Does 275 listings of DVC contracts on TTS seem like a lot to you?

[WolfpackFan]

I'm amazed at the people who come on this board and ask "do you think I should buy DVC", etc. I can't imagine asking a bunch of complete strangers whether or not I should make such a significant purchase. I know before we purchased, I spent a year investigating it and monitored the postings here daily, but I would have never thought to ask complete strangers to make the decision for me.

Oh and as far as selling - I have actually thought about selling our VWL contract and taking the money and buying another add-on to HHI. I can see us spending more and more time at HHI in the future and less time at WDW. We would still have our AKV points for a trip to WDW every 2-3 years.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Property No of Resales Lowest Price

AKV 22 $90
BCV 4 $89
BWV 14 $78
HH 10 $65
OKW 34 $70
SSR 110 $73
VB 39 $60
VWL 14 $77

Looks like SSR is not very popular based on the resale numbers and current low prices for a relatively new resort that just sold out. It is easy to see that BCV is the most popular and AKL may have a lot of resales but the price is still holding up.

SSR really is a bargain at $73/pt. Is it just me or do you guys think the price for Hilton Head resales are probably underpriced.

I still don't get the appeal of BCV. Why does that pool make BCV $10 more than BWV? But anyway, with only 4 resale contracts...BCV sellers should probably raise prices as well.

BWV & VWL seem priced just right.

 

[kid-at-heart]

I'm amazed at the people who come on this board and ask "do you think I should buy DVC", etc. I can't imagine asking a bunch of complete strangers whether or not I should make such a significant purchase. I know before we purchased, I spent a year investigating it and monitored the postings here daily, but I would have never thought to ask complete strangers to make the decision for me.

We just closed on a small OKW contract (ok everyone, say "Welcome home Kate's family..." ) and like you, we spent some time (over a year) reading the boards and asking questions, however, we never asked "should we". I suppose some people need more reassurance than others that they are making the correct decision (which in reality, is a question only they themselves can answer).

By the way, thank you everyone for answering our questions over the past year. I feel that in the end, we did make an informed decision.

 

[Let'sGoAgain!]

Yeah, but the buyer has the onus of informing him/herself before purchasing. If they buy spontaneously and later regret it, that's their own fault.

Of course, it's ultimately the buyer's fault, but I think all of us have been caught up in the moment of one thing or another and have bought something, then later regreted it.

But look at all the people who don't understand banking and borrowing or home resort advantage. If they don't even know what they don't know, then I think some of the blame has to fall on the sales staff. We all have seen the ever-increasing presence of DVC kiosks and have heard of higher pressure and incentives to buy. When we first bought in in 1993, the only incentive was to own a part of the Disney Vacation Club -- which was good enough for us!

 

[mgilmer]

Welcome Home Kate's Family!!!!!

HOME

 

[delmar411]

I've also noticed the massive amount of SSR resales listed but what I've also noticed is that they are all big contracts. I'd happily take on 25-50 point SSR contracts as I got the funds up but I'm not looking to take on anymore $20k+ contracts in the near future. Maybe these contracts are all from CMs and they know that BLT is going to be announced soon or just a lot of people getting a hard hit from the economy but I wish I had the spare funds to scoop up some of these bargains!

 

[3DisneyKids]

Property No of Resales Lowest Price

AKV 22 $90
BCV 4 $89
BWV 14 $78
HH 10 $65
OKW 34 $70
SSR 110 $73
VB 39 $60
VWL 14 $77

Looks like SSR is not very popular based on the resale numbers and current low prices for a relatively new resort that just sold out. It is easy to see that BCV is the most popular and AKL may have a lot of resales but the price is still holding up.

Remember, though, that SSR has by far the most owners. Thus, it stands to reason that there will be a higher number of resales there.

Additionally, during the days of double developer points (and other previous incentives...friends & family, etc.) that lots of folks just bought the contract, stripped it, and flipped it. So there are a certain number of resales that were purchased with the intent to resell right away.

 

[snowbunny]

lots of folks just bought the contract, stripped it, and flipped it

Or at least, that's the intention, but with a mountain of strippped SSR contracts on the market, it may not go as well as planned. An SSR contract with no points until 2010 is not very attractive even at $80/point, IMO.

 

[podsnel]

I'm in the camp of...it's a BAD economy, real estate is a mess, oil is insane, DVC is a luxury, and people need to do what they need to do...if it's this or the mortgage, we know what wins. I do have a girlfriend who is a dvc member, and she is SO grateful for her SSR points- when her DH was unemployed, that was the only vacay option, and at a time when they were struggling, it was a gift from God that they could go away and enjoy themselves- it was the only vacation they could have taken then, and they were so glad they had the option. JMHO

 

[jpolak]

High gas prices and travel costs, high prices on everything from food to house insurance, bad economy with lots of folks getting laid off. People who could afford AKV when they purchased may not be able to afford it now.

Well said. I also think that many people get caught up in the excitment of DVC. You go on the tour, your blown away by the rooms, so you jump in and make the purchase. When you come off of your high from your trip and reality sets in you realize maybe you can't afford this right now.

 

[aero99]

As one of the people who currently have a SSR contract up for resale, we are selling because we are buying at different resorts. We have owned SSR since they announced it. We have enjoyed 4 years of wonderful vacation using those points, but during that time we realized we like other DVC resorts a WHOLE lot more then SSR. Then this year, we weren't able to get into HHI when we wanted. So we decided to sell SSR and buy where we stay: HHI & VWL. With DVC growing, it makes getting into the smaller resorts much harder. In the end we are are probably going to end up spending more money/owning more points then we did originally and at resorts that expire sooner, but those resorts are that important to us.

 

[pearlieq]

The other thing about SSR resales is that, with the exeption of AKV, they are the most recent owners and more likely to be sensitive to a troubled economy.

Someone who bought OKW/BWV/VWL many years ago is probably well into the payments and likely paid off. They have worked it into their budgets and learned to live with the financial commitment. It's less likely to be causing trouble for them and less likely to be the first thing to go when the family hits a rough patch.

By contrast, someone who bought SSR 3 years ago probably still has a loan payment on top of dues and their financial picture could be quite different today when their mortgage reset 3% higher, their house is worth 20% less, and gas is twice what it used to be.

 

[drakethib]

I wonder how much of it has to do with people being "swept up by the moment" during the DVC presentation and not really understanding what they are buying into? Then when they find out the specifics, they don't think they got what they were looking for.

I think this is part of it as well as it take a lot more money to get to WDW then it did probably a year ago (not always the case but more times then not, I believe airfare has jumped up and fuel sure has)

Now that the maintenance fees are coming due, to some DVC may not quite be as attractive as it once was.

YMMV

 

[DVCPAT]

I'm in the camp of...it's a BAD economy, real estate is a mess, oil is insane, DVC is a luxury, and people need to do what they need to do...if it's this or the mortgage, we know what wins. I do have a girlfriend who is a dvc member, and she is SO grateful for her SSR points- when her DH was unemployed, that was the only vacay option, and at a time when they were struggling, it was a gift from God that they could go away and enjoy themselves- it was the only vacation they could have taken then, and they were so glad they had the option. JMHO

Disney earnings still look pretty good. I think with over 350,000 members, the resale market will reflect DVCs expansion.

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Speaking of the DIS influencing people...Do you guys remember all of the let's bash Saratoga threads from several months ago?

Dh and I didn't consider purchasing at SSR at all. I'm sure we are not the only resale buyers that didn't give SSR a fair shake. Plus it became evident from these boards that the 11 month advantage was of little value at SSR.

Plus, could you imagine coming home from Disney after making a $16k purchase finding the boards, and then discovering that you had bought the dud, and were going to be stuck staying there?

So yes, the DIS effects SSR sales. It makes some people not consider the purchase, and others regret it.

So...if you increase the supply of SSR resales, while lowering the demand, you will have an excess of supply and price will fall.

Here's a thought...maybe we should be more flattering to SSR on the DIS.

I love the pictures of SSR interior decor. I think its actually better than the decor at my beloved BWV!

 

[jana]

I think Pearlieq makes a lot of sense. DSSR is the largest of the DVC resorts, just on number of members it's likely to have the largest number of resales. I do believe there were people who bought in to DVC with the developer points incentive thinking they'd be able to get 3 or 4 vacations out of DVC then sell out at what they paid for it ( or close) but the general downturn has hit that idea. But I think probably the biggest single reason is the question of timing and how much the ongoing costs are impacting people. There are 3 main groups of people owning DVC

1) Anyone who bought more than 10 years ago (OKW, Vero ,HHI and probably most of BWV) has no loan payments left. Just paying dues, the cost can easily be funded by renting out some (less than 30%) of their points

2) bought 7-10 years ago (VWL,BCV and rest of BWV). Much lower initial purchase cost and getting to the end of any loans. They can see the light at the end of the tunnel. IMHO, while there are some people in genuine diffculties, for most people it is more the fear of recession that is driving things at the moment more than any actuality. The mentality may be " I think I can just about ride this out before the $*** hits the fan. When it does, I'll be all paid up and can always rent some points out to cover my costs"

3) bought in the last 2-6 years. (mostly DSSR) ,worried the Economy is looking shaky , people have another 4-7 years on the loans. The mentality may be more " things don't look good and even if it takes another 3-4 years to hit me personally , I'd better make plans now instead of waiting when I'll really be in problems. Because if I have to rent ALL of my points out each year to cover my loan payments.... what's the point?"


I honestly don't think there are very many people who are selling because they got swept away on a wave of emotion, created by their sales guide to push them into a purchase they couldn't really afford. By far the most members buy from home not in the sales centre, you have a 2 week recision (sp?) period to change your mind , In my own experience I was made very aware of my own obligations if I bought , my options if I signed but chose to back out and what I could do if I decided in the future to sell. I'm more than happy to be critical of Disney when they don't come up to the mark, but in an industry that is know for hard closing people that really aren't a good fit for the product Disney stands out like a shining beacon of how business could and should be done. I can't recall more than one or two people ( actually I think it's ONE person) EVER in all my years on the DIS complaining they were hard sold by DVC.

 

[dan and scott]

Our $63(and pennies) a point purchase 10 yrs. ago at the Boardwalk is about as appetizing as it gets ---when You see people plunking down $101. for points now.
Sure the quality of the furnishings at the newer resorts continue to increase-but I know now if it were today I was buying in it is priced to far out of the ballpark for us to afford-even with financing.
All of our 525 pts. will be dropping off in the next 2-3 yrs.-so that will be great! Glad we purchased several smaller contracts in case times got tuff!!
The grand drive up to the Boardwalk has always been the WOW factor for me.

Sure I don't get the extra years-but hey I'm going to be in my 70's with really no one to leave it to anyway.--Well Dan will still have it when I croak.

Scott

 

[ACDSNY]

I think it's a combination of the economy, selling to get ready for new resorts and all the changes DVC has made in order to limit commerical renters.

We're selling 2 small SSR FEB UY contracts in order to switch over to an AUG UY. We took advantage of the 100 point min. buy in to start the process. With the prices down we'll hang on to our 100 point SSR contract. I've always been happy that we had 3 small contracts instead of one large contract. We plan on adding 120 points at GC.

When we put our SSR contracts up for sale in eary June there were only 3 AKV contracts listed, now there are 22, so it's not only SSR hitting the resale market hard.

 

[Jaaron2]

I think the economy has a lot to do with it. People who financed large portions of their purchase I would think are also more likely to sell. We bought over a year ago but paid mostly cash for all of our purchases. We value our family vacations so the purchse to us makes sense. We also looked at buying a house on the beach in South Carolina and found that this was a much cheaper and better alternative.