Comments, thoughts, advice - first time buyers having a little trouble

[skier_pete]

It sounds as though you're looking to stay in a studio annually and with little ones, I think that having enough points to stay in a one bedroom provides a ton of value. I'm sure that tons of people can make staying in a studio work with little kids but consider that there is real value in having a seperate bedroom for nap times, a washer/dryer for the ridiculous amounts of laundry that kids generate and a full kitchen for mealtimes.

An extra 20 points is $1,300 upfront and approx $100 annually in MFs which will definitely add up but is realistically a drop in the bucket compared to the thousands annually that you will spend in park passes, flights, meals, etc, etc, etc.

We bought 150 points at SSR and for the time of year that we travel, it should be enough to stay in a one-bedroom for 7 nights 3x per 4 years.

Your comments are all valid, but if the original poster is looking for the best bang for his buck (and by all his posts I would think that is a good assumption), then I am not sure he would be interested in a 1-bedroom. The 1-bedroom cost you (roughly) twice as much in points, but don't increase the # of guests they accommodate. As another person needing to budget my points, I don't see the additional room space / washer/dryer /kitchen as worth the doubling of the room expense, and the OP may think the same way.

 

[bisney]

Your comments are all valid, but if the original poster is looking for the best bang for his buck (and by all his posts I would think that is a good assumption), then I am not sure he would be interested in a 1-bedroom. The 1-bedroom cost you (roughly) twice as much in points, but don't increase the # of guests they accommodate. As another person needing to budget my points, I don't see the additional room space / washer/dryer /kitchen as worth the doubling of the room expense, and the OP may think the same way.

Based on his original post, the OP has a preschooler and I would assume that there is a chance that the OP may have additional kid(s) in the future. When we went to Disney with our 2 year old, staying in a studio worked for us. But now that we have two little ones (3 years and 10 months respectively), our desire for additional space, washer/dryer, kitchen that may not be so important to you are extremely important to us. For the amount of money spent on our Disney vacations, I would much rather have the space that allows us to better enjoy our resort time and fits our lifestyle best than maximize our point usage by booking an OKW studio for example.

Given that 1 bedrooms are typically the slowest to book, I would say that many share your opinion. And when the kids are older, we will definitely look at staying in studios to stretch our points but for now a 1 bedroom with our preschoolers best fits our vacationing habits. For the time of year we travel, availability for a 1 bedroom standard at BWV (158 points) or a 1 bedroom value at AKV (166 points) doesn't appear to be an issue however as many will point out, you can't assume that these will be available in the future.

Going up to 150 points gives the OP the flexibility to book larger accomodations without completely breaking the bank while still going to Disney annually if his family circumstances were to change. Had we purchased 100-130 points initially, I would be kicking myself as we would probably be looking at adding on for a small contract which would've increased our overall costs.

 

[bisney]

No way are we trying to leave for nap time and deal with all that! We'd spend our entire vacation on a bus.

I hear you... our little guy napped in his stroller at the parks.

At bedtime, we put him down and hung out outside on the balcony for a couple of hours until we went to bed which was nice some nights but kind of cold on other nights. Just some food for thought, with a 1 bedroom you can put the kids down and have a seperate space to hang out on the bed, watch tv, talk, etc.

I suspect that once the kids get older, my plan to book an OKW studio to replenish our points might go out the window as we'll be too used to the extra space!

 

[MxRacer965]

Yep, looking for the best bang for my buck! Neither my wife or I mind the studio, and being able to stay in a deluxe hotel for a week at a cost of 1 night at list rate is a pretty big bang (based on having to pay ~$500 in MF's/year). In just a couple trips the initial cost to purchase will have been covered and then after that every year we go we are saving on hotel costs. We really have no interest in doing dishes or laundry while we are on vacation either.

I see us doing mostly studios and doing meal plans every time we go. I would probably stick to SSR, OKW, AKV, and see if I can make the occasional trip into Grand Floridian or BLT - which I figured I could bank, use, and borrow to get the points I needed/wanted.

And yes, we have a soon to be 3 year old and one cooking now, due in December. So we aren't in a hurry, a trip next year might not be in the cards with a 6 month old! If it is, we'll do what we did the last 2 times - kids can stay up if they want or pass out in the stroller otherwise! At night same deal - no bed time enforcement while on vacation. Fall asleep whenever.

Given that we are not in a hurry, I put in a low-ball offer of $60 on 130 SSR with August UY (not ideal for us but I can make do for a cheap price!). Seller came down from $74 to $70 and said not to bother with anything lower. So I'm not going to bother, lol.

Talking to agents they claim mid $70's for SSR is average, but here I see this year is averaging $69, and past years were more like $66. What would be considered a good price right now?? I figured anything below $70 is ok and the close you get to $60 the better the deal. How low should I try and go?

 

[nalajms]

Talking to agents they claim mid $70's for SSR is average, but here I see this year is averaging $69, and past years were more like $66. What would be considered a good price right now?? I figured anything below $70 is ok and the close you get to $60 the better the deal. How low should I try and go?

You really can't base the current price on what's listed on the ROFR thread. That's only a very small percentage of sales, and usually at the cheap end. If you really want a deal, then go for it. Make offers. It will take time and lots of work to find a seller willing to take the low asking price.

My advice, based on experience, is to try the lowball offers. You'll either succeed or you'll increase your price because you're tired of hearing "no".

 

[MxRacer965]

Ok, so ROFR thread isn't a good source to use...so what is? I'm guessing $68 for a UY I want with points coming in '15 and 130 pts would be reasonable? Or is that high? Low?

 

[Countryrunner262]

Given that we are not in a hurry, I put in a low-ball offer of $60 on 130 SSR with August UY (not ideal for us but I can make do for a cheap price!). Seller came down from $74 to $70 and said not to bother with anything lower. So I'm not going to bother, lol. Talking to agents they claim mid $70's for SSR is average, but here I see this year is averaging $69, and past years were more like $66. What would be considered a good price right now?? I figured anything below $70 is ok and the close you get to $60 the better the deal. How low should I try and go?

We got our 150 point SSR contract last year for $69 per point. Contracts below 150 bring in more per point. I HIGHLY doubt seeing one go much below $70. It looks like others are willing to pay that price for them. TSS just sent listings today and there were 100-130 point contracts listed in the 80 per point range.

I know you said you have time, so you can wait it out. Maybe prices will start moving back down. Good luck!

 

[skier_pete]

Talking to agents they claim mid $70's for SSR is average, but here I see this year is averaging $69, and past years were more like $66. What would be considered a good price right now?? I figured anything below $70 is ok and the close you get to $60 the better the deal. How low should I try and go?

So thing to note, even if you found a buyer that low, there's a good chance that Disney would take the contract back anyways. (Read elsewhere they've been taking a lot of SSR contracts lately.)

Again, if economy is strengthening, you will likely see prices rise, not fall.

 

[Noelle]

My husband and I are toying around with the idea of selling our 130 pt. SSR contract. We have used some of our 2014 points (still have almost half left) and some of our 2015 points (more than half left). I think I'm going to bank the 2014 points into 2015 and then see where the market is when we get close to the beginning of my use year to determine if we will sell. We bought direct at $78 when the resort was brand new. If the market is still low, I could rent out my points and hold out to make up my mind.

 

[chateau]

This sounds like a great idea. Putting the uy's points together will make the ROFR process less pressured, as your buyer wouldn't feel in a hurry to book.

 

[MxRacer965]

I never expected anybody to take a $60 offer...just wanted to see how much they would move - and if they were crazy enough to accept I would have tried to get it past Disney, which I doubt would happen from what I have read. I guess I'll make low offers on anything that isn't ideal and see if anything sticks, and if something for 130 or so with a Spring UY crops up with no banked or '14 points (our ideal) I'll be prepared to pay $68-$72. Seem like a reasonable price point?

 

[crisi]

If you make lowball offers, don't be surprised if the negotiation ends there. The seller can decide if they want to counter, or let you counter, or say "I don't even want to deal with this person." You aren't in any hurry, so it doesn't hurt, but you may find yourself being frustrated.

Noelle makes a good point - for someone not under pressure to get their capital out, renting points covers dues and creates a small profit for the owner each year. I just pointed out in another thread that brokers make the process of an owner renting really easy - at least right now - and if I can turn a $6 profit per point each year (and with a little work on my part, its more like a $8 a point profit if I don't bother with the broker), a seller will be less interested in a lowball offer than maybe two years ago when their was more need to free up the capital and renting was a bigger issue.

 

[supersnoop]

I never expected anybody to take a $60 offer...just wanted to see how much they would move - and if they were crazy enough to accept I would have tried to get it past Disney, which I doubt would happen from what I have read. I guess I'll make low offers on anything that isn't ideal and see if anything sticks, and if something for 130 or so with a Spring UY crops up with no banked or '14 points (our ideal) I'll be prepared to pay $68-$72. Seem like a reasonable price point?

I, personally, don't think that's a reasonable approach. You say you're basically willing to pay more to get less. Just make that offer for any contract that has the minimum you need. Then, you can either let the extra points expire, rent them out for cash, or give them away to friends or colleagues.