Contracts drying up??

[CastAStone]

I always wonder if the owners are still actively using contracts like those but are open to a sale at a ridiculous price.

I think of it like an order book at a stock broker.

I can tell them, I would like to buy apple stock at $150, they will take my order, and see if they can find someone to take the other end of my trade, they will execute it.

Since Apple stock is ~$225 today, it probably won’t happen. But on the off chance that they make their way through the “book” until every single person who put in an order with a higher price than mine gets their shares, and they get to me, I’ll get some cheap Apple stock.

In the stock market, this usually only happens anymore when a company is in free fall for bad reasons, or an electronic trading Desk has royally screwed up.

But in DVC, I’ve seen it happen four times in four years, first with AKV, then VGF, then VGC, and just a few months ago with Poly. Inventory got tight enough that it cleared the order book. And all the sudden everyone was like “oh I guess the price for Poly is $180 now” when it was $135 two weeks earlier.

 

[Chili327]

It's worse than that.

The main business model of SMTN is charging a very high fee for listing your timeshare, rather than getting a percentage for selling the timeshare. They may also get a percentage and collect on the closing fees if something sells, but that's not the point. The point is to get (and charge for) the listing. That's partly because slapping it on a web site doesn't take much time at all. Actually selling and closing requires someone to do some work!

That means that SMTN will tell someone whatever they need to hear to list their timeshare. "Oh, you want to sell your mud-season week at Mugwump Swamp? People are desperate to buy there, and that is a perfect time of year because there are no crowds! You can probably get $25,000 for it! If you let us list it for you we can get started on marketing that!"

The sellers generally have no idea how to value what they own. They only know they paid a nice chunk 20 years ago to buy it, and the kind and helpful sales agent explained that it was "deeded real estate" and of course we all know what real estate does over time, right? So, when someone gives them a totally unrealistic valuation, the seller has no idea.

Yikes.
Sounds like an advertising scheme i’ve noticed lately where a company sells you something that sounds great, but it’s basically nothing and they make it very hard to even see the results. Once they make the sale they really don’t care about the actual ad. The two I’ve noticed are an ad in a golf course book, the other is a t-shirt for the local high school, but I’m sure there are more.

 

[ChipTheRescueRanger]

@Mr_Woodchuck just got one for $100 which is a GREAT price!

Tech me the ways of DVC bargaining @Mr_Woodchuck

 

[TinkAgainU]

@Mr_Woodchuck just got one for $100 which is a GREAT price!

I would think Beach Club between $100 and $135 depending on the size of the contract and points left. Smaller point contracts get an upcharge, but it's not as noticeable on the small ones. That $100 was especially nice because it came with full points too. A lot of "rental pros" really strip the contract and then sell it.

 

[disneylandtour]

I would think Beach Club between $100 and $135 depending on the size of the contract and points left. Smaller point contracts get an upcharge, but it's not as noticeable on the small ones. That $100 was especially nice because it came with full points too. A lot of "rental pros" really strip the contract and then sell it.

There's an awful lot of stripped contracts at one particular reseller, which has always led me to wonder if this was hooked into a renters group.

 

[Brian Noble]

At least one broker also has a large rental operation. That same broker has a policy that they will buy your DVC contract on the spot at a below-market price.

It is not hard to connect the dots from there.

 

[disneylandtour]

At least one broker also has a large rental operation. That same broker has a policy that they will buy your DVC contract on the spot at a below-market price.

It is not hard to connect the dots from there.

If I'm reading that correctly, that's some brazen stuff. This broker is likely using MS to transfer a bunch of points out to some other "rental" contract then listing stripped contract and stripped contract. This seems like the exact type of abuse that DVD could easily clamp down on.

 

[ChipTheRescueRanger]

At least one broker also has a large rental operation. That same broker has a policy that they will buy your DVC contract on the spot at a below-market price.

It is not hard to connect the dots from there.

I had not really noticed that until I just did search on dvc rofr and sorted by broker. Makes its pretty obvious to show who

 

[disneylandtour]

Under 1K listings today.

 

[ChipTheRescueRanger]

Under 1K listings today.

I would guess with everything going on in Florida today there wont be many new listed

 

[Mouseforward]

Oct use year sucks, empty RIV searches while Dec has a dozen

That is my #1 advice on use year - they are not all distributed equally and Dec on average is the easiest to add on

 

[Sandisw]

Oct use year sucks, empty RIV searches while Dec has a dozen

That is my #1 advice on use year - they are not all distributed equally and Dec on average is the easiest to add on

Each resort has a different mix and for RIV, Dec UY was the one that got a lot…

There is a breakdown somewhere by resort. I’ll see if I can find.

 

[CastAStone]

I wouldd guess with everything going on in FLrodau today there wont be many new listed

Yeah I agree, a lot of these brokers are central Florida based.

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

Each resort has a different mix and for RIV, Dec UY was the one that got a lot…

There is a breakdown somewhere by resort. I’ll see if I can find.

Here's one as of March 2023:

https://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-p...ear-distribution-charts-updated-february-2018

 

[TinkAgainU]

Here's one as of March 2023:

https://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-p...ear-distribution-charts-updated-february-2018

Keeping in mind, the vast majority of those were sold to people and allocated the Use Year the Guide suggested. I had friends who definitely believed they could Only buy the marketed resort and accept the Use Year offered. Does not mean the Guide lied, but the focus on the sale was likely not explaining Options So while there may be a lot in say February or December (making adding on easy if you pick those), they may not be the Use Year people would have picked once they really thought about their typical travel useage.

 

[atthebeachclub]

Oct use year sucks, empty RIV searches while Dec has a dozen

That is my #1 advice on use year - they are not all distributed equally and Dec on average is the easiest to add on

Unless you want to add on to Bay Lake Tower…there February rules!

 

[Mouseforward]

Unless you want to add on to Bay Lake Tower…there February rules!

That is because BLT magically appeared out of thin air in one day - at least according to the guides

Tons of pent up demand for BLT

 

[disneylandtour]

Yeah I agree, a lot of these brokers are central Florida based.

I would think so, too. Maybe people are working from home. Surprisingly, there's over 20 new contracts up there today, from a range of brokers.

 

[TinkAgainU]

Here's one as of March 2023:

https://dvcnews.com/index.php/dvc-p...ear-distribution-charts-updated-february-2018

I always wished someone would come up with a TRADING site, where we could trade, especially Use Year contracts (thru a shared escrow) with a relatively preset/standard price adjustment for resort changes or varied points, but no adjustment for Use Year change. I am certain there are people who have changed travel plans (or decided they were ready to consolidate UYs, or downsize) who would use a site like that if the commissions and escrow fees were not so high. The purchase agreements could be contingent on the reciprocal trade (still have to go thru ROFR, after all).

Right now the only option is for each of you to sell your contract (8-10 percent commission) and buy another one. The commissions and fees add up, and my guess is it's why more people don't make changes.

I'd likely be fine switching with someone if our total expenses were a fair adjustment, shared escrow expenses, and a flat fee to the website for providing the calculations and purchase form for us to hand to escrow. It would take some high tech setup for the calculations, but each party could adjust if they wanted to make an offer to another person. If you set it up right, it could be pretty much automated, these are not "real" real estate properties

 

[Chili327]

I always wished someone would come up with a TRADING site, where we could trade, especially Use Year contracts (thru a shared escrow) with a relatively preset/standard price adjustment for resort changes or varied points, but no adjustment for Use Year change. I am certain there are people who have changed travel plans (or decided they were ready to consolidate UYs, or downsize) who would use a site like that if the commissions and escrow fees were not so high. The purchase agreements could be contingent on the reciprocal trade (still have to go thru ROFR, after all).

Right now the only option is for each of you to sell your contract (8-10 percent commission) and buy another one. The commissions and fees add up, and my guess is it's why more people don't make changes.

I'd likely be fine switching with someone if our total expenses were a fair adjustment, shared escrow expenses, and a flat fee to the website for providing the calculations and purchase form for us to hand to escrow. It would take some high tech setup for the calculations, but each party could adjust if they wanted to make an offer to another person. If you set it up right, it could be pretty much automated, these are not "real" real estate properties

Technically i think board sponsor might be able to do that, but its basically buying and selling at the same time.