buy new or resale?

[twinglefam]

Dh and I are reaserching, reading, fighting , and trying to figure out what exactly to do! It seems to me that the small amount of savings you see with a resale purchase - it isn't really worth the extra effort involved. Does anyone know where I can find a map of the "grounds" in the WLV area? Any helpful info would be great. We want to do this, just feel so out of it when reading the boards....so much to learn.

 

[kem330]

Twinglefam, Just read as much as you can on these boards and you will feel very informed. I've been on for about 3 weeks - go back and look for posts re resales and VWL. These boards did several things for me: 1. Taught me to buy WHERE I want to stay. 2. Where to look for resales: Pat Spell at above sponsor and atimeshare.com (Jaki Apetz)
3. What a good resale price is and not to be afraid to negotiatei.e.BW $62-66/pt IF points are available from previous and current year)4. Be patient about resells and wait lists for ressies. 5.AND last but not least- there are a lot of great and helpful people in the DVC!
VWL are beautiful- sorry I don't have a map, but they are to the right of the main Lodge buiding behind the bus stop. Disney has very attractive financing and MB program so you may be better off there if that's your preferred resort.

 

[drusba]

Don't know where you can find a map of VWL. There is a map of WL on this site (go to home page, then resort maps, then Wilderness Lodge) which does not yet show VWL but if you look there it is in the large wooded area shown on the right part of that map.

Buying through Disney is easy. Closing costs are paid by Disney, financing is easy, and the process is very easy. Nevertheless, buying through resale is not an overly burdensome process and places like the Timeshare Store make it pretty simple. You do need a little savvy in negotiating and go through the effort of determining true cost. In a resale price is negotiable and buyer pays closing costs although that is also negotiable. Where complications arise is in financing. If you can get a home equity loan on existing home you can get a rate less than Disney's. If not you need to find financing and the rates are usually higher than Disney--that is very important in determining true cost as a significant rate difference for the loan can mean a resale at $60 a point will actually end up costing more than a purchase at $72 a point through Disney. But that is a matter of doing some math. The somewhat extra effort in pursuing a resale can often mean saving $2,000 or more.

More important probably than the cost and effort factors is desired resort. At your home resort you can reserve 11 months out, at another only 7. That is an important difference as it is often difficult to get into places like BWV with only the 7 month window at many times of the year. Thus, a large consideration is where you wany to stay most. OKW has the largest rooms, a quiet atmosphere (located around a golf course), lowest point costs per night, and currently lowest annual dues. BWV has the best location of any of the resorts (walk to both Epcot and MGM), a hotel type atmosphere, lots of activities, and the best pool of the group. The WL and VWL area is perhaps the prettiest on site and best theming but the point costs are the same as BWV which is more ideally located. OKW and BWV are available only through resale. VWL has no resale market yet and is available only through Disney. In other words, where you want to buy is probably the most important factor in determining whether to go with Disney or resale.

 

[twinglefam]

thanks for that information. Just what I was looking for. We have small children so the WLV would be a good location for frequenting the MK. We have stayed at the BC and did love walking to Epcot. However, since we will be financing our purchase we will most likely go through Disney. We went as far as receiving the contracts last Nov. and didn't go with the BW DVC purchase. We just weren't ready. Looking at an Oct. stay this year and hoping to head down as owners. Thanks and we will keep reading...

 

[BobH]

Get a firm price on your point cost for the resale and add your closing costs to it. Generally $400 to $500. Then divide your total cost by the number of points you are buying.
After this then you can comparewhat it will cost through Disney by multiplying the number of points you want by $72 per point. If you want to save some money through Disney you can sell back half your points at $10 each (confirm this is still active)up to a maximum of $2000. Example 240 points x $72 = $17280. Subtract your sell back of $1200 (120 x $10) and your final cost is
$17280-$1200= $16080. A resale of 240 points that winds up costing $64 per point (don't forget to add in your closing costs) costs $15360 ($64 x 240).The difference in ra resale vs DVC is $720 in this example and through DVC you will give back 1/2 your first year points. You may very well get a better price than $64/point on the resale. The main issue is who you feel most comfortable doing business with AND whether you want the Wilderness Lodge. This is the only WDW property currently being sold by DVC. If you want OKW or BW you'll have to buy a resale. Good Luck.

 

[drb]

Hey twinglefam, wonderful question. I have small kids too and as such I would probably be more inclined to buy at WLV for the proximity to mk. Our favorite all time hotel is the wilderness lodge to begin with. However, when you think of the fact that you will have the property until 2042, most of those years will be spent with the children older or grown. As such, you might want to be closer to the night-life and restaurants of the bwv. I can sympathize with your dilemma. By the way, what is the going interest rate from Disney? Does anyone think it possible that with falling interest rates, outside loan rates may end up beating disney in the near future? Twinglefam, we haven't joined yet and I wondered what made you decide to finance rather than wait the however many years it would take to save up the money to pay off the points in cash? This is my big dilemma now and that is why we have not yet bought into the DVC. I just can't justify in my mind loaning out for vacations. Any ideas?

 

[Ed T]

Hi

I have bought both through Disney and resale and both experiences were effortless on my part. The offer on the resale and acceptance was all by phone, paperwork was all FedX and the closing was complete in less than 4 wks. Best part I saved $ 3000 on the resale. There is no extra efforts involved. If you get with a resale broker tell them what you want they can keep you informed of new resales as they come on the market. I wouldn't buy at Disney until you have done all your homework on resales first.

Ed

 

[Richyams]

There is another thread where someone states that they bought points and their payment is $200 a month including dues and mortgage. Their current stay has a cost of something near $3,000 without taxes. So they are saving right now!! Once they pay off the loan, they will be paying only dues for that vacation....seems like a no-brainer when you look at it like that.

This is all predicated on IF you are going to Disney every year anyway and spending money on a moderate or above, you will see a benefit soon.

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs", Karl Marx, pretty sick, huh?

 

[BobH]

It all depends on who you are most comfortable dealing with - and of course the price. I felt more comfortable dealing long distance with Disney. My point cost was $67 and by using the magical beginnings program I sold back 1/2 of my first use year points and saved enough to make my actual cost $62 per point. I purchase a June use year in October 2000 and got points back to June of 2000. Keeping half the points was enough to carry me through until June 2001. Calculate how many points you want and figure your cost both ways Disney & Resale. Then decide whether the
difference spread over 41 years is important enough to you.