Buying SSR have ?

[fuji]

My DH and I are buying points at SSR and I have a couple questions

First are there any incentives for SSR right now?

Also can you pick your use year for this resort?

 

[Pirate4Ever]

We just bought 100 pts direct (our first contract) for SSR. We got $90/pt and chose a December UY so that we could bank our unused 2009 pts.

 

[stopher1]

My DH and I are buying points at SSR and I have a couple questions

First are there any incentives for SSR right now?

Also can you pick your use year for this resort?

No there are no incentives for SSR anymore. In June they lowered the price on direct buy-ins and did away with any incentives to do so at SSR. The price was down to $90 pp, but in July went up to $95 pp. But if you don't need Disney's financing, then you might consider looking at resales, since many contracts are for offered at a price that's less per point. Just a thought for you. And then you get whatever UY is on that contract. If you do need to buy direct, then yes, you should be able to pick your UY.

 

[hbehrman]

We just bought 100 pts direct (our first contract) for SSR. We got $90/pt and chose a December UY so that we could bank our unused 2009 pts.

We did the same in June for three 50 pt (total 150 pts) contracts at SSR for $90/pt with October UY for each. In addition got 2009 points to use/bank and paid no closing costs. Financed through Disney. IMHO they are just selling you pro-rated 2009 contracts as you pay 2009 Annual Dues prorated effective when you sign up (ie. on the phone/in person ) not effective the closing date.

Wanting split contracts with no closing costs and the option to finance through Disney, I found this less than or equal to the resale market. If we went resale we would have had to find three 50 pt contracts with the same UY, and had to pay closing on all three.

 

[SSR]

Yes, there are steep "discounts" available resale (between $63-70 a point). Also, with the number of contracts available out there, yes, you can pick virtually any use year out there (fully loaded, too).

 

[JimMIA]

Just evaluating price only, here are the comparisons for a 50-point contract purchased direct vs. resale:

Direct:
50 X $95 = $4,750 with no closing costs

Resale:
50 X +/- $70 = $3,500 + $322 closing = $3,822 (with the closing figure being TTS' minimum closing cost)

So, resale would be a savings of almost $1,000.

The catch, though, is that 50-point contracts are hard to find in the resale marketplace, and they often are sold before they make it to the public market. If you only want 50 points, I would contact the resellers and let them know what you are looking for. They'll notify you when something comes in and you'll have a shot at buying it.

For contracts of more than 50 points, the general concept will be the same except for three factors:

• the per-point price will come down as the number of points in the contract goes up
• closing costs will increase, but not nearly as much as the price savings
  [*]for example, a 120 point contract (still a small contract), even with the same price of $70, would be $8,400 + about $425 closing = $9250 resale vs $11,400 buying direct, a savings of $2,150​
• you will find much greater availability and variety of contracts

 

[hbehrman]

Just evaluating price only, here are the comparisons for a 50-point contract purchased direct vs. resale:

Direct:
50 X $95 = $4,750 with no closing costs

Resale:
50 X +/- $70 = $3,500 + $322 closing = $3,822 (with the closing figure being TTS' minimum closing cost)

So, resale would be a savings of almost $1,000.

The catch, though, is that 50-point contracts are hard to find in the resale marketplace, and they often are sold before they make it to the public market. If you only want 50 points, I would contact the resellers and let them know what you are looking for. They'll notify you when something comes in and you'll have a shot at buying it.

For contracts of more than 50 points, the general concept will be the same except for three factors:

• the per-point price will come down as the number of points in the contract goes up
• closing costs will increase, but not nearly as much as the price savings
• for example, a 120 point contract (still a small contract), even with the same price of $70, would be $8,400 + about $425 closing = $9250 resale vs $11,400 buying direct, a savings of $2,150
• you will find much greater availability and variety of contracts

You are spot on JimMIA. I think you should write a FAQ (or is there one already).

I think you were not conservative enough on your closing cost estimate, as I never have gotten a quote for that low a closing cost (about a month ago) mid-400s when I have asked and depends on reseller and property. I agree that 50pt contracts when they are on the market don't stay there long and usually go for the listing. So finding multiple low pt contracts at the same resort with the same UY during a short period of time is difficult in the resale market (new offerings like BLT being the exception).

What you said on another thread about the 2009 pts being a marketing ploy is a good take on it. I think it is actually a pro-rated 2009 contract as you given points to bank/use for and charged pro-rated annual dues effective the point of sale. What do you think?

 

[JimMIA]

I think you were not conservative enough on your closing cost estimate, as I never have gotten a quote for that low a closing cost (about a month ago) mid-400s when I have asked and depends on reseller and property.

The $322 figure is from TTS' website -- their minimum closing cost. I figured that would be accurate for a 50-point purchase, although other brokers may charge more.

What you said on another thread about the 2009 pts being a marketing ploy is a good take on it. I think it is actually a pro-rated 2009 contract as you given points to bank/use for and charged pro-rated annual dues effective the point of sale. What do you think?

I think those are two different aspects of a transaction.

First the points. If you are buying within a particular Use Year, you buy that year's points. Period. The points are not free. What DVC is giving you, however, is an extension of the banking deadline if you are buying a 2009 UY. Now the real reason they do that is that they are selling you points that you probably could not possibly use if they didn't...and you wouldn't buy 2009. There is value to the banking extension, but it's not free points like some guides imply.

In truth, annual dues (AKA maintenance fees) have nothing to do with Use Year or points...but that is a confusing concept when trying to compare direct and resale because dues are often handled in the reverse manner in the resale market.

Dues are the owners' portion of the operating expenses of your home resort for the calendar year -- Jan 1 to Dec 31. They have nothing to do with points, they have to do with costs of operating the resort.

Disney pro-rates the dues. So if you close on a contract with DVC direct on Sept 1, you will pay 4 months pro-rated dues. For sticklers...the way DVC does it is actually the correct way to apportion dues.

But in the resale arena, dues are handled differently. Generally, but not always, dues are apportioned by the points. So, for example, I have an October UY. If I sold a contract between now and Dec 31, the buyer would get all of the 2010 points, covering the period from 10/1/2010 to 9/30/2011. But I paid my 2010 dues back in January. The most normal situation in resale would be that the buyer would get the rest of 2010 "free" and would pick up the dues in January 2011.

If you use the logic some DVC guides use, the resale buyer would be getting an entire year of points from 2010 FREE...and bankable into 2011!

IF price is a buyer's main consideration (and it's not the only valid thing to consider), there really aren't any shortcuts. You just have to price out all of the costs associated with the options and make a decision based on what's the best overall fit for your family. If you are looking at price exclusively, buying resale will price out better almost every time.

 

[hbehrman]

The $322 figure is from TTS' website -- their minimum closing cost. I figured that would be accurate for a 50-point purchase, although other brokers may charge more.

I think those are two different aspects of a transaction.

First the points. If you are buying within a particular Use Year, you buy that year's points. Period. The points are not free. What DVC is giving you, however, is an extension of the banking deadline if you are buying a 2009 UY. Now the real reason they do that is that they are selling you points that you probably could not possibly use if they didn't...and you wouldn't buy 2009. There is value to the banking extension, but it's not free points like some guides imply.

In truth, annual dues (AKA maintenance fees) have nothing to do with Use Year or points...but that is a confusing concept when trying to compare direct and resale because dues are often handled in the reverse manner in the resale market.

Dues are the owners' portion of the operating expenses of your home resort for the calendar year -- Jan 1 to Dec 31. They have nothing to do with points, they have to do with costs of operating the resort.

Disney pro-rates the dues. So if you close on a contract with DVC direct on Sept 1, you will pay 4 months pro-rated dues. For sticklers...the way DVC does it is actually the correct way to apportion dues.

But in the resale arena, dues are handled differently. Generally, but not always, dues are apportioned by the points. So, for example, I have an October UY. If I sold a contract between now and Dec 31, the buyer would get all of the 2010 points, covering the period from 10/1/2010 to 9/30/2011. But I paid my 2010 dues back in January. The most normal situation in resale would be that the buyer would get the rest of 2010 "free" and would pick up the dues in January 2011.

If you use the logic some DVC guides use, the resale buyer would be getting an entire year of points from 2010 FREE...and bankable into 2011!

IF price is a buyer's main consideration (and it's not the only valid thing to consider), there really aren't any shortcuts. You just have to price out all of the costs associated with the options and make a decision based on what's the best overall fit for your family. If you are looking at price exclusively, buying resale will price out better almost every time.

More great info. Thanks. However we just went direct and DVC is prorating the Annual dues based upon Sale date and not Closing date. I thought it would be the latter because all other real estate transactions I have been involved you need to have ownership to pay any costs associated with the property. However for DVC in our case we agreed on the phone June 18th, document dates are July 9th, and I do not have the close date (unless it is the latter) and the prorated annual dues are as of June 18th.

FWIW regarding closing costs on resale, for the contracts I made inquiries about, TSS seemed to have the lowest cost. However closing costs vary so much from reseller to size of contract, shopping around is definitely required.