Finally buying DVC

[lyndeah]

Hi -- Hubs and I are finally thinking about purchasing DVC after 22 vacations and hundreds of thousands of dollars.... Can someone tell me is there ANY reason NOT to buy resale. The pints are like $100-$125 per point less this way so it seems the best route. Second, any resale companies to stay away from? There appear to be a handful that pop up and I think many are reputable. Just woudl love any advice (positive or negative) about buying... TIA!

 

[intamin]

Hi -- Hubs and I are finally thinking about purchasing DVC after 22 vacations and hundreds of thousands of dollars.... Can someone tell me is there ANY reason NOT to buy resale. The pints are like $100-$125 per point less this way so it seems the best route. Second, any resale companies to stay away from? There appear to be a handful that pop up and I think many are reputable. Just woudl love any advice (positive or negative) about buying... TIA!

There's plenty of threads on this, IMO the only perk worth buying direct for is if you care about ensuring that you can book any and all future resorts. Be realistic with yourself on this one. A lot of people are just like oh yeah I don't care as long as I can book my home resort and the original 14 resorts. Some people really are like this, but some people after the first 3-4 times are like hrmm I kind of want to try that resort next to the skyliner and then end up buying direct down the line anyways which is also perfectly fine, you just wouldn't be able to use your resale points at Riviera, Villas at Disneyland Hotel, Cabins at Fort Wilderness and any new builds that aren't attached to an already existing condo association.

In general it is better to buy resale first and then direct because you'll get better discounts as an existing member than as a new member should you buy direct points down the line. They will also match your use year when you buy direct points if you buy resale first.

Some of the other direct perks when you buy 150 direct points people consider but matter less IMO are ability to buy the sorcerer pass (probably the only one that provides real benefit), access to lounges, access to Moonlight Magic, merchandise (20% off) and dining discounts (10% off) which are the same as you would receive from an annual pass, your points are also eligible for non-DVC resort experiences like cruises, Adventures by Disney (terrible value). All of these are subject to discontinuation at any time though so I wouldn't put that much weight into buying direct for these perks.

There aren't any terrible resale companies I'm aware of.. Fidelity occasionally misses something but I don't think most people have a problem with them..

 

[Chili327]

Get your contract from whoever has the right one.
https://www.dvcforless.com

 

[atthebeachclub]

The only anomaly I know of is that Fidelity charges an additional fee to the buyer that other companies don’t. But they seem to also have the best pricing, plus you can ask the seller to pay the fee.

I think resale is an excellent deal. If you have a year where you want to stay at another place you can’t access with your resale points, rent your own points out and rent points for the other location you otherwise can’t access. Really not a big deal.

 

[intamin]

Get your contract from whoever has the right one.
https://www.dvcforless.com

This. Focus on the contract, not the broker (nearly as much).

 

[CastAStone]

Can someone tell me is there ANY reason NOT to buy resale

There certainly aren’t $10000-$20000 worth of reasons not to buy resale IMHO.

 

[CastAStone]

Second, any resale companies to stay away from? There appear to be a handful that pop up and I think many are reputable

The title company handles your money. If you get a broker who wants to handle your money, that is a broker to avoid.

Get a good title company, that’s my advice.

As to brokers, There’s at least 12 decent places to get DVC contracts. Virtually all of them specialize in DVC and have DVC in the name, but Redweek.com and FidelityRealEstate.com are broader timeshare listing companies and are fine.

eBay can be a decent place to buy a timeshare if you know what you’re doing, but for DVC I’d stay away.

 

[MICKIMINI]

DVC 1996. We bought and sold more than a dozen different contracts over the years and timing is important. Right now is a great time to buy resale. Look for the right use year for you and definitely look for a loaded contract with two years worth of points plus current year. Do not pay member fees on prior UY points. It may be worth paying "list" price and getting those points "free". Do the math. Anything is up for negotiation.

Something to consider is buying a direct contract down the road if you can. Those 2042 resorts expire Jan 2042 so 2039, 2040, 2041 will likely be difficult to get even at 11 months IMO. No one really knows how it will go down yet AFAIK. Regardless, there will be a lot less villas available then going forward for you to book since new resorts will not be available to you. What seems expensive now will look cheap in 5 or 10 years. Choose wisely.

Most brokers will let you put up to 5K on a credit card which is a great way to rack up miles. Write it into your OFFER. Also give the seller 24-48 hours to respond or you could be waiting for them to accept another offer. Definitely write into your offer that the seller will owe you $$ (it is often in the contract) for each point that somehow does not transfer to you as per the contract. It happens. I actually have had the opposite happen and got extra points woo hoo!

Good luck!

 

[WeIcomeHome]

Intamin's reaponse nailed it. We are going direct because we really enjoyed Riviera but would not want RIV resale points as our main purchase due to the restrictions. After our initial purchase we plan to save money via resale if (when) we add on.

 

[Tatebeck]

For the bulk of most member's points, resale usually makes the most sense. But it can also make sense to buy at least some points direct for future proofing/being able to try new resorts, or certain direct perks. The main one that can make it worth it is access to the cheaper sorcerer's annual pass. How many points are you looking for and would you buying a lot of points and be going multiple times per year? Do you have a lot of family that would get annual passes? Those savings (around $500 per person per year currently) can add up quickly and may warrant a hybrid membership like many of us have (some direct points to get direct benefits, then a bunch of resale points to play with). Good luck on your search!

 

[CWTC]

The only anomaly I know of is that Fidelity charges an additional fee to the buyer that other companies don’t.

True. The fee is 225$ but the lower prices with fidelity balance it out. We just closed on a resale from them (super happy with them!!) for 400 points so the fee was about 0.56$ for each point.

Edited to add: we have both resale and direct points, 40% are post 2019 restricted points and 60% are either direct or pre 2019 resale.

 

[kilik64]

As long as you don’t have issues with fomo, resale is great.

 

[Chili327]

As long as you don’t have issues with fomo, resale is great.

Obviously it’s different for everyone, but for me… Sometimes I do feel like I am missing out on stuff, but when I actually stop and think about it, I’d never be there for a DVC after hours, I’d never go on a member cruise, I’m not a lounge person, and I can always add on a new resort, so I’m not sure the extra $1000’s of dollars are actually worth it (to me). I think the perks are just perks, no real value, but I can imagine if lived closer & had a more open schedule to jump on things at the drop of the hat, or could go more often to take advantage of season pass, etc it could be worth more… but even then I’m not sure it’s worth $1,000’s.

 

[kmill99]

Mickimini is a fountain of fantastic knowledge in regard to buying resale.

 

[intamin]

Obviously it’s different for everyone, but for me… Sometimes I do feel like I am missing out on stuff, but when I actually stop and think about it, I’d never be there for a DVC after hours, I’d never go on a member cruise, I’m not a lounge person, and I can always add on a new resort, so I’m not sure the extra $1000’s of dollars are actually worth it (to me). I think the perks are just perks, no real value, but I can imagine if lived closer & had a more open schedule to jump on things at the drop of the hat, or could go more often to take advantage of season pass, etc it could be worth more… but even then I’m not sure it’s worth $1,000’s.

I'm going to play Mickey Mouse's (the devil) advocate. We're going to Moonlight Magic again in a couple weeks and we went to one last year. It was really cool to be able to take our friends who aren't DVC and let them experience the short waits and "free" snacks and for them to feel like they were getting into an exclusive event. With Epcot being our favorite park, we do tend to use the lounge there and it's been nice to be able to just pop in and relax. No it doesn't have much if any monetary value, yes I could've bought plenty of snacks with the money I saved with resale but also it's nice knowing my parents have somewhere they can relax on a hot day or skip a ride. The season pass also makes sense for us because we go so frequently, even if it's just for the weekend. On the other hand though we're about to become Orlando locals briefly so didn't need to be DVC.. but when we leave soon we'll need it again LOL.

Like I said, the best thing about buying direct is just not having to worry if your points are able to be used somewhere at 7 months. The second best thing though is probably not having to explain random cast members that you're DVC but you don't qualify for a discount .

All this just to say there is no right or wrong answer, only you know what's best for you OP.

 

[kilik64]

I'm going to play Mickey Mouse's (the devil) advocate. We're going to Moonlight Magic again in a couple weeks and we went to one last year. It was really cool to be able to take our friends who aren't DVC and let them experience the short waits and "free" snacks and for them to feel like they were getting into an exclusive event. With Epcot being our favorite park, we do tend to use the lounge there and it's been nice to be able to just pop in and relax. No it doesn't have much if any monetary value, yes I could've bought plenty of snacks with the money I saved with resale but also it's nice knowing my parents have somewhere they can relax on a hot day or skip a ride. The season pass also makes sense for us because we go so frequently, even if it's just for the weekend. On the other hand though we're about to become Orlando locals briefly so didn't need to be DVC.. but when we leave soon we'll need it again LOL.

Like I said, the best thing about buying is just not having to worry if your points are able to be used somewhere at 7 months. The second best thing though is probably not having to explain random cast members that you're DVC but you don't qualify for a discount .

All this just to say there is no right or wrong answer, only you know what's best for you OP.

All good points IF you think those perks are of value to you. Moonlight is like a free after hours event which are what like 150+ if paying for it? So yea saves some money, BUT they are fairly limited in times and would have to align with a trip/timing for you to take advantage, works for some but not for everyone. We've not gone yet when there was even one going on.

AP savings is only viable if you go more than once per year or can/want to play the week offset game.

End of the day, the only REAL perk that matters with direct is access to new resorts, rest are nice to haves but realistically probably not worth the extra cost to get em for lots of folks. But if you are going multiple trips per year and are flexible to change to go at times that work for moonlight magic etc, go for it.

 

[intamin]

All good points IF you think those perks are of value to you. Moonlight is like a free after hours event which are what like 150+ if paying for it? So yea saves some money, BUT they are fairly limited in times and would have to align with a trip/timing for you to take advantage, works for some but not for everyone. We've not gone yet when there was even one going on.

AP savings is only viable if you go more than once per year or can/want to play the week offset game.

End of the day, the only REAL perk that matters with direct is access to new resorts, rest are nice to haves but realistically probably not worth the extra cost to get em for lots of folks. But if you are going multiple trips per year and are flexible to change to go at times that work for moonlight magic etc, go for it.

Exactly which are the same points that @Chili327 said, I just wanted to show the opposite side and I wholeheartedly agree. This is why we end up having these same discussions over and over because there is no right or wrong answer.

I'd refer to my post that I wrote earlier which basically said what you just said

 

[DonkeyHoTay]

End of the day, the only REAL perk that matters with direct is access to new resorts, rest are nice to haves

This was a big part of my decision tree on buying direct. I could have bought the same home resort points resale for around 30% less per point, but the future proofing and access to new resorts (e.g. already booked Riviera Grand Villa several times through the end of this year alone) was worth the price. I don't know what else will open in the next 30 years, but the FOMO would be too much to warrant the lower, one time purchase price.

 

[kilik64]

Exactly which are the same points that @Chili327 said, I just wanted to show the opposite side and I wholeheartedly agree. This is why we end up having these same discussions over and over because there is no right or wrong answer.

I'd refer to my post that I wrote earlier which basically said what you just said

Yea like just about everything in life, pro and cons to either decision.

I personally think the resale pros (way less $$$) out weigh all the direct pros

 

[lyndeah]

DVC 1996. We bought and sold more than a dozen different contracts over the years and timing is important. Right now is a great time to buy resale. Look for the right use year for you and definitely look for a loaded contract with two years worth of points plus current year. Do not pay member fees on prior UY points. It may be worth paying "list" price and getting those points "free". Do the math. Anything is up for negotiation.

Something to consider is buying a direct contract down the road if you can. Those 2042 resorts expire Jan 2042 so 2039, 2040, 2041 will likely be difficult to get even at 11 months IMO. No one really knows how it will go down yet AFAIK. Regardless, there will be a lot less villas available then going forward for you to book since new resorts will not be available to you. What seems expensive now will look cheap in 5 or 10 years. Choose wisely.

Most brokers will let you put up to 5K on a credit card which is a great way to rack up miles. Write it into your OFFER. Also give the seller 24-48 hours to respond or you could be waiting for them to accept another offer. Definitely write into your offer that the seller will owe you $$ (it is often in the contract) for each point that somehow does not transfer to you as per the contract. It happens. I actually have had the opposite happen and got extra points woo hoo!

Good luck!

Thank you this is VERY valuable. Question -- why does use year (month) matter? I was told by a reseller that it didn't matter?