Buying small contract info needed

[mgilmer]

I am chomping at the bit to get our first points. I have talked to DVC and, all things considered, I believe that we are better off buying a small contract (50 points or less) for cash and building on that rather than going with 160 from Disney at a higher price point and using credit. I have talked to all the resellers and got on their mailing lists and am supposedly on their radar for a small contract at the Boardwalk. My questions are:

1. How long did you have to wait to find one when you were looking? I am willing to be patient. We are not going to vacation again until 2010, but I had hoped to find my first contract and then start building on it in small increments until I get to our target amount of 125 points.

2. Were the resellers diligent in getting things to you or did you have to scout them out yourself?

3. How picky should I be about UY? We plan to vacation mainly in December so I would like October UY but am willing to take almost any UY if it comes up. Is that wise or should I be a little more patient and wait for the UY I want?

4. What is a good source to see what the market price is for smaller contracts? I know I will pay more for a smaller contract and I am ok with that, but I don't want to be taken. I saw a small contract at the BCV (30 points) for sale at $116 a point. NO WAY!

Thanks for any help and guidance you can give me.

 

[Laxmom]

This is exactly what we did. We wanted a smaller contract to be able to get into the system. Our add ons will probably be thru Disney though because of the high closing costs for HHI.

I called the resellers. I ended up getting a tip from a friend that GMAC had a contract that I should call on, that she had just gotten off the phone with them looking for her own contract at another resort. I would call them because even though we were supposed to be on their lists, all we have gotten was emails and at that point, for a small contract, it is usually too late. Most of the small contracts go before they hit the internet.

UY really comes into play when and if you have to cancel a reservation. Some will say not to put too much stock into it because vacation plans can and do change over the years. I would get as close to that UY as you can just for safety sake.

There is a thread that people post their ROFR results on for reference. Here is the link:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1710667&page=106

Good luck with your search!!

 

[lugnut33]

Here's a thread I started about my experience buying a 120 pt contract that is at Disney for ROFR. I think I go into pretty good detail about how the process works.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1876555

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

I am chomping at the bit to get our first points. I have talked to DVC and, all things considered, I believe that we are better off buying a small contract (50 points or less) for cash and building on that rather than going with 160 from Disney at a higher price point and using credit. I have talked to all the resellers and got on their mailing lists and am supposedly on their radar for a small contract at the Boardwalk. My questions are:

1. How long did you have to wait to find one when you were looking? I am willing to be patient. We are not going to vacation again until 2010, but I had hoped to find my first contract and then start building on it in small increments until I get to our target amount of 125 points.

We looked at about 3 resellers, and one of them had a contract available on-line the 1st day we looked. We didn't know to care about the UY. You shouldn't have any trouble finding a contract in your timeframe.

2. Were the resellers diligent in getting things to you or did you have to scout them out yourself?

They were pretty diligent, but not great. We did not use TSS. I basically asked what the timeframe would be for each part, and then called when that date rolled around.

3. How picky should I be about UY? We plan to vacation mainly in December so I would like October UY but am willing to take almost any UY if it comes up. Is that wise or should I be a little more patient and wait for the UY I want?

I've learned that with the banking and borrowing with small contracts you can really mess yourself up if you borrow and can't go. If you usually plan trips for the beginning of your UY, you can more easily make up for planning boo boos.

4. What is a good source to see what the market price is for smaller contracts? I know I will pay more for a smaller contract and I am ok with that, but I don't want to be taken. I saw a small contract at the BCV (30 points) for sale at $116 a point. NO WAY!

Just keep looking. We paid $84/pt. 100 BWV points not loaded or stripped in January 2006. Your biggest concern is passing ROFR. If you go to the ROFR thread, you will get an idea of what you need to price contracts.

Thanks for any help and guidance you can give me.

Another note, after purchasing DVC you will suddenly find yourself wanting to go back to WDW even more than you did before. We are fighting addonitis, but it is difficult. We pay our dues yearly so that we see that chunk of change going out. We will likely purchase more points in the near future, as we only have 42 '10 points to use as of now, and will likely have to borrow from '11 to take our '10 trip(s).

Also, buy where you want to stay, or at least buy the resort that has what you are looking for.

 

[ACDSNY]

We started with a small 100 point SSR contract in 2005 and my only regret is we didn't pay enough attention to what the UY would mean to us. We started with a Feb UY, but we typically travel in the Fall so when the banking deadlines changed to no banking after the eighth month we decided to sell our original contract and purchase the same amount of points at AKV when DVC lowered the min buy in to 100 points and received an Aug UY. Very costly mistake between paying sells commission and the price difference between SSR in 2005 and AKV 2008. The only good part is now I'm in the GC Founding Members program.