Dvc 101?

[jdkpa]

Hi, I am new at the DVC thing.

I know you can buy DVC thru Disney or thru a reseller.
I know that thru Disney, minimum is $112 per point, and 160 minimum points. I also know there are some incentives out there to get the price down somewhat.

Thru a reseller site, I see points as low as $71 per point.
My question is, why would someone pay Disney's $112 per point, if they can buy in for $71 per point? If a reseller is selling Saratoga Springs for $71 per point, and the rules are you can stay any where at Disney (not just Saratoga), why would anyone pay $112 per point for say Bay Lake Towers?

I don't understand.

thanks

 

[tjkraz]

The most direct answer is that owners have a 4-month booking advantage at their Home resort. While you can functionally book any resort in the DVC program 7 months prior to arrival, EVERYTHING is subject to availability.

If an SSR owner is seeking a BLT Standard View Studio for the week of December 1st and BLT owners have booked all of those accommodations, the SSR owner will not get it.

While it's purely speculation exactly how successful people are at 7 months, there are clearly resorts, room classes and time periods which are exceedingly hard to book. If you want to book BLT with any regularity, you're better off paying the premium to buy there. But if you would largely be satisfied with choosing from whatever is left at 7 months, then buying the cheapest resort is certainly worth consideration.

Other things to bear in mind:

1. The ownership at BLT is 6 years longer than SSR.
2. Dues at lower at BLT.
3. The $112 figure you cite is a base price and incentives are always offered. Up thru today (June 15th) DVC was offering a discount of up to $16 off that $112 price.
4. If you buy resale you either need to pay cash or come up with your own financing. Resale brokers do not finance their transactions. By comparison DVC will finance direct purchases and they are pretty liberal with approvals. For some that means the difference between buying and not buying.

 

[WALTSAGOD]

This site is an awesome place to read and learn; search to your hearts content. There is really so much cool info.

 

[christa112]

I would say if you are looking to purchase anything other than BLT or AKL resale is probably the way to go just because like OP stated resales are definately cheaper than purchasing directly through DVC. DVC does offer incentives which change every so often.

Also, if you purchase a resale Disney reviews all resales and they get 1st dibs on purchasing it back from the seller, so if the price is too good to be true Disney may purchase it back and the buyer will be back to square one. This is why I ended up purchasing through DVC. We got great incentives and I didn't want to take the change.

Like PP stated there is no guarantee you will get the resort you want at 7 mos especially smaller resorts during peak times such as BC during Food and Wine Festival, WL during Christmas Season and everyone is guessing BLT will be ranked in that category as well.

You can book your vacation at your "Home" Resort or a resort that has availablity and be added to a wait list so if your dates become available you can switch resorts.

I hope this info helps.

 

[Sandisw]

I just bought into DVC because of BLT. We love the CR and like to be able to walk to/from MK, our favorite park.

We debated DVC for years and realized, even though it would work for us cost wise, we would not be happy if we were not near the MK.

With BLT, we have that option. While it would have been nice to save some money buying SSR, I was just not willing to chance, even small, that I could not stay at BLT.

The MF's are lowest right now so there is some savings there, at least until they surpass the others (which I personally don't think will happen--catch up, yes).

But for me, being at BLT, even with the higher point price per night (though we are not interested in staying at MK view every year--only every 3), is what will make me happy--being at SSR would not.

Good luck!

 

[Crystal_27]

why would someone pay Disney's $112 per point, if they can buy in for $71 per point? If a reseller is selling Saratoga Springs for $71 per point, and the rules are you can stay any where at Disney (not just Saratoga), why would anyone pay $112 per point for say Bay Lake Towers?

I don't understand.

thanks

It's all about home resort. For me, it was worth it to pay $112/point (less the applicable incentives which brought the price down to $96/point) to have the 4-month booking advantage at BLT. Most people recommend that you buy where you would be happy staying every year in case a non-home resort that you want is not available at the 7-month window. We paid the inflated price for BLT through Disney because for us, we would be happy staying at BLT every year if we had to. Sure, it would be nice to trade out to other DVC resorts now and then, but I know that if we are never able to get anything else at 7 months, then staying at BLT would make me happy. On the flipside, if we had bought into SSR and I was never able to trade for anything but SSR, that would make me very unhappy. Good luck!

 

[JoQuo711]

My question is, why would someone pay Disney's $112 per point, if they can buy in for $71 per point? If a reseller is selling Saratoga Springs for $71 per point, and the rules are you can stay any where at Disney (not just Saratoga), why would anyone pay $112 per point for say Bay Lake Towers?

Like Crystal said, the booking window advantage of four months is probably the biggest consideration There are some other considerations as well, though, as the overall cost of ownership is not as clear cut as just comparing initial point costs (which are $89-$96 right now at BLT with particular incentives and purchase levels, though supposedly a lot of that will be changing as of today). Right now, the Bay Lake Tower annual maintenance fees are $3.67/point, while Saratoga Springs is almost 20% higher at $4.33. If they both go up at the same rate (not saying they will, but they could), the difference in MFs will at least offset the difference in initial point cost by the end of the contract. Also, the length of the contract is a small consideration, as Saratoga Springs contracts expire in 2054, and Bay Lake Tower contracts expire in 2060, so you're getting six more years of ownership for whatever your initial purchase cost was. Also, when you buy resale, you need to compare prices on contracts that still have 2009 points available, because that's what you get when you buy a new contract from DVC. If the 2009 points were already used, you realistically have to add on something like at least $6 per point to compare accurately, and you may have to add even more on certain contracts as many resales have been stripped of the future year's points as well via borrowing.

This thread by DVC Mike has great info that you're probably looking for:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2152512

 

[jdkpa]

fast Q - how many years in advance can i borrow from? Is there a limit? ie, can I take all my vactions for the next 50 years, in the next 10 years? Thanks

 

[chalee94]

fast Q - how many years in advance can i borrow from?

you can borrow one year ahead and that is all.

you can bank pts one time and then they expire.

 

[kerickson]

no, you can basically use 3 years worth of points at 1 time. You can bank last years, use this years, and borrow next. You can't bank or borrow more than 1 year away...

 

[helloconnie]

You are also paying less through a reseller b/c they have used some of the term, so you will have less time to vacation. Like the PP said earlier, if your buy BLT right now you get a 50 year term versus a 32 year term. Plus certain resorts are more popular that others. BLT is popular becuase it is on the monorail and has views of the MK. SSR is popular for golfers. Most people that buy through resale really want to buy at a specific resort to get the 11 month booking window for that resort.

 

[bumbershoot]

I would say if you are looking to purchase anything other than BLT or AKL resale is probably the way to go

Or Grand Cal villas, of course.

 

[chalee94]

You are also paying less through a reseller b/c they have used some of the term, so you will have less time to vacation.

well, not exactly. the contracts all expire at the same time regardless of whether you buy resale or direct. if you buy an SSR resale for $70 per pt, it still expires in 2054 just like one that you buy for $100 per pt directly.

(but the 2042 resorts are more common at resale.)

 

[christa112]

Oh yes!!! How can I forget Grand Cal Villas!!!!

Or Grand Cal villas, of course.