Contracts drying up??

[tom1944]

Right? I figure if I can be patient enough to wait two years for points, I can be patient enough to wait a few months for a better contract to turn up. But there "is" an invisible cost for the hours spent watching for that elusive contract

This is us. We will have our third WDW trip in a row in August 2025 along with our initial cruise. After that we figure we will go every other year starting in 2027. We will have 360 points every other year and we plan to stay 9 nights in either a 1 bedroom that has 2 bathrooms or a 2 bedroom. Split stays are also an option.
I think I want to purchase a 50-point contract to take our points to 460 points every other year. I have been looking but think I have time because I really do not need the points immediately.

 

[Chili327]

@rferrar1 Thank you for providing such an amazing tool. I know I am late to the party here but just wanted to also make a suggestion. Currently, the way the site is setup with the star rating algorithm is effectively limiting your range to a 2 point range instead of 5 points (contracts are really only 2 or 3 stars) so your limiting the usefulness of the ratings.

I would suggest implementing a Flag function as @HyperspaceMountainPilot suggested and using that to flag the contracts that need further scrutiny. Then adding more nuance to expand the range based on your rating/ranking criteria.

I think it’s a 4-point system. Since only 1-stars aren’t really used, but the rest are. There are 2, 3, 4, & 5 star contracts.

 

[CVG]

Just about ready to dip below a thousand (1004?). The most I remember seeing a year or so ago was 2700.

 

[Jack Kerouac]

Yeah, I think you're right ...it's probably not an either or. We stayed at BRV last summer and loved it, and at BWV earlier this summer (and on the hotel side over Thanksgiving ) and love them both a lot for different reasons. Not really any small contracts in my UY other than that stripped BRV contract I mentioned earlier in the thread so I'll continue to keep looking. Would love smaller contacts at each. An 85 pointer would be ideal! I know in general small point contracts are rare but I just can't bring myself to spring for a contract that doesn't have points until 2026.

I bet you'll love BWV too! Any plans to stay soon?

 

[kgou]

Couldn't agree more!! Either one would be a win!

I'm hoping to book a long weekend solo trip for late April. The 7-month window opens later this month, so hopefully there will be availability at BWV for then. Otherwise, I'll be staying at BRV. Either one is a win.

 

[Ruttangel]

Just about ready to dip below a thousand (1004?). The most I remember seeing a year or so ago was 2700.

It used to be common for listings to be around 600, there’s only 40 or so RIV so I would say below 650 we are back into the realms of sellers market and prices going up for in demand contracts.
No ROFR, will still mean deals are more than possible for other contracts

 

[CastAStone]

It used to be common for listings to be around 600, there’s only 40 or so RIV so I would say below 650 we are back into the realms of sellers market and prices going up for in demand contracts.
No ROFR, will still mean deals are more than possible for other contracts

I have felt for a while that ~1000 was the equilibrium point; I agree that for a while there were a lot less, but prices were increasing then too.

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

I’ve not visited Universal yet… does the express pass make a big difference? The room rates seems to be around $700 but if it’s worth it for 4 adults I’ll give it a go!

We think it does, and don't forget about club level! We do one night stay CL at Hard Rock/Portofino, get the on-site early entry and EP, plus "free" coffee/breakfast, lunchtime charcuterie/snacks, meh dinner (but adequate,) drinks, and then desserts at 9 p.m. It's a big time saver for rolling out of bed and scarfing food and boating/walking right to the parks. The rooms are pretty big, and I think the CL upcharge is worth it when 4+in a room with EP. Plus, CL starts the day of check-in around lunchtime and carries over to the checkout day around noon, IIRC. Definitely helpful and nice when you're exhausted and don't want to have to trek around for food.

 

[CastAStone]

We think it does, and don't forget about club level! We do one night stay CL at Hard Rock/Portofino, get the on-site early entry and EP, plus "free" coffee/breakfast, lunchtime charcuterie/snacks, meh dinner (but adequate,) drinks, and then desserts at 9 p.m. It's a big time saver for rolling out of bed and scarfing food and boating/walking right to the parks. The rooms are pretty big, and I think the CL upcharge is worth it when 4+in a room with EP. Plus, CL starts the day of check-in around lunchtime and carries over to the checkout day around noon, IIRC. Definitely helpful and nice when you're exhausted and don't want to have to trek around for food.

We’re doing CL at Portofino in December - for whatever reason the CL rooms qualified for a better discount than the standard rooms which made the upcharge like $10/night.

I’m so pumped for it.

 

[atthebeachclub]

We are nearly down to 1000 on the market at the moment on dvcforless.com! I keep wondering when it will dip under the threshold.

 

[Chili327]

We are nearly down to 1000 on the market at the moment on dvcforless.com! I keep wondering when it will dip under the threshold.

At this rate, I’d say it’ll dip under tomorrow. I wonder how low it’s going to go until the heads back up.?

 

[atthebeachclub]

At this rate, I’d say it’ll dip under tomorrow. I wonder how low it’s going to go until the heads back up.?

Well…if I had to guess….we’ll probably see the numbers head back up at least when dues hit!

 

[darkconz]

I remember somebody said there should be more inventories showing up in the fall... Where is it.........

 

[AstroBlasters]

I remember somebody said there should be more inventories showing up in the fall... Where is it.........

Supply and demand. It’s not worth it to sell and pay the commissions at the current prices for many owners.

There is a strong rental market and there are a lot of exciting things going on at the parks. The beach resorts offer a very good value relative to hotel prices.

 

[Chili327]

I remember somebody said there should be more inventories showing up in the fall... Where is it.........

Supply and demand. It’s not worth it to sell and pay the commissions at the current prices for many owners.

There is a strong rental market and there are a lot of exciting things going on at the parks. The beach resorts offer a very good value relative to hotel prices.

I don't understand why the resale market is so full in March AFTER everyone pays their dues. lol

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

I don't understand why the resale market is so full in March AFTER everyone pays their dues. lol

I think it’s because the pain of paying dues (for people who otherwise aren’t using their points or thinking about them) is what gets the ball rolling on listing. I assume they also think they can get reimbursed for dues if there’s a whole year of points available?

I tend to agree with @AstroBlasters that if you don’t really need the money, now is not a great time to sell— especially with DVC slowly (and sporadically) returning to snatch contracts via ROFR…but if you bought in 10 years ago and don’t want to do business with the mouse anymore, you can still get out and get your money back for a significant windfall.

 

[ChipTheRescueRanger]

I had a look back on some of the emails I got last year for contracts. appeared to pick up after halloween

How do we think the presidential election will play on prices and so on ?

(keep politics to minimal!)

 

[TinkAgainU]

How do we think the presidential election will play on prices and so on ?

(keep politics to minimal!)

In hindsight, my goal should have been to be sitting in Blue Bayou with a bottle of wine and desert on the way during the 6pm debate tonight

 

[atthebeachclub]

In hindsight, my goal should have been to be sitting in Blue Bayou with a bottle of wine and desert on the way during the 6pm debate tonight

I am so sad I won’t be in WDW for inauguration day. I hoped I could be in a politics free zone! Didn’t get the PTO approved though.

 

[atthebeachclub]

I had a look back on some of the emails I got last year for contracts. appeared to pick up after halloween

How do we think the presidential election will play on prices and so on ?

(keep politics to minimal!)

I don’t think the presidential election is consequential for DVC prices, especially compared with all sorts of other impactful things.