DVC Resale Poly - Worth it to start with a small contract?

[dizneyfan93]

Since our trip to WDW a year ago and after doing the DVC presentation I've been fascinated with the prospect of owning a contract at some point in the future. While my wife and I would love to go to Disney every year we agree that every 2 even 3 years makes the most sense for us at this point in our lives.

I'm looking at resale contacts 50 - 75 pts. at the Polynesian. We love this resort! For us this would be enough points for us to bank & borrow and have trips every 2nd - 3rd year with the plan of adding additional points later on to get to be able to go more often and/or have the option to book rooms bigger than a studio.

We have plenty of cash on hand, minimal 0% interest loans for some home improvements and no real debt. We've got solid retirement plans both personal and at our jobs and aren't huge spenders on ourselves.

From everything I've researched, by buying a contract it will lock us into lower rates over the life of our trips to Disney. I really dislike the thought that we would pay cash for a trip or two in the next couple of years which could've been used towards the DVC contract. If we're planning to visit the contract will pay itself off after a short amount of time.

Let me know what you think on this concept and if I'm going in the right direction. We are thinking about kids in the near future too, but I'd also argue this would be a saver to take them on future vacations as well.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Buying a small resale I think is a great idea, it will let you see how DVC works and then if you choose to buy direct after you will get member pricing which is cheaper.
With that said, small Poly contracts will be a much higher price per point than other resorts and closer to the cost per point for buying 150pts direct. Also, be sure to look at the point charts to be sure that 50-75 pts is enough for the room type, time of year and length of stay that you want.

 

[intamin]

Personally I'd probably buy direct if I was going for such a small contract. Buying direct will give you access to all resorts but also the contract will be loaded. Right now Poly is actually on sale so you're not going to be able to buy any cheaper from Disney in the future. Resale Poly on a small contract will likely be stripped and have a high price tag relatively compared to buying direct. You may not care that much about the benefits down the line but it doesn't really hurt to only have to buy 75 more points from Disney to get them either.

 

[airjay75]

I think those are great thoughts. If you really want to just “dip your toes” into DVC, a small resale contract definitely makes sense. But, if you thought you were all in on DVC, and Poly is one of your favorite resorts, it is a pretty good time to pick up 150 points direct. If you wait a few years, Poly will likely be “sold out” and direct pricing will be much more expensive. But, when I was at the stage of life that kids were likely coming in the near future, I probably could never have convinced myself to buy into DVC.

 

[pzw90]

Personally I'd probably buy direct if I was going for such a small contract. Buying direct will give you access to all resorts but also the contract will be loaded. Right now Poly is actually on sale so you're not going to be able to buy any cheaper from Disney in the future. Resale Poly on a small contract will likely be stripped and have a high price tag relatively compared to buying direct. You may not care that much about the benefits down the line but it doesn't really hurt to only have to buy 75 more points from Disney to get them either.

The minimum as a new buyer is 100 points though, so may be larger than they are looking for at the moment

 

[maui22]

I think you have a solid plan. When PVB opened, we checked the point charts for our normal times of year. Then, we decide to buy enough to bank/borrow for a week trip every other year. (We already owned at other resorts, but Polynesian has ties to both DW and I).

Back then, point charts were slightly different and the options were only longhouse studio or bungalow. We bought a small 65 point contract so we could go every other year using bank/borrow as you describe.

Well, we fell in love with Island Tower and we're temporarily at 425 points at PVB (resale and direct).

Dipping your toes in the water is a very smart decision. As others wrote, checkout the point charts for when you want to stay and the room types you want. That's the best way to know for sure the size of a contract to start with.

 

[intamin]

The minimum as a new buyer is 100 points though, so may be larger than they are looking for at the moment

Woops forgot about the minimums for a new member after all the recent news about the 25 point minimum add ons for all resorts but that's a fair point.

 

[dizneyfan93]

Buying a small resale I think is a great idea, it will let you see how DVC works and then if you choose to buy direct after you will get member pricing which is cheaper.
With that said, small Poly contracts will be a much higher price per point than other resorts and closer to the cost per point for buying 150pts direct. Also, be sure to look at the point charts to be sure that 50-75 pts is enough for the room type, time of year and length of stay that you want.

Yes for sure. We love Disney but can't make the full jump right now.

 

[dizneyfan93]

The minimum as a new buyer is 100 points though, so may be larger than they are looking for at the moment

Yep! I'd love more points but buying a smaller contract to spread out initially makes most sense for us. I just can't justify a huge cash purchase or potentially financing right now.

 

[VGCgroupie]

Yep! I'd love more points but buying a smaller contract to spread out initially makes most sense for us. I just can't justify a huge cash purchase or potentially financing right now.

Makes perfect sense. Is Poly the only place you really want to stay?

 

[dizneyfan93]

I think those are great thoughts. If you really want to just “dip your toes” into DVC, a small resale contract definitely makes sense. But, if you thought you were all in on DVC, and Poly is one of your favorite resorts, it is a pretty good time to pick up 150 points direct. If you wait a few years, Poly will likely be “sold out” and direct pricing will be much more expensive. But, when I was at the stage of life that kids were likely coming in the near future, I probably could never have convinced myself to buy into DVC.

Unfortunately direct at $235 right now is out of my budget range

 

[airjay75]

Unfortunately direct at $235 right now is out of my budget range

I understand completely - will just note for you that, after you factor in all the incentives including developer credit, magical beginnings, and credit card cash back, you can probably get the price down to under $200/point. The problem is, you have to buy 150 points to get magical beginnings, which is one of the largest discounts you can get when buying direct, and that means more money than a small point purchase even if the cost/point isn’t that different.

 

[dizneyfan93]

I think you have a solid plan. When PVB opened, we checked the point charts for our normal times of year. Then, we decide to buy enough to bank/borrow for a week trip every other year. (We already owned at other resorts, but Polynesian has ties to both DW and I).

Back then, point charts were slightly different and the options were only longhouse studio or bungalow. We bought a small 65 point contract so we could go every other year using bank/borrow as you describe.

Well, we fell in love with Island Tower and we're temporarily at 425 points at PVB (resale and direct).

Dipping your toes in the water is a very smart decision. As others wrote, checkout the point charts for when you want to stay and the room types you want. That's the best way to know for sure the size of a contract to start with.

Sounds like what we want to do! Did you have much trouble doing the banking/borrowing early on? I imagine if you're on top of things and plan well it should be no problem.

 

[dizneyfan93]

I understand completely - will just note for you that, after you factor in all the incentives including developer credit, magical beginnings, and credit card cash back, you can probably get the price down to under $200/point. The problem is, you have to buy 150 points to get magical beginnings, which is one of the largest discounts you can get when buying direct, and that means more money than a small point purchase even if the cost/point isn’t that different.

Totally reasonable thinking. Even at 200/point I don't think I could justify it vs a smaller contract resale at say even $185

 

[airjay75]

Totally reasonable thinking. Even at 200/point I don't think I could justify it vs a smaller contract resale at say even $185

Depending on who is paying current year dues, also remember that the true cost of resale on a per point basis will likely be a little higher than the list price. When buying direct, you only pay prorated dues for the current year while when buying resale the buyer typically reimburses the seller for the entire current year’s dues (if the current year’s points are available). I swear I’m not trying to talk you into buying direct - just pointing out how, particularly with Poly, the cost between resale and direct on a per point basis is not all that great (and especially so when you consider the cost over the life of the contract.). If your budget doesn’t allow and you’re also just trying to slowly get into the DVC game, a smaller resale contract makes great sense.

 

[intamin]

Depending on who is paying current year dues, also remember that the true cost of resale on a per point basis will likely be a little higher than the list price. When buying direct, you only pay prorated dues for the current year while when buying resale the buyer typically reimburses the seller for the entire current year’s dues (if the current year’s points are available). I swear I’m not trying to talk you into buying direct - just pointing out how, particularly with Poly, the cost between resale and direct on a per point basis is not all that great (and especially so when you consider the cost over the life of the contract.). If your budget doesn’t allow and you’re also just trying to slowly get into the DVC game, a smaller resale contract makes great sense.

Yeahhh in the grand scheme of things that 15 dollars per point difference is a rounding error when compared to the 10s of thousands the contract will cost in dues and buy in so I'd go direct but I also don't know OPs financial situation so I'm not going to pretend I know what's best for you @dizneyfan93 but I'd reconsider especially when you could sell back the first 2 years of points and get it down to high 190s probably and also be able to use them at any future DVC resort. Either way, an early welcome home to you

 

[maui22]

Sounds like what we want to do! Did you have much trouble doing the banking/borrowing early on? I imagine if you're on top of things and plan well it should be no problem.

Banking/borrowing is pretty easy if you're a planner and willing to commit to going during the year you bank or borrow into.

What we found is a two year schedule using banking worked for us. Example 65 point contract with our Sept UY, we would bank 2024 Sept UY points into 2025.
Left us 0 Sept 2024-Aug 2025 points, but 130 points starting Sept 1 2025-Aug 2026.

A couple times some urge hit us where we would book a weekend trip for DW's birthday in the spring (say May 2026), we had the ability to borrow some of the 2026 points into 2025 so we could go in May 2026. It reduced what we had for Sept 2026-Aug 2027, but we still had the ability to borrow from 2027 if we wanted.

That was an approach that worked for us. YMMV

 

[dizneyfan93]

Yeahhh in the grand scheme of things that 15 dollars per point difference is a rounding error when compared to the 10s of thousands the contract will cost in dues and buy in so I'd go direct but I also don't know OPs financial situation so I'm not going to pretend I know what's best for you @dizneyfan93 but I'd reconsider especially when you could sell back the first 2 years of points and get it down to high 190s probably and also be able to use them at any future DVC resort. Either way, an early welcome home to you

All fair points!

Does a couple thousand $$$ make a difference over the years? Probably not a ton. I could sell back points but that's not always a guarantee.

If I had all of the cash to drop I would be all in, financing is a non starter for me. So maybe I continue to save and re-evaluate in a few years? The only catch is I have a hard time stomaching spending the cash if we were to go at any time in the next few years knowing I could be saving in the long run. Does that all make sense, haha?

Also, what tax brackets are some of you folks in to have large contracts

 

[dizneyfan93]

Banking/borrowing is pretty easy if you're a planner and willing to commit to going during the year you bank or borrow into.

What we found is a two year schedule using banking worked for us. Example 65 point contract with our Sept UY, we would bank 2024 Sept UY points into 2025.
Left us 0 Sept 2024-Aug 2025 points, but 130 points starting Sept 1 2025-Aug 2026.

A couple times some urge hit us where we would book a weekend trip for DW's birthday in the spring (say May 2026), we had the ability to borrow some of the 2026 points into 2025 so we could go in May 2026. It reduced what we had for Sept 2026-Aug 2027, but we still had the ability to borrow from 2027 if we wanted.

That was an approach that worked for us. YMMV

What triggered the move to buy more points? More space, longer trips? All of the above, haha?

 

[intamin]

All fair points!

Does a couple thousand $$$ make a difference over the years? Probably not a ton. I could sell back points but that's not always a guarantee.

If I had all of the cash to drop I would be all in, financing is a non starter for me. So maybe I continue to save and re-evaluate in a few years? The only catch is I have a hard time stomaching spending the cash if we were to go at any time in the next few years knowing I could be saving in the long run. Does that all make sense, haha?

Also, what tax brackets are some of you folks in to have large contracts

Who said you have to be in a high tax bracket to afford DVC points when you can be financially irresponsible



But seriously for most people, the dues will make up 2/3 or more of the cost of the contract so I always stress to people to buy what you actually want if it's possible financially. If you're going to go to WDW regardless of if you have the DVC contract or not, it's worth it to just go forward with the resale though if that's what you can reasonably afford