Buying in at what property?

[cruisin'momto3]

Hi! My family and I are looking into buying into DVC. My question is this....if we plan to travel in the off season, does it really matter where we buy into? Of course I love the AK resort, but if we can travel at any time, wouldn't it make more sense to buy in cheaper? TIA, Ali

 

[chalee94]

when is the "off season?" early december (for one example) tends to be the busy season for DVC and often books up before the 7 month window opens.

IMO, i would buy onsite if you want to stay at wdw and don't care where. OKW and SSR are great inexpensive options. buying at VB or HH may cost less up front but will result in higher annual dues and a higher risk of a special assessment. and while you may often be able to trade into another resort at 7 months, that won't make you feel better if you are sitting on the waitlist with 2 months to go until you were hoping to go to wdw...

lots of people are buying in at SSR and expecting to never stay there. there is a basic mathematical problem with that scenario.

if you won't be happy unless you are at AKV surrounded by giraffes (and you can book 9-11 months in advance) then buy at AKV and pay a little more. ("buy where you want to stay.") if you are happy just being onsite at wdw, then buy at OKW and SSR - if you are able to change at 7 months, great! but regardless, you will still have reservations onsite. ("buy where you don't mind staying.")

here is one good thread to read:Choosing Your Home Resort - What to Consider?

 

[disneynutz]

Hi! My family and I are looking into buying into DVC. My question is this....if we plan to travel in the off season, does it really matter where we buy into? Of course I love the AK resort, but if we can travel at any time, wouldn't it make more sense to buy in cheaper? TIA, Ali

If it made sense 400,000 members would buy at the cheapest resort. Paying this amount of money, you should never have to stay at a resort that you don't love just because it's the only one available. Buying at your favorite resort will guarantee you an 11 month booking advantage and happiness for years to come.

 

[cruisin'momto3]

Hmmmm.....I appreciate your responses. I have a limited amount of money budgeted for this, and I am trying to decide whether to use it to get a "nicer" home base or more points for the money.....I know we will always travel in the off-season (we live in Tampa and the kids are homeschooled) so that is the dilemma. Also, we have 5 in our family, so we will always need a bigger room. Thanks again, Ali

 

[Coach81]

Sorry to beat the horse here.. but one of the old sayings.. is.. "buy where you plan to stay".

Good luck with your decision!

 

[drusba]

As noted what you think of "off-season" may be a DVC high demand season since DVC demand does not track WDW in general demand. Examples: entire month of December is huge DVC demand, October very high, but most of summer is fairly low.

Disney is selling AKV, SSR and BLT and incentives apply to them. You can get others through Disney but you won't get the discounted price incentives. There is a very active resale market with on-line sites where price is generally better than what Disney is selling. In considering resort, you should consider where you like to stay but if you are very flexible on when you go that is not so important. Also of importance is end date. BLT is 2060, AKV 2057 and SSR 2054, much of OKW is also but what you find in resale market may or may not be as it was 2042 and then owners were offerred an extension and many did not buy it. Boardwalk, Beach Club and Widerness Lodge Villas at WDW and HH and Vero are all 2042 end dates.

If you have 5, you may want to consider AKV or BLT because those sleep 5 in a 1BR and thus you could save points that way and owning at one will assure you can get it when you want with 11 month window.

Another factor: annual dues; VB and HH are high in comparison to others and thus lower point price will not necessarily mean long term lower overall cost.

 

[DenLo]

If you have 5, you may want to consider AKV or BLT because those sleep 5 in a 1BR and thus you could save points that way and owning at one will assure you can get it when you want with 11 month window.

Although BLT is our home resort, I'm sorry to say it does take more points per night than all of the other WDW resorts (VGC at Disneyland has an even higher per night rate). So if you plan to stay in a one bedroom for five, I'd consider AKV.

 

[CMOORE185]

SSR is the best deal out there for price and low dues. I have rarely had trouble booking 7 months out and I travel during peak times, and go to all resorts. I think it is actually harder to get HHI and VB at 7 months than at WDW

 

[My 2 princesses]

I was talking to my guide a few days ago and he did not mention anything about SSR being available. He said they were only selling AK, BLT and the California one. How much does SSR cost? I'm now curious.

 

[crisi]

Buy SSR through resale - one resale company sponsors this board and you can check out currently for sale contracts. You do need to be aware of how many points have been used and how many have been available when comparing resale contracts.

 

[DenLo]

I was talking to my guide a few days ago and he did not mention anything about SSR being available. He said they were only selling AK, BLT and the California one. How much does SSR cost? I'm now curious.

According to DVCNews:
New Buyer:
Saratoga Springs**

$112 base price less $10.00 promotional discount; 160+ points

Special Offer: With a referral from a current DVC member, prospecitve owners will receive a $25 gift card for completing a sales presentation via telephone. Unspecified incentive pricing will be offered during the phone tour.

Member Add-On:

Saratoga Springs**

$112 per point 25-49 points
$112 base price less $10.00 promotional discount; 50+ points

BTW I just checked the TimeShare Store list (see ad on top of page) and they have SSR listings from $71 - $75 pp. That's the good news, the bad news all the listings were for 100 pts. or more. So if you want less than 100 pts you might have to wait awhile for a contract to show up. But with over a $25 difference per point, I would definitely go resale.

 

[puente0629]

We we are buying next week and this is what info I got from my guide...

Saratoga Springs

Deposit $1120.00
Monthly payment $146.40
Per point cost $102.00
100 point minimum

Animal Kingdom

Deposit Same as above
Monthly Payment Same as above
Per point cost Same as above
100 point minimum

Bay Lake Tower
Deposit $1800
Monthly Payment $245.00
Per point cost $102.00
160 point minimum

Hope this helps...

 

[CMOORE185]

SSR is the best deal out there for price and low dues. I have rarely had trouble booking 7 months out and I travel during peak times, and go to all resorts. I think it is actually harder to get HHI and VB at 7 months than at WDW

When I say best deal for SSR, I mean for resale. I would not buy SSR from Disney direct when resale is $30 less per point.

 

[puente0629]

When I say best deal for SSR, I mean for resale. I would not buy SSR from Disney direct when resale is $30 less per point.

True, but we do not know everyone's situation and they might need to finance it and what I've heard is that their aren't many banks willing to finance (i.e. Timeshare Store, their lender stop giving loans out).

 

[CMOORE185]

True, but we do not know everyone's situation and they might need to finance it and what I've heard is that their aren't many banks willing to finance (i.e. Timeshare Store, their lender stop giving loans out).

I would buy one of the other resorts than because they will hold their value better than SSR and it will be much easier to book SSR at 7 months. BLT is the best value if you are buying directly from Disney because of low MF and resale value.

 

[cruisin'momto3]

Ok....so my head is spinning!! So much information to take in. I appreciate all your input!! Ali

 

[crisi]

I would buy one of the other resorts than because they will hold their value better than SSR and it will be much easier to book SSR at 7 months. BLT is the best value if you are buying directly from Disney because of low MF and resale value.

Disagree almost completely

SSR has not held its value well on the resale market. But that depreciation has happened. If you buy an SSR resale now, you'll get a great value - and I expect that when the economy recovers, you'll see more recovery from SSR than from the early expiration DVC resorts.

MF at currently selling resorts are always low - BLT will probably remain low due to the number of points per night, but that also means that dues per night are not lower than anywhere else. BLT dues are a great deal if you stay at BWV Standard View with them! But BLT dues will go up once the resort sells more and they leave their "estimated" period. Estimating dues on the low end helps DVC sell points.

Yes, SSR is easy to get into at seven months, but BLT, with its higher points a ludicrous initial buy in compared to the values in the resale market right now is no bargain. If your heart is set on staying consistently at a different resort, and you hate SSR, you shouldn't buy there (and, without resort bashing, SSR has no appeal to me personally, so this isn't my own bias). But if you are looking for value, SSR is the value resort.

I don't think VAKL will be that difficult to get into at seven months - I expect people to get in 80-90% of the time if they call promptly at seven months. I love the resort, but hotel booking patterns seem to imply that it was never a highly booked hotel. And there are LOTS of rooms, so unless you are looking for a specialty room, you won't have the BCV "only 200 rooms" problem. Unless I NEEDED to stay at VAKL for sure every time, I'd buy SSR and book at seven months. If I needed to stay at VAKL, I'd buy a resale for around $80 a point. The last thing I'd do is pay Disney $100 a point for BLT to stay at SSR.

 

[CMOORE185]

Disagree almost completely

SSR has not held its value well on the resale market. But that depreciation has happened. If you buy an SSR resale now, you'll get a great value - and I expect that when the economy recovers, you'll see more recovery from SSR than from the early expiration DVC resorts.

MF at currently selling resorts are always low - BLT will probably remain low due to the number of points per night, but that also means that dues per night are not lower than anywhere else. BLT dues are a great deal if you stay at BWV Standard View with them! But BLT dues will go up once the resort sells more and they leave their "estimated" period. Estimating dues on the low end helps DVC sell points.

Yes, SSR is easy to get into at seven months, but BLT, with its higher points a ludicrous initial buy in compared to the values in the resale market right now is no bargain. If your heart is set on staying consistently at a different resort, and you hate SSR, you shouldn't buy there (and, without resort bashing, SSR has no appeal to me personally, so this isn't my own bias). But if you are looking for value, SSR is the value resort.

I don't think VAKL will be that difficult to get into at seven months - I expect people to get in 80-90% of the time if they call promptly at seven months. I love the resort, but hotel booking patterns seem to imply that it was never a highly booked hotel. And there are LOTS of rooms, so unless you are looking for a specialty room, you won't have the BCV "only 200 rooms" problem. Unless I NEEDED to stay at VAKL for sure every time, I'd buy SSR and book at seven months. If I needed to stay at VAKL, I'd buy a resale for around $80 a point. The last thing I'd do is pay Disney $100 a point for BLT to stay at SSR.

Please re-read this thread. What I originally said was SSR is the best deal out there if you buy re-sale. This quote you are responding to is my response to OP saying some people cannot buy re-sale because they may have trouble getting financing. My point is that is not worth buying SSR directly from Disney for $30 more per point than re-sale, and that if you are purchasing directly from Disney one of the other resorts is a better deal. I believe at this point in time BLT is the best deal if buying new resorts from Disney. AKL dues are high and its re-sale is pretty low compared to buying new(about $84 per point). No one can see in the future on dues or re-sale value so we have think about what is going on in the present. BLT is a monorail resort close to MK which I think will keep its value better than some of the other resorts. Dealing in the here and now BLT has has the highest re-sale value and lowest dues. If I was a betting man I would guess it has one of the greatest chances of holding its re-sale value and staying one of the lowest MF resorts. Not to mention it expires later than any other of the resorts.

 

[crisi]

I'd argue if you have to finance you have no business in this economy buying DVC.

 

[ToddyLu]

That's kinda mean....my DH and I financed. We have no CC bills....everyone's situation is different. Like a PP said buying direct from Disney was our option BECAUSE the resale folks were not offering financing, even locally the interest rates here where just shy of what Disney was offering. There are people like me who have never even stayed at a DVC resort yet and I get very discouraged reading some reactions. I am addicted to the Dis and love being here to read and learn....but this comment (which is posted repeatedly) drives me nuts. I understand the point of not encouraging major debt.

When my DH was standing in Katrina flood water and after I helped load every thing we loved out by our curb....we changed forever our thoughts about materialistic things...it is all about the time you have here with the people you love...DVC was the perfect option for us to purchase in this economy.