Decided to buy DVC. Need Advice

[Dean]

I have decided to buy into Bay Lake Towers. Now it's just deciding and finding the right resale listing. we were looking at 150 points which would be actually 20-30 points more than we need most years and give us a little flexibility with stays. My question is should I do that or buy a 200 point listing and rent out the 60-70 points every year to pay my the majority of my annual dues with. Has anyone done this with success?


ps to be honest I would love to buy into Beach club or Boardwalk but the 2042 expiration date scared me off

I'd go with BWV if you prefer it otherwise. With a cheaper price and the standard view, it'll be a comparable value. Direct to your question, I'd keep open to the contract size. The best one would give you a cushion in case there were changes or you couldn't get what you wanted. It sounds like you may be looking at studios in lower seasons and possibly standard view, in that case I'd get a cushion of at least around 20% which I suspect puts you a little over the 150 contract size. If it were me, I'd determine the minimum reasonable contract, best UY then start looking keeping open to minimally larger contracts. Looking for the best deal overall esp a FULLY loaded contract but avoiding the penny wise/pound foolish approach trying to get the best deal ever. If 150 is ideal, that might mean going up to 200 but preferably not over around 170 or so. I would not specifically plan just to have extra points to rent unless one thinks they'll need more later but the reality is you'll likely need to rent every few years with the approach I recommend.

 

[DisneyRegulars]

I'm one who bought extra points to rent and so far has failed miserably to rent even a single point. We love using them too much, and can afford the dues without the rental income. So I would whole heartedly agree that you definitely need discipline to rent out those very enticing points. We have easily found ways to use our 460 points when all we really needed was 285 or so and we were going to rent the rest. I suspect if you ever stay in a one bedroom rather than a studio you will never want to rent your points again. It's a great way to vacation with kids.

One thing to consider when aiming to rent points is that the brokers usually require a large amount of points to use their service, so you would have to rent out your 60 points on your own which you may or may not want to deal with.

 

[kboo]

Bumping this for KimGillihan!

 

[ELMC]

I'm one who bought extra points to rent and so far has failed miserably to rent even a single point. We love using them too much, and can afford the dues without the rental income. So I would whole heartedly agree that you definitely need discipline to rent out those very enticing points. We have easily found ways to use our 460 points when all we really needed was 285 or so and we were going to rent the rest. I suspect if you ever stay in a one bedroom rather than a studio you will never want to rent your points again. It's a great way to vacation with kids.

One thing to consider when aiming to rent points is that the brokers usually require a large amount of points to use their service, so you would have to rent out your 60 points on your own which you may or may not want to deal with.

Yes, I've found that discipline and DVC aren't a great match. I'm going to respectfully disagree with you on the rental issue, however, and point you to www.dvcrentalstore.com. They currently have reservations available for DVC owners to claim for as little as 13 points. You should definitely check them out!

 

[Shellyred8]

I wish we had bought a few more points when we initially bought in. We went into it planning to get a standard view studio (I think many people do). However, when the time came around to book a room, that standard view wasn't available. We don't always book 7-11 months out, and by the time we were ready to book, those standard rooms were long gone. The other "mistake" we made was staying in a 1BR. It's hard to go back to a studio after staying in a 1BR. The laundry and the extra space in the 1BR are REALLY nice.

If you ever do end up being short a few points, keep in mind that you can rent a few points from DVC once a year to help close the gap.