Buying Strategy

[debaone]

I am seriously considering buying DVC, but I find that I am torn between a couple of different resorts. I am worried that if I buy at one resort, I will be stuck there or will have to settle for a resort I don't want at 7 months out. It seems that more and more you have to own at the resort you really want to stay at.

So, here's what I'm thinking of doing, which also spreads out the cost of my DVC purchase. I am hoping for some advice/feedback/warnings/etc. if anyone has some to give:

First of all, I would like to generally have 450 points to use each time we vacation, this will be enough for a 2br for the length of time we expect to vacation. We will only take one vacation per year, maximum.

Ok, on to my strategy:

Year 1: Buy 150 points at BCV with a UY that is coming up in just over 4 months, which would let me bank all 150 points, and in 4 months I will get another 150, plus I can borrow 150, for a total of 450 points. Obviously I would have to find the right set of points for sale in order for this to happen....no points used for the current UY, in the 8 month banking window and none borrowed from the next UY.

Year 2: Do the same thing, except for BLT.

Year 3: Do the same thing, except for AKV.

Now, by the time Year 4 comes around, I will be able to use my BCV points again (450), and so on, in a three-year cycle. This way, I can have 450 points to use every year, being able to book each resort at 11 months out at least one time every three years. Plus, if I ever really wanted to, I could use the 450 at 7 months out or combine points at 7 months from the other contracts to either get a grand villa or extend our stay, at the cost of having to skip the trip the next year.

In addition, this lets me span the cost of the initial purchases over three years, which I will be able to do in cash each purchase....I don't want to finance my DVC, but I don't have $40,000+ cash either, but a third of that for three years is doable.

Ok, so does any of this seem 1) wrong 2) not possible 3) crazy 4) normal 5) etc.?

It almost seems like this is too good to be true, so I am almost certain I am missing something.

Please help! Thanks.

 

[cvjw]

That strategy will work. We did almost the exact same thing when we bought DVC, except that we bought 4 home resorts within a years time. The only problem that I can forsee with your plan is that banking and borrowing are final transactions - if you were to have to cancel a trip, those points would stay into the year they were banked/borrowed into - I guess you could always move your trip or rent out the points.

 

[Kerchak]

Sounds like a well thought out strategy. If you find the right resale you may find that you get 2 years points immediately because the seller banked the previous years points. That would allow you to start enjoying your investment a year earlier.

BWV points are c.$10 per point less than BCV and they have more rooms with preferred views, so you may want to consider this resort as an option. SSR is also excellent value for money on the resale market and it is really well located to get to the parks, DTD and the shopping malls.

You may want to make a decision quickly if you want to beat the 21 March deadline, but if you don't care about having the chance to go on a cruise or adventure holiday it may be worth waiting to see if prices fall in April.

 

[debaone]

BWV points are c.$10 per point less than BCV and they have more rooms with preferred views, so you may want to consider this resort as an option. SSR is also excellent value for money on the resale market and it is really well located to get to the parks, DTD and the shopping malls.

Thanks for the tip. I am also interested in BWV, but we have young kids and SAB is too big of a reason to choose BWV over BCV. The kids were the reason for BLT (Magic Kingdom and Epcot a monorail away) and AKL (animals).

My wife and I LOVE the Boardwalk, so perhaps after the kids are grown a bit, we could sell BCV and get the same points at BWV.

 

[debaone]

The only problem that I can forsee with your plan is that banking and borrowing are final transactions - if you were to have to cancel a trip, those points would stay into the year they were banked/borrowed into

I had not considered this. I suppose I would only borrow if we were making a reservation, so that would not be an issue (of course things always happen), but we would constantly have two contracts with full banked points that would need to either be rented or expire if we didn't use them. Will have to think about this a bit and compare to if we just saved for three years and bought all at one resort.

 

[palaemon]

Don't forget Grand Villas tend to be difficult to get at the 7-month window (especially for a full week.) You might consider a split stay.

 

[DizGirl20]

I think this all sounds very doable and no, it is not crazy. In fact, it sounds like a lot of fun to own at 3 great resorts and kudos to you for not financing. The only thing I would caution is that owning at 3 resorts will require a little bit more work (in terms of keeping things straight) than owning at one resort. If you have the same UY for all 3, that might make things easier.

I want to thank you for posting. I have been whipped into a frenzy these last few weeks trying to find a resale contract before 3/20. When I read your post, I realized if the right contract doesn't come along before 3/20... I can wait and buy in a few months... or even a few years Good Luck on finding those "perfect" contracts - I think that will be your greatest challenge (but certainly not impossible)!

 

[DizGirl20]

Don't forget Grand Villas tend to be difficult to get at the 7-month window (especially for a full week.) You might consider a split stay.

Sorry was going to mention that I agree with this!

 

[Sandisw]

I had not considered this. I suppose I would only borrow if we were making a reservation, so that would not be an issue (of course things always happen), but we would constantly have two contracts with full banked points that would need to either be rented or expire if we didn't use them. Will have to think about this a bit and compare to if we just saved for three years and bought all at one resort.

The other option too, to avoid having to rent or let points expire, is to book split stays for your trips from the start and then use the points for the current year at 7 months to try to get them all at one resort.

But, at least this way, if something wasn't available, you wouldn't lose points.

So, say what you do is choose two of the resorts to stay at one year and bank the 3rd. Book at 11 months 1/2 the trip at one and 1/2 the trip at the other. At 7 months, try to change to one of the resorts.

The following year, you would only then have one set of banked points to use up.

We enjoy split stays as it gives us the best of both words. We love being at the Epcot resorts and at BLT so spending a few days in each location allows us to walk to most of the parks.

Good luck!

 

[debaone]

The other option too, to avoid having to rent or let points expire, is to book split stays for your trips from the start and then use the points for the current year at 7 months to try to get them all at one resort.

Interesting option, but I'm worried a bit about split stays. First, don't you lose vacation time with packing/unpacking? I've heard Disney moves your luggage for you, but is this easy and is it something they do on a "normal" basis? What about the dining plan? Do you use it and does this play into your strategy with the split stays having two different dining plans and having to use the first one by the end of the day of your first stay?

 

[Sandisw]

Interesting option, but I'm worried a bit about split stays. First, don't you lose vacation time with packing/unpacking? I've heard Disney moves your luggage for you, but is this easy and is it something they do on a "normal" basis? What about the dining plan? Do you use it and does this play into your strategy with the split stays having two different dining plans and having to use the first one by the end of the day of your first stay?

We love the split stay and so far, 3 DVC trips, have not found it to be an issue.
We also use the dining plan and that was one of the reasons we split as well.

The first trip, we did a 3 way split (too much for a week) just to try resorts--VWL, BWV, and BLT.

Last summer, we did BCV and BLT. We loved being able to walk to 3 of the 4 parks and it was ideal. We also did DDP for the first part at BCV and only QSDP for the BLT part. It wasn't an issue for us having to use up the credits because I knew this going in and planned for it. The only suggestion is to bring a Sharpie so you remember which card to use that last day.

This summer, we are doing 2 nights at BWV and then 3 nights at BLT. On our move day, our plan is to go to lunch at Epcot, then head to DTD. We figure going to DTD on the day we are "homeless" for those few hours is a good thing as we would be doing it at some point. As far as the dining plans, because of the new rules with segmenting, I am actually doing 1 night QSDP, 1 night of DxDDP, 1 night of DDP and 2 nights OOP. Works out well for us.

We have a rental car so we move our own luggage. Because my DH may not be coming this summer, I rented it for just 3 days--pick it up at the Dolphin and return to Car Care center. This way, we will have it for the move day, to go to DTD, and then to visit AK. We won't have to worry about buses at all.

Since we will be in a 2 bedroom this year, our packing will be light. We also don't buy a lot of groceries so that plays a role in finding split stays easy. I don't mind the packing/unpacking at all.

I just love the feeling of two different stays but most of all, love the ease to the parks, especially since our splits will always be part BLT and part an Epcot resort (either BWV or BCV).

Good luck!

 

[CarolMN]

Have you thought about what you would do if the vacations you want do not use up exactly 450 points?

IMO, your strategy could easily result in some lost points, unless you plan to go more than once per year.