Couple questions

[Hillary329]

My DH and I are looking into resale but are having trouble deciding if we should go with the cheapest home resort (MFs and/or point price) or pick one for the 11 month booking window.

-Can anyone give us an idea of the resorts that we won't have much of a chance of getting reservations at if they aren't our home resort if we usually travel during school holidays (Oregon)?

-Also, on resale listings if there are for example 320 points available for 2011 (Dec) and 160 for 2012, are those 2011 points going to have to be used by 12/1/2012? It sounds great that there are a lot of points but wouldn't the buyer end up having those points expire by the closing date?

 

[BestDadEver]

My DH and I are looking into resale but are having trouble deciding if we should go with the cheapest home resort (MFs and/or point price) or pick one for the 11 month booking window.

-Can anyone give us an idea of the resorts that we won't have much of a chance of getting reservations at if they aren't our home resort if we usually travel during school holidays (Oregon)?

-Also, on resale listings if there are for example 320 points available for 2011 (Dec) and 160 for 2012, are those 2011 points going to have to be used by 12/1/2012? It sounds great that there are a lot of points but wouldn't the buyer end up having those points expire by the closing date?

If you are traveling in a high demand season pick the resort you want to be at . Although I noticed that when the schools are out the dvc demand isent as high due to more crowds . The more popular times for dvc rooms seem to be when the points are cheapest like months sep-dec . I could be wrong but that is the impression I get from people here.

The 2011 points on that contact should have one year banked points if it's a dec uy you will have till dec 2012 to use 160 of them . And you wil be able to bank 160 2011points to the next year 2012 , witch would expire dec 2013 (dec is a tricky uy) before july 30 or 31 not sure how many days in july . Iud you arent closed by then I assume you could have the previous owner do it for you.

 

[zavandor]

There are three big theories:

1) Buy where you want to stay.
If you know that you will travel during peak seasons (almost all holidays and school breaks), you will need to book using your 11 months advantage.
This is true also for some views, booking categories and resorts almost every day, like Value and Concierge at AKV, all VGC, BCV, BWV standard and BWV view, BLT standard and theme park view etc etc
So if it's important to you get a specific resort and you would be disappointed if staying elsewhere, buy that resort.

2) Buy the cheapest resort where you wouldn't mind to stay
Then you'll try to switch to other resorts if possible at the 7 months window. It's important that you like your home resort, because you might not be able to change it during peak periods.

3) Buy the cheapest resort.
This is the best strategy if you know that you'll not be able to book before the 7 months windows. In that case you might want to reconsider DVC entirely, since you'll be able to get the best from DVC only if you can plan far ahead. However the biggest resorts (AKV, SSR, OKW) can have availability during non peak periods also way into the 7 months windows, some even relatively last minute (in periods like end of January of September). So it may work even not planning far ahead, but it that case owning BLT or BCV will not give you any advantage over owning SSR or OKW, so buy the cheapest resort.


Last note: cheapest means considering both upfront cost and MF. MF will be the highest cost during the lifetime of your membership.

 

[CarolMN]

My DH and I are looking into resale but are having trouble deciding if we should go with the cheapest home resort (MFs and/or point price) or pick one for the 11 month booking window.

-Can anyone give us an idea of the resorts that we won't have much of a chance of getting reservations at if they aren't our home resort if we usually travel during school holidays (Oregon)?

This post by drusba says it as well as any I've seen:

DVC Peak vs WDW Resort Peak - Post #14

You may find the entire thread worth reading:

DVC Peak vs. WDW Resort Peak

-Also, on resale listings if there are for example 320 points available for 2011 (Dec) and 160 for 2012, are those 2011 points going to have to be used by 12/1/2012? It sounds great that there are a lot of points but wouldn't the buyer end up having those points expire by the closing date?

2011 December use year points are good for vacations between 12/1/2011 and 11/30/2012. If the points are not used during that priod they expire and are lost to you. Points can be banked one use year into the future, thus extending their life for one year. The same points can only be banked once.

The banking deadline for a December use year is the following July 31. After the deadline passes you may not bank.

Since you have 320 points in your 2011 use year, it is most likely that 160 of them have been banked (from 2010). Those points expire on 11/20/2012. The other 160 are probably current use year points (originally from 2011) and so they could be banked into 2012 if the banking is done on or before July 31, 2012. If I were interested in this contract, I would ask the seller to bank the 2011 points and I would consider the points banked from 2010 as having little or no value, since they expire on 11/30/2012. It is genearlly diffiuclt to find availability on short notice (so tough to rent to others if you can't use them yourself before they expire. Points have no vlaue unless they can be used to make a reservation.

December use years can be tricky to understand. Here is a tutorial on use years that may help you:

Understanding Use Year

If you haven't already, be sure to take a look at our DVC RESOURCE CENTER. This is a "Sticky Thread" at the top of the FOrum.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[nicki.momof3]

So we are really considering purchaing a resale. I am a teacher so I can only travel Easter and Christmas weeks and the summer.

My husband can not travel at all during the summer due to work so that only leaves Easter and Christmas.

Question: We are thinking of buying OKW. I am a huge planner so we would always be booking at the 11 month mark. Since peak times are higher demand does it ever happen that you call at the 11 month mark and your resort is all booked.

I don't want to purchase knowing I can only go 2 specific weeks a year and then find out those weeks are not available.

Hope this makes sense.

 

[WsPrincess]

We went with the cheapest where we would want to stay. When we looked we knew we did not love VWL, BWV, AKV or SSR (both were OK but not ones we were in love with). That left us with some really pricey choices or OWK which we both really liked a lot. So based on that, we chose OKW. We are 100% happy if we stay there and the price worked well for us. We were also able to buy more points than we had planned because of the price of the contract!

So we are really considering purchaing a resale. I am a teacher so I can only travel Easter and Christmas weeks and the summer.

My husband can not travel at all during the summer due to work so that only leaves Easter and Christmas.

Question: We are thinking of buying OKW. I am a huge planner so we would always be booking at the 11 month mark. Since peak times are higher demand does it ever happen that you call at the 11 month mark and your resort is all booked.

I don't want to purchase knowing I can only go 2 specific weeks a year and then find out those weeks are not available.

Hope this makes sense.

If you book at 11 months, you are not going to find OWK completely booked, even for those 2 weeks. If you want a Grand Villa you will want to book as soon as it opens but otherwise you should be fine. It is a large resort and you would be fine. Moving at 7 months during those times might be a challenge but you could get lucky if you wanted somewhere else.

 

[nicki.momof3]

We went with the cheapest where we would want to stay. When we looked we knew we did not love VWL, BWV, AKV or SSR (both were OK but not ones we were in love with). That left us with some really pricey choices or OWK which we both really liked a lot. So based on that, we chose OKW. We are 100% happy if we stay there and the price worked well for us. We were also able to buy more points than we had planned because of the price of the contract!



If you book at 11 months, you are not going to find OWK completely booked, even for those 2 weeks. If you want a Grand Villa you will want to book as soon as it opens but otherwise you should be fine. It is a large resort and you would be fine. Moving at 7 months during those times might be a challenge but you could get lucky if you wanted somewhere else.

Thank you very much. We would be booking a one bedroom.

 

[Dean]

My DH and I are looking into resale but are having trouble deciding if we should go with the cheapest home resort (MFs and/or point price) or pick one for the 11 month booking window.

-Can anyone give us an idea of the resorts that we won't have much of a chance of getting reservations at if they aren't our home resort if we usually travel during school holidays (Oregon)?

-Also, on resale listings if there are for example 320 points available for 2011 (Dec) and 160 for 2012, are those 2011 points going to have to be used by 12/1/2012? It sounds great that there are a lot of points but wouldn't the buyer end up having those points expire by the closing date?

You need to decide what fits best for you. In general buying the lowest option you'll be happy with most trips is the best option and for WDW trips, on property is key. Unless you're going to stay most trips at a high demand option, it doesn't make sense to pay significantly more. It may be that buying less at say SSR is the best and then waiting for a likely Poly option later is the best choice for you. AKV and BWV are likely the best values for a Deluxe hotel option at present.