Buy through DVC or buy a resale?

[hallie]

We just got back from WDW and took the tour of the DVC. We have decided to buy into it after we sell our home this spring since we will make a nice profit. We didn't purchase now because we don't want to finance it.

Now I'm learning of the resale sites like the Timeshare store and I noticed that the prices are lower this way. Are there any dis/advantages to buying one way or another?

Also I've noticed the term *use year* our salesperson didn't really explain this to us, why does it matter when your use year is?

Also does it REALLY matter where your home resort is? We definitely want it to be at the world but I've noticed the OKW requires less points per visit. If we bought a resale at OKW we can vacation at any of the DVC as long as we reserve early right?

Thank you in advance for your help!!

 

[Chuck S]

Resale vs Direct from DVC - it depends on which resort you want to have as you home resort. If you want BCV, I'd go with Disney. Otherwise the other differences are:

With Disney you don't have to worry about whether the points are banked/borrowed from the contract - for instance, you could by resale, but all the points may already have been used for the current use year - that you could find out from the broker.

Resales usually require the buyer to pay closing costs - if you buy from Disney, there are no closing costs.

There are negotiable items between the buy and seller on resales - dues, closing costs, broker fees, etc are negotiable.

First and foremost, you'll hear that you should buy at the resort where you plan to stay at the most. Your home resort will give you a window of 4 months (normally known as the 11/7 window) where only owners at that resort can book rooms before it is opened up to other DVC resort owners. You have exclusive rights to book at your resort between 11 and 7 months prior to your day of departure from your resort - other resort owners may begin booking at your resort 7 month out. This window is extremely important for high volume vacation times like Thanksgiving, Christmas/New Year and Easter. Sometimes resorts will be fully booked by the 7 month window opening in seasons that are low point usage times - especially the first 2 weeks of December.

Use Year is the month each year in which your points are awarded to your account. This really only effects the banking/borrowing windows. A good rule of thumb is to get a use year a month or two before your normal vacation time to allow full banking options should you have to cancel a planned trip. If you almost NEVER cancel a trip, it really wont make much of a difference to you. My Use Year falls smack dab the middle of our normal vacation time, but I've not had any problems as I rarely modify a ressie, or do so far in advance.

 

[Dean]

If you have a preference buy where you want to stay otherwise OKW will be the cheapest to own and reserve. It has the lowest dues and also have Grand Villas which only BW also has at WDW. Remember that you will have about $450 in closing costs resale but still resale should be the cheapest. Just compare the points you are getting with the other fees and extra costs you will have. In general, you should be able to save about $2500 on 200 points but that number can go up or down by another $1500-2000 depending on how many present and banked points you get and whether you have to pay the fees for the year you buy. You can also ask the seller to pay closing costs.

It really matters to some where they stay, others prefer OKW and many are happy as long as they are at WDW. Take your time and find what's right for you.

 

[MELSMICE]

We have thought about buying DVC for a while. Took the tours many times. We are now in the process of buying a resale through The Timeshare Store. We bought a resale for the following reasons:

1. We liked OKW & you can only get them through a resale.

2. The points were less $ per point on a resale.

3. The resale we got had a use year that we wanted.

4. This particular resale also had quite a few points banked that we will be able to use our first year.

This was our reasoning. Good luck with your decision.

 

[DebbieB]

Originally posted by hallie

Also does it REALLY matter where your home resort is? We definitely want it to be at the world but I've noticed the OKW requires less points per visit. If we bought a resale at OKW we can vacation at any of the DVC as long as we reserve early right?

When I was deciding to buy DVC, I was torn between an OKW resale and buying BWV direct (this was 1999 before it was sold out). I wanted to be able to stay at OKW in May and BWV in early December. I knew that BWV is very difficult to get in early December at 7 months (especially standard view), while OKW is easy to get in May at 7 months. So I bought BWV direct (there were very few resales for BWV available then). It has worked for 3 years, got the reservations I wanted.

 

[EROS]

We've bought two BWV resales. I wouldn't even think of purchasing through DVC unless your heart is set on BCV. As Dean pointed out, your savings can be in the THOUSANDS.

As for USE YEAR, you'll hear varied opinions here. Personally, I wouldn't pay much mind to it UNLESS you're certain that you'll be traveling during a specific month or season over the next 40 years. In our 5 years of ownership, we've traveled there during 6 different months, so USE YEAR was not/is not a concern to us ......

 

[crisi]

There are a few disadvantages to buying resale.

Although most of the resale brokers are great, there is less certainty in the process. The seller could change their mind. The seller could be slow in returning paperwork, pushing your closing out. Most of the good resellers and willing to hold your hand through the process, but for many people, it can be quite nerve racking to send someone a cashiers check in excess of $10,000 and wait.

Closing can take a while, and there is no way to book until you close (and actually, for about three days after closing, until Disney gets you in their system). Buying through Disney will allow you to make reservations before you even close - so if you are intending on using points for a vacation in the fairly near future, a resale may not be for you.

The best deals come with patience and shopping around. So if getting a great deal is important, you may be waiting for the right contract. Also, you may not find a contract in the exact number of points you are looking for, with the exact use year, at the right resort buying resale - the more flexible you can be on use year, number of points, resort, and price - the easier finding a resale will be (kind of like buying a used car - if you really care what color the car is, in addition to model, year and price, its much more difficult to find the right car).

Financing can be more difficult through a resale. You are best off being able to self finance (through savings, or a home equity loan). Disney provides an easy way to finance.

We bought a resale and are very happy to have done so. We didn't get the best deal in the world - but didn't get a bad deal either, and did save money over buying from Disney.

By the way, we bought in March of last year. Resale prices have climbed during that time, about $6 a point (Disney has raised their prices from $75 when we started looking to $84 currently). You may be better off to start shopping now for the right contract via a home equity loan, then clear up the loan with the profits from the sale of your house in the spring.

 

[EROS]

Originally posted by crisi
it can be quite nerve racking to send someone a cashiers check in excess of $10,000 and wait.

I agree with most of Crisi's points. However, the cashier's check is placed into an escrow account with the law firm which transacts the closing. If a deal falls through, that money is secured.

Good Luck,

 

[ClarabelleCow]

We are in the process of closing on a resale, I had my heart set on Wilderness Lodge, found the right deal and are closing this Friday, we started the process on 10/16 when I made the initial offer. We stayed at OKW the begining of November on rented points, the place was great, but because of the size of it, I chose not to buy there, because the likely hood of it being sold out at non peak times hopefully won't be an issue. During peak holidays I wanted VWL, so thats why we bought there. we saved 18 per point buying resale, and thats calculating in the closing costs, versus buying new. Plus time was not an issue, I won't be able to make my first vacation requests until early January anyway, so no problem!!!!

 

[Terry Sheehan]

Here is my 2 cents. Buy where you want to stay! We currently own 200 points at OKW and love it. We decided we wanted to buy another 200 points. We have stayed at BWV twice and had great trips. We stayed at BCV in Oct for 5 nights in a 1 bedroom. We love the BC and also loved the BCV. What we wanted to decide was it worth the price to buy at BCV to guarantee our furture stayes at BCV or save some money and buy a resale. We ended up buying 203 point resale at OKW from the Timeshare Store. As muck as we loved BCV we will not be disappointed if we can never stay anywere but OKW

Terry

 

[missyndda]

Resale is definitely the way to go, if you are not needing to finance! We just closed Monday on 350 points at BWV. We worked with Jaki at atimeshare.com. She and Ken, one of her associates, were wonderful about keeping us informed. We made our offer on October 22nd, so approximately 6 weeks for the whole process. (But according to her, our deal went very quickly.) Even with closing costs and reimbursing the previous owner for the 2002 maintenance fees on points that would be available for our use, we were able to purchase a 2 bdr. during a peak week for what a 1 bdr. would have cost us through Disney. Wow, what a savings!

Per some of the others advice on this board, contact each of the four brokers who handle DVC: www.atimeshare.com, www.timesharesbyresale.com, www.dvc-resales.com, and www.disney-vacation-club-resales.com, . Tell them what no. of points, location, and possibly what use year you are looking for.

As one member said, many of the best resales don't even make it to the resale brokers' websites.

Good luck!