[jcodespoti]

All above are good points. If you like SSR then I'd go through DVC. It seems to me that if you start off less points through a resale you might regret not getting more say 200 instead of 150.


However, above all BUY AT THE RESORT YOU LIKE THE MOST. If its SSR great buy thru either. If its BWV or any other reort then you'd have to buy a resale.


Joe in CT

 

[keenercam]

You should also consider whether you might be able to afford more points resale than you'd get buying from Disney. I think our biggest consideration when we do another add-on will be which resort we want as the home resort for those points.
Good Luck!

 

[cruise-o-matic]

We went through the same decision. With DVC, they have easy financing, no ROFR hassle, no maintenance fees until 6/05 and you can book your vacation now. Plus the 12 extra years.

We decided on a 200 pt HH contract instead. Once you figure in closing costs, transfer fees and maintenance fees between now and June, we are still paying less than $15,000 vs. $17,000 for 200 SSR points.

Plus with HH, you can book summers 11 months out. Since SSR is going to be the largest, we didn't see having an 11 month advantage unless you really want a DTD view. The 12 extra years didn't matter either since we will be in our mid-80's by then.

 

[Pa@okw95]

I would say buy with Disney and the 200 points are really a minimum that you should buy. I beleive they sell 150 now but that is usually not enough. There was a time when the minimum one could purchase was 250.

 

[crisi]

That is usually not enough for the Disney addicts on this board.

We have been content with our 150 points.

It does depend on how you wish to travel. Honestly, if you intend to trade often, DVC isn't a great deal. There are plenty of much cheaper timeshares that trade well. DVC points have the best value within the DVC system - the dues alone are too expensive to make it a cost effective trade.

I think its Dean who has made the recommendation to buy a small DVC contract for Disney trips, and purchase another contract if you want to trade.

You should know that its generally difficult to trade into DVC, which is why, I believe Dean has made the two timeshare recommendation in the past.

 

[dmoore22]

We went with an OKW resale. We found a contract with banked points which has gone a long way. Then the broker found us an add-on in which the seller covered the maintenance fee for the first year. Perhaps we were lucky to find the deals we found. Plus OKW has the lowest maintenance fees. Perhaps we were luck to find the deals we found. The best deals were not posted on the web.

 

[Snow Shoe]

We've done both ways. Our first was through DVC for VB and the second was through Timeshare for BWV. What everybody has told you is right about the pro's and con's of buying either way. We passed ROFR not to soon before Disney started a buying spree of resales. That is the biggest downside to resale.

But I see it as, what resort do you plan on making your "home resort"? If it's something other than SSR, look toward resale. Concerniong points, get as many as you feel you'll need for a "comfortable" stay. Remember this is your home away form home, vacation home, and ther's no need IMHO to be all on top of each other, and as your DD grows up, you'll definitely want more room. Banking points to use every other year for 2 BdRm is also a thought.

Hope this helps.

 

[karebear1]

Wooohooooo! Cheryl's gonna buy DVC! Have you decided that you definetly want SSR or are you thinking about some of the other resorts? ANd Iwould definelty suggest more then 150 pts. We own 200 and it's just DH and I using them. It's not enough- especially if you want to take family or friends along.... and then there's the annual "All Girls Trip" you'll start!

 

[Cheryl N. WI]

Thanks everyone for all the great replies! Just to update we are very strongly leaning towards sticking with buying through DVC and having SSR as our home resort. I just feel more comfortable doing it through DVC being this is all new to me and waiting out ROFR would drive me crazy. Now that I finally convinced DH to do this I just want to get it done before he changes his mind again!

Cheryl

 

[MommaluvsDis]

Cheryl,

DH and I went thru the exact same thing! We cruised on the Magic, DH talked to Brandon and we bought 250 at SSR. The next week after we got home, I showed DH The Time Share Store's site and we decided that we'd go that route. We really loved BWV so we placed a bid on a contract there. The seller wanted $75 per point and we counter offered with $71. It had 26 banked points with all of '04 points coming available Dec 01, 04. Seller accepted our offer with us paying all closing and '04 maintenance fees (MFs). We agreed to paythe MFs because all of the points were available.

We passed ROFR and got 100 more points for a cheaper price than if we'd bought thru Disney on the ship.

I decided as soon as our contract went to Rofr to basically put it out of my mind. If it was meant to be, it would be! That wasn't the only contract out there and eventually we'd pass the Disney ROFR. You could just try it and if it doesn't go thru then get SSR thru Disney. This $10 off per point has been around at least since July when we cruised. Of course, it could end at any time.

More points for less $$! We're very happy! What ever you do, good luck and we're all pulling for you! Hopefully we'll soon be telling you "Welcome Home"!

 

[Scotch]

When you buy direct from Disney, can you pay for the entire contract -- whether at the same time or broken up (e.g., down payment then one more payment) -- via credit card? Can you pay via credit card for any portion of the sale when you buy via The Timeshare Store?

 

[DOOGIERUNNER]

Cheryl,
This is Doogie we were on the cruise with you. We initially purchased through DVC. We have since bought 4 more resales. They work great and you can save a bit (not a lot) of $$$. I sent Willie a note yesterday about it also.

I don't have your email. I'll send you a PM with mine and phone # if you guys have any questions about resales. There's a pretty good FAQ on this site about them. Three our ours were purchsed thought the TimeShare Store who sponsors this site

 

[DVCajun]

We went with an OKW resale. We found a contract with banked points which has gone a long way. Then the broker found us an add-on in which the seller covered the maintenance fee for the first year. Perhaps we were lucky to find the deals we found. Plus OKW has the lowest maintenance fees. Perhaps we were luck to find the deals we found. The best deals were not posted on the web.

How did you find out about them if they weren't posted on the web?

 

[cruise-o-matic]

When you buy direct from Disney, can you pay for the entire contract -- whether at the same time or broken up (e.g., down payment then one more payment) -- via credit card? Can you pay via credit card for any portion of the sale when you buy via The Timeshare Store?

We were told by DVC we could use our Disney Visa to pay for our contract. TTS uses a closing company and they will most likely require certified funds for the purchase price plus any fees that have to be disbursed. But the closing company itself may accept a CC for their fee.

 

[robinb]

How did you find out about them if they weren't posted on the web?

You create a relationship with a resale agent and let them know what you are looking for. It is their job to connect sellers with buyers. I own two resales (OKW & BWV) and I know for a fact that the BWV resale was never posted on the internet. I used The Timeshare Store for both resales and they were great .