Buying Resale vs thru "official" DVC

[catnik]

Hi!

We are seriously looking into purchasing 150-200 points for future WDW vacations. I have lurked on this and other boards gleaning info re the pros/cons of DVC. I have spoken with an "official" DVC saleperson and have corresponded with a resaler with questions, but wanted to ask the "real experts" (you all on this board) your opinion!

We are looking for a May or September use year as it works well with our children's school calendar (and we hate to go when it is overly crowded!). We are a family of 6 so a 2 bedroom villa is our least expensive option. We will pay half in cash and put the rest on our home equity loan (currently at 4%) unless we go with DVC and their rate is better. We very much like BCV for SAB/location and presume BWV would be relatively equal in comparison (yes? no?). Resale points for both of these seem to be in the $72 range.....what is the likelihood that we would be able to clear ROFR with either of these resorts? Our other option is SSR. We are going down in late May (under the 7 for 4 package) so we will be able to personally tour the new resort. My understanding is that current pricing of points is $95 straight up/$85 if you give back your 2004 points. While the extra years at SSR are nice, I am in my early 40's so the 38 years at BCV or BWV would do me just fine Understanding you would be giving us hypothetical responses, if we buy into SSR, how difficult do you feel it would be to reserve BCV or BWV in the May or September time frame? What other resorts do you feel would be worth looking into rather than those listed above and why? We have focused on these due to their proximity to Epcot and Downtown Disney....neither of us play golf and prefer not to have to drive a lot while we are on vacation. Also, should we want to purchase additional points in the future, is there any benefit from purchasing your original points from DVC directly (I think not but you never know). Any/all opinions are welcomed as you guys have already gone thru this process and hopefully can provide fresh and unbiased insight on it for us. Thanks in advance!

 

[Dean]

You must decide what's best but my initial impresssion is that BWV and BCV would fit best your situation. Why not rent and stay at DVC at one of those locations before making a commitment. I'd definitely buy where you want to stay but right now you're not certain of that. If you tend to travel May and/or Sept, don't buy Sept. Feb through May would be better for that scenario. Plus as the kids age, it's likely you will not be able to take them out of school and will be limited for a number of years to the times you say you don't like to go (Summer, Xmas, Spring Break, Thanksgiving).

150-200 points will get you a 2 BR EOY for a week or 5 days excluding weekends for most years. Yes I think BCV and BWV are equivilent in many ways but not for everyone.

Remember that you must pay at least some dues even if you sell back so your return is not a full $10 pp on the Magical Beginnings. Do not buy SSR with the idea of trading every year to BCV/BWV, etc. It sounds like you need to work on this some more to be certain what's best for YOU. Do consider an actual stay before you decide.

 

[catnik]

Dean:
Thanks for your input and your patience in answering my questions....we actually have reservations at BCV at the end of September in a 2 bedroom villa to "test it out" (and enjoy MNNSHP); I am just afraid I will get there, say "wow" and forget to look at all the angles! As for my kids, they are in middle school and high school so we are already facing the school planning issues. Their school schedule each year is to finish classes the week before Memorial Day (returning the 2nd week in August) and have a week off at the end of September for a teacher conference (hence our trip at the end of September this year). With this in mind, do you still feel a use year between February and May would make more sense (and why, if you don't mind me asking?). Thank you for reminding me that I would still need to pay dues even with the sell back...I had not considered that in the $$$ equation. I agree it makes no sense to buy into SSR if I really feel that one of the other resorts would work better for us. It's just so hard to "guess" what would be the best situation for us over the next 30+ years.....but it is fun to try!

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by catnik
Dean:
Thanks for your input and your patience in answering my questions....we actually have reservations at BCV at the end of September in a 2 bedroom villa to "test it out" (and enjoy MNNSHP); I am just afraid I will get there, say "wow" and forget to look at all the angles! As for my kids, they are in middle school and high school so we are already facing the school planning issues. Their school schedule each year is to finish classes the week before Memorial Day (returning the 2nd week in August) and have a week off at the end of September for a teacher conference (hence our trip at the end of September this year). With this in mind, do you still feel a use year between February and May would make more sense (and why, if you don't mind me asking?). Thank you for reminding me that I would still need to pay dues even with the sell back...I had not considered that in the $$$ equation. I agree it makes no sense to buy into SSR if I really feel that one of the other resorts would work better for us. It's just so hard to "guess" what would be the best situation for us over the next 30+ years.....but it is fun to try!

Each and every one of us have struggled with many of these same questions over the years. If your kids are that age, I'd definitely think the Epcot area is best for you. BWV will be a little less resale right now and potentially a few less points due to the standard view option. BCV has Stomalong Bay which some people cannot live without. For the ages of your kids, I suspect it'll make absolutely no difference.

As to use year, It's generally best to have a use year that occurs a month to a few months before your travel. If you had August or Sept and had to cancel a May trip, you'd be basically out of luck with those points. For your exact scenario likely April would be best as there are no May contracts. But anytime say Feb or after should work out OK as long as your patterns don't change dramatically. In part it depends on how likely you are for your plans or group to change as you get within a month to a few months of your travel. With resale you may not find EXACTLY what you want so give yourself some leeway. For some, use yars matters not, for others it can be pretty big.

Your main risk with your trip is that you can't wait and buy SSR. It's a nice enough resort it appears but it would not fit your plans as well it appears. Will you have a car? If so, you may want to consider other options. OKW will be a little cheaper and has more space in the rooms. It also costs less points per room. It would not be worth it if you're set on the Epcot area but you should at least consider all of your options.

Even with only 6, will a 2 BR do it for you? Are they children different gender? Are they fighting about who gets the pullout and who sleeps with who? Remember that all 2 BR at BWV and most at BCV will have a queen and pullout full (or some pullout queens) in the second BR. The kitchen is also larger for OKW and smaller for all the other resorts. The layout at BCV makes it a little more accomodating than BWV but it's still small.

You are smart to find out what you can then try it out. You must find out what works for you and your family. All we can do is help provide the info for you as best we can.

One other question is this? What part of GA are you in. Would you travel to HH at all and if so, would you want to go during summer (June to August)? Like you didn't have anything else to think about.

 

[rocketriter]

Lots of people recommend using a home equity loan rather than a Disney loan for this purchase, because the HE loan probably runs at a lower interest rate. However, if you have much debt or credit risk, you might want to remember that a HE loan is "secured" while a Disney loan is "unsecured." If you default on the Disney loan, their finance company will take you to court. But if you default on the HE loan, the bank will take your house.

My wife, an attorney who sees a lot of bankruptcy cases, advises people to choose unsecured loans unless they're absolutely certain they can borrow without risk. (That includes having plenty of insurance in case a breadwinner dies or is disabled.) We've gone that route ourselves, and are paying off the loan quickly enough that the difference in interest rate will not be significant.

 

[catnik]

Dean, your suggestions are great and will help me say "not now" when we see SSR at the end of the month....I really need to literally see/try out a couple of the resorts in order to get a better grasp on our needs, etc. OKW is alittle more isolated than I would like (especially with teens and tweens who think they should be allowed some freedom) but I will drive over and check it out as well. We almost always drive (8 hours door to door) so we do have a car available; it's just we like to park ourselves once we get there (driving in Atlanta is like a constant roadrace....for us, just the ability not to drive is a vacation in itself). Re HH: we have family on the west coast of FL so we end up going in that direction most times for beach time (tho I would not rule out trying VB or HH on points).

Rocketrider: I too am very leery of equity loans as a rule but our credit rating is rock solid and we can tap into funds if we HAD to should there be a loss of employment/illness, etc. We just don't want to liquidate all cash assets to make the purchase if we don't have to do so. It is scary how quickly finances can go bad without proper planning, tho, so thanks for bringing that point up for consideration.

Many thanks to both of you for taking the time to help me out. Once I return from our upcoming trip and continue evaluating the best course for us, I am sure I will beg your patience and post further questions/solicit your advice again!

 

[Granny]

Dean & Rockriter have both provided lots of good feedback for you, but I just wanted to be sure about this....

Originally posted by catnik
We very much like BCV for SAB/location and presume BWV would be relatively equal in comparison (yes? no?).

BWV would be relatively equal in location comparison, but if SAB is important, you have to be staying at BCV to use it.

BWV has a great pool and slide of its own, but I just wanted to make sure you knew that if you stay at BWV you cannot swim at SAB.

You probably already knew that, but it can't hurt to make sure!

Good luck in your decision.

 

[catnik]

Thanks for the reminder, Granny! I was aware of the pool restrictions but it is yet another thing to keep in mind when making our decision. We wandered by both pools last year so have frame of reference...and to be honest, in terms of "thrill", my older 3 prefer TL or BB over the resort pools anyway

You all have been great....thanks for your advice, suggestions and good wishes!