Buying resale from the UK

[pinklotusflower]

Excuse my simpleness, but can someone talk me through the cash transfer using someone like hifx?

So I set up an account with them.
Do a bank transfer of GBP to that new account.
(How do I get the correct $ amount I need accurately?)
Then do a bank transfer of USD from there to an account DVC will notify me of?

What's the advantage of this over something like FairFX, who I have a currency card with already? Or do DVC only take transfers rather than card payments?

And finally, what do people find is the best way of paying their annual maintenance fees?

Thanks again for all the help!

We’ve just used Hifx for our DVC re-sale contract purchase, it was really easy. You can choose to specify an exact USD amount to send it then calculates the amount you pay and I used my debit card then with no issues. You get a good exchange rate and there was no fee.

I haven’t had to pay any annual fees yet but plan to open a US bank account on our next trip and transfer money in using Hifx and you can then pay monthly.

 

[meryll83]

Thanks for this - did my steps above sound right?

 

[pinklotusflower]

Excuse my simpleness, but can someone talk me through the cash transfer using someone like hifx?

So I set up an account with them.
Do a bank transfer of GBP to that new account.
(How do I get the correct $ amount I need accurately?)
Then do a bank transfer of USD from there to an account DVC will notify me of?

What's the advantage of this over something like FairFX, who I have a currency card with already? Or do DVC only take transfers rather than card payments?

And finally, what do people find is the best way of paying their annual maintenance fees?

Thanks again for all the help!

you set up your account with them and then when you get your closing docs transfer the money from your bank account to your Estoppel account that you are given by the closing company at the beginning. If your using HIFX there is a video that you can watch that goes through the process and you get a confirmation when the money is received. I found it really easy, the only issue I had was with my bank, as I was transferring a lot of cash they stopped the transaction until I confirmed it was a genuine transaction.

 

[finchy3]

You request the exact amount of $ you require.
We have bought resale 3 times and used hifx, it was seamless.
Annual fees we pay it on our Halifax clarity card, giving us the best conversion rate.

 

[meryll83]

I have a Clarity card, so that would be a good option for maintenance.

Is there only a set time of year you can pay this off, or e.g. can you ever pay it early if the exchange rate is good?
If it is a set time, this might be where my FairFX card could come in handy - buy dollars when the rate is good and pay off with this card when the fees are due...

 

[pinklotusflower]

we plan to open a US bank account when we're next in Florida as we can then transfer money to the account when the exchange rate is good and you also have the option of paying annual dues monthly. If your paying in a lump sum you have to pay in January which each year the exchange rates seems to be lower for some reason.

 

[meryll83]

Can you do a card payment for fees rather than just a bank transfer though?

And you can choose lump sum in Jan, or what's the alternative? 12 monthly payments? Is it any cheaper to do lump sum?

 

[meryll83]

With buying from a resaler, how long do you have between agreeing a sale to having to transfer the funds?

And is it only a fund transfer that is accepted, or could you pay on a credit card?

 

[meryll83]

As a buyer, do any of the closing documents need to be overseen by an official witness when signing, or is that just for sellers?

 

[finchy3]

No your signatures are fine.

 

[meryll83]

Closing docs have arrived!

There's only a postal address to return them to mentioned, but does anyone know if emailing them back is acceptable?

 

[finchy3]

We had to mail our documents back, we asked if we could fax but they need the originals.

Via the post office was fine.

 

[meryll83]

Boooo!
Thanks for the advice anyway, will mean it takes us an extra day to get to the post office, but we'll get there eventually!

 

[meryll83]

Had an email back from *** today and email copies of docs were fine, originals not required.
So just waiting for funds to clear and buyers docs now and hoping we can close before the projected 8th Dec.
Whoop!

 

[Jkarrows]

You request the exact amount of $ you require.
We have bought resale 3 times and used hifx, it was seamless.
Annual fees we pay it on our Halifax clarity card, giving us the best conversion rate.

Hifx now appear to be XE but there exchange rates compared to the banks are so much better, in fact if you can open a USA ban account when not living in the USA and get your currency exchanged into your USA bank account your also get more spending money then you will else where.

Not sure how easy it is to open a USA bank account without having a USA address i might add, perhaps someone who knows more can let us all know.

 

[pinklotusflower]

It's really easy to open a US bank account you just need your passport & some dollars to put in your account. US banks don't have free banking unless you keep a certain amount in your account. I have a SunTrust account & I have to keep $500 in it for free banking.

 

[zavandor]

I have a Suntrust account as well but I'm growing more dissatisfied by the day.
The main problem is that I don't use my debit card often, only when traveling or when buying tickets or booking in advance or a USA travel. This means almost every time they block the card because of suspected fraud. So I have to call to have it unblocked. Last year it happend while I was at WDW and I left BCV with an upaid bill! Fortunately I realized it has been blocked and the resort bill wasn't settled when the card was refused at check in at the next resort, so I immediately called the bank and then settled the bill with WDW. But if it were the last one of the visit, I could have ended with a suspended DVC account because of an unpaid bill.
When the card is locked, they are supposed to call you on the phone, but since I have only a UK phone number, they don't and send a mail to your home address. Not really useful if you're traveling and won't receive the mail until you're back from the holiday.
Also, they've just introduced a security check when you call their customer support, they send a text on your phone in order to authenticate you. The problem is they don't send texts to UK phone numbers for this either, so it took me quite some time to unlock the card last week.

It is getting more and more frustrating. I'm thinking about moving my USD to a revolut account and just use their debit card when traveling. Has anyone experience doing this? I would have to pay dues all at once in January instead of monthly paying I've set up with my US bank account, but not a big deal.

 

[ThinkBelieveDream&Dare]

I have a Suntrust account as well but I'm growing more dissatisfied by the day.
The main problem is that I don't use my debit card often, only when traveling or when buying tickets or booking in advance or a USA travel. This means almost every time they block the card because of suspected fraud. So I have to call to have it unblocked. Last year it happend while I was at WDW and I left BCV with an upaid bill! Fortunately I realized it has been blocked and the resort bill wasn't settled when the card was refused at check in at the next resort, so I immediately called the bank and then settled the bill with WDW. But if it were the last one of the visit, I could have ended with a suspended DVC account because of an unpaid bill.
When the card is locked, they are supposed to call you on the phone, but since I have only a UK phone number, they don't and send a mail to your home address. Not really useful if you're traveling and won't receive the mail until you're back from the holiday.
Also, they've just introduced a security check when you call their customer support, they send a text on your phone in order to authenticate you. The problem is they don't send texts to UK phone numbers for this either, so it took me quite some time to unlock the card last week.

It is getting more and more frustrating. I'm thinking about moving my USD to a revolut account and just use their debit card when traveling. Has anyone experience doing this? I would have to pay dues all at once in January instead of monthly paying I've set up with my US bank account, but not a big deal.

Hi @zavandor Wow that sounds like a nightmare…. We have a Halifax Clarity travel card, it works well for us Make payments in whatever currency you need at the time and it's converted into Sterling at the rate set by Mastercard on the day of transaction. There are no user fees; even to withdraw cash, (but make sure to pay it off in full every month to avoid interest which is added from the day you take it out). We intend using it to pay our membership dues, it's accepted to make monthly payments and for online shopping. We also used it to charge our deposit when we bought DVC resale so saved exchange costs - win win situation all round

 

[zavandor]

We intend using it to pay our membership dues, it's accepted to make monthly payments and for online shopping.

Have you already set up the monthly MF payment with DVC? I knew they can do that only from a US checking account.
Thanks for the tip about the card, I'll have a look at it. The revolut account might be better for me because I rent points and I get paid in USD, so I could transfer them directly into a USD account without any conversion and spend them directly when on holiday, saving some money.

 

[ThinkBelieveDream&Dare]

Have you already set up the monthly MF payment with DVC? I knew they can do that only from a US checking account.
Thanks for the tip about the card, I'll have a look at it. The revolut account might be better for me because I rent points and I get paid in USD, so I could transfer them directly into a USD account without any conversion and spend them directly when on holiday, saving some money.

No we've not set up monthly payments yet @zavandor it's on my to-do list; but I was assured it was okay to use a credit card - and apparently even Disney Gift Cards can be used for staggered payments throughout the year... hmmm think I'd better double check lol
Ahhh yes if you have incoming USD payments, it makes sense to use Revolut.