Buying DVC, best fit for my situation?

[bunnyboo]

Hi, I'm currently 26 and looking to purchase my first DVC contract. I have a few questions and would really appreciate any advice from current owners. I've done some research and buying DVC just makes sense to me. A little about me... I live on the West Coast and work as a flight attendant. I was thinking of visiting WDW every three years for ten nights or so. I'm currently unmarried with a long term boyfriend and don't plan on having kids (I know that can change, but I can always buy more points later). I'll most likely be renting studios exclusively, either for me and the BF or me and a girlfriend or two. AKV is the resort I'd like to stay at, but if there's no availability I wouldn't mind staying somewhere else. My schedule is flexible and I prefer avoiding school breaks. I don't plan on financing this purchase.

# of Points
I'm thinking a 50pt contract would be enough for me to go every three years if I take advantage of banking/borrowing. I know I'd have to be careful and pay attention to deadlines. I like going in October/November, and would like to do a May trip once in a while. If I have some extra points or skip a year, I can use them for a night here and there at VGC. Do you guys think that's a good amount to start with? Is there anything I should be aware of?

Home Resort
Since I want to stay at AKV, buying there makes sense. I also read that I should buy at SSR for the lower maintenance fee since AKV usually has availability at 7 months. If I'm able to book a value studio at 11 months vs book a standard studio at 7 months, it would save me ~11pts each year (33pts every 3yrs). Are value studios relatively easy to get if you book exactly at the 11 month mark? Which option do you guys think is better - buy at AKV for the chance to book values and save some points, or buy at SSR for lower maintenance fees?

Price
I know I can check price per point in a thread on here, but if any of you would like to give me a recommended price per point I should look for, please feel free! I'm aware that I'd be paying a slightly higher price since I'm looking for a small contract. I have a question about closing costs though. For one website, the closing cost is around $350-400 for the contracts I'm looking at. On a second website, similar contracts have a closing cost over $600. Should I just go with the cheaper one? Or am I missing something?

The main websites I've been browsing are dvc-resales and dvcresalemarket. If there are any other websites you guys can recommend please let me know!
Any other advice/suggestions/etc. for me would be greatly appreciated as well, thank you all for your help! This forum has provided me with so much useful info!

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Just my 2 cents as a new DVC owner...

Buy more points than you think you will need. If you don't use them you can bank and/or sell them to companies like David's each year. It is easier to buy a bigger contract to start vs. going back later and buying a smallish (e.g. 50 pt) contract which is priced at a premium. We bought 220 and I wish we had more.

AKV seems to be pretty good in terms of availability less than 11 months out - even less than 7 months out depending on type of room. You could buy elsewhere and still probably get a room at AKV most times of year. I just pulled up availability for June and there are numerous room categories available. Also plugged in some October dates since Fall is high DVC usage time and there was a good bit to choose from. So if you have flexibility with your travel dates you should be good either buying at AKV or somewhere else like SSR and booking at AKV 7 months out.

In terms of price per point to offer, just spend some time looking at the resale sites and see what they are asking. Loaded contracts with points that will roll over from previous UY will be more valuable. Go in and offer a little less than the asking price. I would always try to negotiate. Closing costs might vary based on the seller. We used DVC Resale Market and they were good to work with.

Good luck!

 

[disneynutz]

What looks good on paper now, will change once you get some time with DVC and WDW. You can always make changes later but it will cost more money to do so. You can add to your contract and or sell your contract for a different resort or size. AKV is a nice resort, it's one of the resorts we own but it isn't our favorite, not enough to do and it is too remote from everything.

Bill

 

[jerseyduke]

The thing to be aware of with your approach:

With banking and borrowing, since they can not be undone, you do lose some flexibility, and I think just due to the nature of life, are more susceptible to breakage(points going unused and expiring) That is not to say that it is a bad idea, just something to be aware of.

It does seem that Animal Kingdom is readily available at 7 months, but my point of view is a 50 point contract, the difference in maintenance fees per year will be less than 100$ - like 8$ per month; that is not a whole lot. That being said, the real questions are, 1. How important is it to stay at AK (Is it worth 100$ a year?), and 2. Will you be booking at the 11 month mark? (because if you plan on booking inside 7, points from resort A are the same from points at resort B)

Also you made no mention of Use Year. It is advantageous to travel in the beginning of your UY. With your desire to go in October/November, you probably want a August, Sept, or October UY.

I am also guessing, if you like AKV, the value room desire will quickly become a savannah view desire

 

[crisi]

The every three years thing is tough. Banking and borrowing pretty much means you'll end up wasting some points - or needing one time use points (only available at seven months) which will increase the cost.

Depending on value rooms to be available every time, even if you own there and can book right at eleven months, is not a realistic expectation. There are very few value rooms and generally they go fast.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

DVC is not the best for visits every 3 years - you'll have a difficult time not having stranded points although it wouldn't be impossible. Every other year works fine. Every 3 - tricky and really requires the exact number of points which is not a guarantee thru the life of the contract because they could do reallocations.

For AKV, if you book right at 11 months it would be a decent chance to get the value studio but one year when you can't would mess things up too. However it would just be a shorter trip or require buying OTU points or transferring in or paying cash for a night or two so there are ways to cover that.

 

[Bobb_o]

I'm similar to you and decided to not buy into DVC. If you had 50 points at SSR you'd be spending ~$4,500 on the contract, ~$400 on closing and ~$260 a year on dues. If you rented 10 nights at standard AKL studio every three years your cost would be 114-118 points and at $14/point would be $1,596-$1,652. Now, I'm not factoring things like rates going up (which they will) or selling extra points but after ~12 years you'd have spent ~$6,400 renting vs $7,500 buying. It's not till you get to around year 15 that you're going to be breaking even. Granted you'd still have 23 years left on your contract but you'd also be 41 when you're "saving money."

This is what ultimately made me decide to keep renting. It gives me more freedom with both finances (Keeping my money liquid) and booking (can book any home resort I want as long as I spend a little extra.) As a 26 year old in a relationship I really have no idea what my family situation is going to be like in 2020 let alone 2030. The benefits of actually being an owner did not seem worth the upfront cost and contract.