Considering DVC, have a few questions

[ShelleyLynn]

I would love some advice from current owners on a couple of topics.

1. Why do people buy different contracts at different resorts instead of keeping all points together. Does this make is harder when you plan a "big" trip and need to use points from different contracts to have enough for a single trip? I guess I am asking can you roll them all together easily if needed?

2. What is the advantage of buying directly from Disney when the resales or so much cheaper? Is there some problem with resales that make them cheaper (you get what you pay for kind of thing)

I am seriously considering a DVC and I am very tempted by the Disney offer of getting 2009 points added to what I buy. When I look at the price of the resales I can buy the same number of points for $80 instead of $120 and many have banked points from 2009 included.

Help the newbie please!!!
Rochelle

 

[mousefan1972]

I would love some advice from current owners on a couple of topics.

1. Why do people buy different contracts at different resorts instead of keeping all points together. Does this make is harder when you plan a "big" trip and need to use points from different contracts to have enough for a single trip? I guess I am asking can you roll them all together easily if needed?

2. What is the advantage of buying directly from Disney when the resales or so much cheaper? Is there some problem with resales that make them cheaper (you get what you pay for kind of thing)

I am seriously considering a DVC and I am very tempted by the Disney offer of getting 2009 points added to what I buy. When I look at the price of the resales I can buy the same number of points for $80 instead of $120 and many have banked points from 2009 included.

Help the newbie please!!!
Rochelle

1. People buy at different resorts to get the 11 month booking window where they want to stay. So if someone has 200 pts at BLT and 200 at BCV, they can have the 11 month window at both resorts. HOWEVER, the points can't be combined until the 7 month mark.

2. There is no difference in your membership buying resale vs direct. The only difference is in the purchase process; if you buy directly through Disney, you will have access to your points immediately. Resale will take longer; anywhere from 8-12 weeks is common.

 

[calypso726]

I would love some advice from current owners on a couple of topics.

1. Why do people buy different contracts at different resorts instead of keeping all points together. Does this make is harder when you plan a "big" trip and need to use points from different contracts to have enough for a single trip? I guess I am asking can you roll them all together easily if needed?

2. What is the advantage of buying directly from Disney when the resales or so much cheaper? Is there some problem with resales that make them cheaper (you get what you pay for kind of thing)

I am seriously considering a DVC and I am very tempted by the Disney offer of getting 2009 points added to what I buy. When I look at the price of the resales I can buy the same number of points for $80 instead of $120 and many have banked points from 2009 included.

Help the newbie please!!!
Rochelle

We bought our first ontract at SSR before AKV was announced. We fell in love with AKV after staying there and knew we wanted to own there as well. There are a limited number of value rooms and a very limited number of concierge rooms. It is one of those instances where the 11 month home resort advantage comes into play. The odds of getting a concierge level room at AKV 7 months out is very slim. It can happen but not likely.

We purchased our first contract directly through Disney since we wanted to put it on a Disney Visa credit card, earn points and pay it off in 6 months. We added on the first time directly through Disney also, 50 points at AKV. Again on the Disney Visa, earning points and 0% for 6 months. We were still in our 2009 UY even though it was 2010 (purchased in Feb. but have a Sep UY). The advantage was we get our points right away by going direct. We just added on again 200 more points at AKV but went resale. The downside, can't pay with credit card, process is much longer, Disney may or may not let you buy it since they have ROFR. We passed ROFR exactly 3 weeks from the time it was sent to Disney. Now we wait for closing and the points to be available. The upside, we got a contract wth all '09 points banked into '10 and all '11 points We also saved a lot since AKV direct for the number of points we bought is $105 per point. We offered and the seller accepted $80 per point. These points will be no different than the ones we bought directly through Disney. Hope this helps

 

[JimMIA]

First of all, there is absolutely no difference between points bought resale and points bought direct. We've purchased both ways.

I think it's important to understand how DVC works before you start evaluating your options. Otherwise, you won't be able to distinguish between truth and half-truth.

A good example is the "Disney offer of getting 2009 points added to what I buy." Disney is not giving you a thing. That special offer is just timeshare salesperson double-speak, trying to make you think you are getting something for nothing. You're not.

The use year of those points is either August, September, October or December and you are purchasing during the 2009 Use Year, because those contracts' 2010 points have not been issued yet. They are not "points added," they are the points you are buying.

The only true benefit of that offer is that DVC is allowing you an extension of the banking deadline so that you can bank the 2009 points into 2010. That is a legitimate benefit, but understand you are paying for those points and you are entitled to them without any kind of an "offer."

The truth is, if you can find what you want in the resale market, you should save a LOT of money buying resale. In many cases, the same points are selling $30 or more per point lower resale than Disney is selling them.

I would certainly research resale thoroughly before even considering buying direct. You can always buy direct.

 

[ShelleyLynn]

Thanks so much for the quick responses, I totally get what the OP is telling me about the 2009 points. That is a slick sales pitch. I am not in a hurry to get points to use immediately, we have a trip planned for October staying at BCV that we are paying for and we really want to stay in a 1 bedroom villa to make sure that is what we want for our family before buying. I think I will really watch the resale market between now and then to get a good feel for things and once we are there we can see for ourselves the 1bedroom vs studio setup and decide which will suit us for the investment. I would love to use my Disney visa for the points and 6 months interest free but that is not worth the savings from buying resale.

I so appreciate everyone sharing their knowledge with me, this is such a great way to get unbiased information!

 

[StitchBuddy]

Hey, I am not sure if they are still doing this... but, if you are staying at BC on a cash ressie, then I think if you buy while you are staying there, they will deduct what you paid for your reservation from your purchase at least that is the offer they made us a few years ago. Worth looking into!

 

[disneynutz]

Hey, I am not sure if they are still doing this... but, if you are staying at BC on a cash ressie, then I think if you buy while you are staying there, they will deduct what you paid for your reservation from your purchase at least that is the offer they made us a few years ago. Worth looking into!

That deal is long gone.

Bill

 

[JBx3]

OP, I would go resale if you are not in a hurry and save a bunch of money. Find a contract that has 2009 banked points and you will accumulate the same amouint of points upfront as if you bought direct, and then keep all the extras money in your pocket!

 

[DenLo]

I would love some advice from current owners on a couple of topics.

1. Why do people buy different contracts at different resorts instead of keeping all points together. Does this make is harder when you plan a "big" trip and need to use points from different contracts to have enough for a single trip? I guess I am asking can you roll them all together easily if needed?

As others have stated to get the 11 month advantage at both resorts. When combining points for a longer trip, at the 11 month mark we reserve both of our resorts for a portion of our stay, and do a split stay. Or sometimes at the 7 month mark if we want we move one to the other resort by getting a reservation there. We sometimes combine points because some banked points might be expiring from one or both resorts.

And sometimes we just stay at one home resort and bank the points for the other home resort. With banking and using the current points we have plenty of points to do a stay the length we want.


2. What is the advantage of buying directly from Disney when the resales or so much cheaper? Is there some problem with resales that make them cheaper (you get what you pay for kind of thing)

Most of the time the advantage of buying resale is the price. We have purchased both ways. You just need to do the math. We total all of the costs we are paying for the points including closing costs, annual dues (sometimes called maintenance fees) and then divide this total by our points (total points includes 2009, 2010 and 2011 points (sometimes in resale contracts the seller has used some or all of these points) we are purchasing to get the real price per point. Then we'll compare what Disney is offering. If the price per point is really better resale, buy resale.

I am seriously considering a DVC and I am very tempted by the Disney offer of getting 2009 points added to what I buy. When I look at the price of the resales I can buy the same number of points for $80 instead of $120 and many have banked points from 2009 included.

Help the newbie please!!!
Rochelle

I think the waiting game with resale is the hardest part. You wait to see if the owner accepts your contract, you wait even longer to see if the bid passes ROFR. Then you still wait for closing. And then you wait till the points show up on the member services (MS) website. This waiting for a resale runs about 6 to 8 weeks. Whereas in a day or less your points are available for you to book a reservation when buying with Disney.

If you are patient you will see contracts become available on the resale market that also offer all 2009, 2010 and 2011 points. Sometimes the seller will agree to pay for MF's for 2009 and 2010 or closing costs (or both). It's all negotiable, get advice from your resale broker as to what offers are going through. Check out the ROFR board here on the DISBoards to see what recent prices have passed ROFR for the resort you want to bid on.

And most of all, buy where you want to stay and get that 11 month advantage. That way if you want to stay during the busy DVC times, especially, October and December or want to boost your chances of getting a spring break date you can book at the 11 month mark.

Good luck.

 

[DizGirl20]

We bought direct from Disney in December 2009. Membership ID and points were issued within 24-48 hours. Got the "free double points" (I know better now ) and our Sales Rep was able to get us the accommodations of our choice at 6 months out. We paid $11 less/per point than the current going rate.

Fast forward six months. We recently decided we need more points! Just put in an offer on a resale 3 weeks ago and waiting patiently to hear back. Offer is $20 less/per point than what we paid in December and $30 less/per point than what we would pay direct via Disney.

Honestly, I would not change what we did. I wanted that instant gratification for our initial buy-in. BUT all future add-on's will definitely be resale. If you have the patience and time, resale is the way to go. I was feeling pressured back in December '09 as our next trip was coming up in May '10 and I was too nervous about waiting for a contract to pass. Now I have all the time and patience in the world to go resale. This may sound strange but it's kinda fun waiting to hear if we passed. If it doesn't, I am sure we will find another contract that suits us. There are a lot out there on the resale market.

Best of Luck to you. Keep us posted!

 

[JimMIA]

Most of the time the advantage of buying resale is the price. We have purchased both ways. You just need to do the math. We total all of the costs we are paying for the points including closing costs, annual dues (sometimes called maintenance fees) and then divide this total by our points (total points includes 2009, 2010 and 2011 points (sometimes in resale contracts the seller has used some or all of these points) we are purchasing to get the real price per point. Then we'll compare what Disney is offering. If the price per point is really better resale, buy resale.

The strategy bolded above is a very good idea, and important to remember in evaluating a resale contract.

I would quibble a little bit with the math because it ignores all the points in the out years beyond 2011 and equally values one current year's points and full points for 30-40 years in the future. That's fuzzy math, but DenLo's underlying idea is very valid.

You certainly should look as far out as the next UY on the contract - or if the contract is still in the 2009 UY (Aug-Dec UY), including 2011. DenLo is right, sometimes accounts are heavily borrowed and you're not really getting full points until 2012. If only a handful of points are borrowed, that's no big deal, but if a big chunk are missing you should at least recognize that. On the phone with MS is no time to figure out that you're missing points.

Also be careful how you view current year points. Current year points are important in some circumstances, not so much in others. For example, if a contract with a September Use Year has full 2009 points, so what? You won't be able to use those points and you can't bank them, so they really have zero value to you.

 

[Sandisw]

We bought in via resale with a small contract at VWL, but really wanted BLT. At the time, BLT had just started sales so resale was not really an option. Plus, there were rumors that minimum buy in from Disney was going to 200, way more than I thought I wanted. This got our foot in the door as members.

Once we closed, we were able to add on BLT points for less per point then we would have as new members. We realized that having the points at two different resorts, because one was so small, that we could not make our full reservation without borrowing from one or the other contracts at 11 months. So we sold it and re-bought everything through Disney at BLT.

Going through Disney made sense. We knew we wanted a June UY and buying elsewhere just was not desirable--although I really tried to get myself to purchase SSR, knowing it was less. But, in the end, we didn't want to have to wait and hope BLT would be available at 7 months--the savings did not beat out home resort advantage.

We did get the 6 months, 0% interest using the Visa on both contracts (130 point and 50 points) and earned over $150 in reward dollars. In the end, we paid $98.00, less then what the resale market is asking right now.

If you end up wanting BCV, then resale is definitely the way to go. The savings is over $30/ppt and if you are in no rush, which it sounds like you are not, there is no reason not to save the money.

But, I do believe that people should buy a resort that they are comfortable with, even if it is a bit more. For us, DVC was a big investment and it was worth it to spend $18,000 on something we LOVE instead of $13,000 on something we did not. Over the course of the ownership, the difference is really insignificant.

Good luck!!!