First Contract: Debating how many points

[muppets3d]

It's incredible how much analysis paralysis people have in splitting up contracts for possible future resale. All these extra doc fees paid to Disney in case you might sell in the future. Given the point charts, 50 points at Poly is basically useless. I would have no interest in a 50 point contract there, but maybe they do actually sell. I guess for existing owners who have almost enough points but just need a small top-up so they can move up to a theme park view (50 points won't get you from a studio to a bungalow, that's for sure)?

 

[airjay75]

It's incredible how much analysis paralysis people have in splitting up contracts for possible future resale. All these extra doc fees paid to Disney in case you might sell in the future. Given the point charts, 50 points at Poly is basically useless. I would have no interest in a 50 point contract there, but maybe they do actually sell. I guess for existing owners who have almost enough points but just need a small top-up so they can move up to a theme park view (50 points won't get you from a studio to a bungalow, that's for sure)?

I'm totally with you on this. Every time I see a contract for less than 100 points - heck, even contracts less than 150 points, I just think, why not wait for a bigger one so I don't have to pay extra closing costs. And, if I end up with a few more points than I need, I'll just rent them out or bank them. I think the explanation is probably a combination of the reason you've stated combined with people who can more easily come up with $10k-$15k to spend on a points purchase vs. the $25k-$40k you might need to spend on a larger contract even if the what you eventually want are more points. And, I suppose there are the people who will use three years worth of points to stay in a studio once every three years.

 

[muppets3d]

I'm totally with you on this. Every time I see a contract for less than 100 points - heck, even contracts less than 150 points, I just think, why not wait for a bigger one so I don't have to pay extra closing costs. And, if I end up with a few more points than I need, I'll just rent them out or bank them. I think the explanation is probably a combination of the reason you've stated combined with people who can more easily come up with $10k-$15k to spend on a points purchase vs. the $25k-$40k you might need to spend on a larger contract even if the what you eventually want are more points. And, I suppose there are the people who will use three years worth of points to stay in a studio once every three years.

I can't fathom paying all that money to stay in a studio (even as nice as the ones at Poly are) every 3 years. Each to their own!

 

[🍀TwinsMom]

You definitely hold the same opinion as me, we really love the newer DVC layouts which is why the resort restrictions is a deal breaker for us to stay direct.

We stayed at a PIT studio once and loved it, and didn’t feel it was inconvenient at all, in fact it was an oasis of calm, providing respite from a hectic monorail loop and MK.

The only thing I am uncertain about the 1-bdrm is the storage for the living room sleeping area. We’re trying it in Jan so we’ll see if the closet is too far to pack away stuff.

Yeah, if coming from overseas for a long trip, I can see you having more gear than we do domestically. We do COO, but I do remember thinking the storage would be a little tight for people who pack more.

One thing to consider, Owners Lockers? We have four and love them, so our big week-long stays we get all our essentials delivered to us and unpack and truly feel like we're at home away from home.

Also, I reread your original post, and you travel to WDW multiple times a year, sometimes +/-7 months. I think an AK/SS/OKWe or even BLT/CC resale may be good to supplement Poly points rather than paying cash. You can get a SS resale for cheap and it would pay for itself within a couple years at the rates you seem to go.

If you were to do the 301 fixed week direct, you're in as a direct owner for discounted APs and whatever perks they toss in over the years. You'd get the double points the first year, so that's 602, and that would certainly float you extra points for the extended family and/or other resorts at 7 months. As well, Poly points rent very high, so whether direct or resale, you can definitely rent and take the cash to subsidize other vacations, or do the 301 direct and another 300ish resale Poly so you have one massive block of points at 11 months to work with. You could certainly just start with the 301 direct and play around with it.

Just letting you know, direct is dangerously easy, LOL. We have all direct because we bought (and love) Riviera, and then we topped off with 100 direct Poly because, well, FOMO and impatience, honestly. Those points are loaded in your dashboard within 24 hours. It's crazy easy! Then you can call and book your Welcome Home. Next thing you know you're obsessively watching YouTube videos of construction progress of Lakeshore Lodge and pricing more resale contracts.

I really like PIT, but the point charts are brutal. I'd love to do a 2B standard/cheap view sometime, but woof. We'd need to buy more points!

 

[nanoburd]

Yeah, if coming from overseas for a long trip, I can see you having more gear than we do domestically. We do COO, but I do remember thinking the storage would be a little tight for people who pack more.

One thing to consider, Owners Lockers? We have four and love them, so our big week-long stays we get all our essentials delivered to us and unpack and truly feel like we're at home away from home.

Also, I reread your original post, and you travel to WDW multiple times a year, sometimes +/-7 months. I think an AK/SS/OKWe or even BLT/CC resale may be good to supplement Poly points rather than paying cash. You can get a SS resale for cheap and it would pay for itself within a couple years at the rates you seem to go.

If you were to do the 301 fixed week direct, you're in as a direct owner for discounted APs and whatever perks they toss in over the years. You'd get the double points the first year, so that's 602, and that would certainly float you extra points for the extended family and/or other resorts at 7 months. As well, Poly points rent very high, so whether direct or resale, you can definitely rent and take the cash to subsidize other vacations, or do the 301 direct and another 300ish resale Poly so you have one massive block of points at 11 months to work with. You could certainly just start with the 301 direct and play around with it.

Just letting you know, direct is dangerously easy, LOL. We have all direct because we bought (and love) Riviera, and then we topped off with 100 direct Poly because, well, FOMO and impatience, honestly. Those points are loaded in your dashboard within 24 hours. It's crazy easy! Then you can call and book your Welcome Home. Next thing you know you're obsessively watching YouTube videos of construction progress of Lakeshore Lodge and pricing more resale contracts.

I really like PIT, but the point charts are brutal. I'd love to do a 2B standard/cheap view sometime, but woof. We'd need to buy more points!

Yes definitely getting an owners locker, I look forward to having actual duvets instead of tea towels for bedding. Thats such a helpful suggestion.

For now this contract is to cover our “lowest common denominator” vacation, not sure how long we’ll be doing 3+ disney vacations a year. So when I’m thinking 40 years, and the years I might even go alone, an annual studio/1-bdrm is more than enough.

The plan is just to pay cash (as we do now) if we need that occasional extra room or extra vacations.

However, I’m aware that being a DVC owner may change my perspective and catch some add-on-itus. In which-case, buying some SAP for 7-months would be a good option as a top up for the occasional bigger trip.

 

[AstroBlasters]

It's incredible how much analysis paralysis people have in splitting up contracts for possible future resale. All these extra doc fees paid to Disney in case you might sell in the future. Given the point charts, 50 points at Poly is basically useless. I would have no interest in a 50 point contract there, but maybe they do actually sell. I guess for existing owners who have almost enough points but just need a small top-up so they can move up to a theme park view (50 points won't get you from a studio to a bungalow, that's for sure)?

“Maybe they actually sell”? No, they sell incredibly fast and at a preimum to larger contracts. The board sponsor even puts in a “full price offer only” stipulation and they still sell.

The people who buy them are usually adding on to current contracts (I.E. have 150 and want 200) or the bank/borrow crowd who plan to go once every 2-3 years.

It’s actually pretty cheap insurance in case you don’t hold the points for 4 decades….

And…. waive the title insurance if buying direct from Disney to lower those doc costs.

 

[Chili327]

It's incredible how much analysis paralysis people have in splitting up contracts for possible future resale. All these extra doc fees paid to Disney in case you might sell in the future. Given the point charts, 50 points at Poly is basically useless. I would have no interest in a 50 point contract there, but maybe they do actually sell. I guess for existing owners who have almost enough points but just need a small top-up so they can move up to a theme park view (50 points won't get you from a studio to a bungalow, that's for sure)?

I'm totally with you on this. Every time I see a contract for less than 100 points - heck, even contracts less than 150 points, I just think, why not wait for a bigger one so I don't have to pay extra closing costs. And, if I end up with a few more points than I need, I'll just rent them out or bank them. I think the explanation is probably a combination of the reason you've stated combined with people who can more easily come up with $10k-$15k to spend on a points purchase vs. the $25k-$40k you might need to spend on a larger contract even if the what you eventually want are more points. And, I suppose there are the people who will use three years worth of points to stay in a studio once every three years.

I can't fathom paying all that money to stay in a studio (even as nice as the ones at Poly are) every 3 years. Each to their own!

The part you’re missing is that it may be what someone can afford. I bought 6 contracts under 100, until my latest which was 100. It feels better being able to purchase than to owe for months/years, and since I can’t afford to just drop $25-$50k I also may need to sell something down the line and would rather not have to give up all my points for stupid bills.

“Maybe they actually sell”? No, they sell incredibly fast and at a preimum to larger contracts. The board sponsor even puts in a “full price offer only” stipulation and they still sell.

The people who buy them are usually adding on to current contracts (I.E. have 150 and want 200) or the bank/borrow crowd who plan to go once every 2-3 years.

It’s actually pretty cheap insurance in case you don’t hold the points for 4 decades….

And…. waive the title insurance if buying direct from Disney to lower those doc costs.

Indeed they do sell incredibly fast and for more than the extra fees to have multiple small contracts.

 

[mistysue]

The only thing I didn't see anyone mention - because it seems like sometimes people buy something because they have the money at that moment be sure the annual dues aren't going to annoy you later.

As long as that's the case, I would buy however many points it takes to get the room you want in the season you ACTUALLY WILL GO. Not "oh, I could get a 1 bedroom this one week, so I'll buy that" and then you try to go in a season where the point cost is 50% higher or whatever.

It's never enough points, so just buy what you think you will actually want, and deal with needing more later so you don't have a 600 point contract nobody can buy from you.

 

[MattB2G]

Just bought 30 Direct Points, waived the Title Insurance. Reason we didn't buy 50-60 points which is what we probably need long term is that we have the cash on hand and won't need that many points for another 3-4 years, why pay dues on points you don't need. I know we can rent them out, but I'd rather not have to deal with it and don't need the cash that bad that the income after paying for the points and dues would be that significant, would only end up being less than $5/points extra.... or $150. Not worth the effort.

Also the UY this contract will be combined with other grandfathered points with no restrictions on future DVC Resorts, so for the little difference in direct vs. resale it was worth it.

 

[muppets3d]

Just bought 30 Direct Points, waived the closing costs. Reason we didn't buy 50-60 points which is what we probably need long term is that we have the cash on hand and won't need that many points for another 3-4 years, why pay dues on points you don't need. I know we can rent them out, but I'd rather not have to deal with it and don't need the cash that bad that the income after paying for the points and dues would be that significant, would only end up being less than $5/points extra.... or $150. No worth the effort.

Also the UY this contract will be combined with other grandfathered points with no restrictions on future DVC Resorts, so for the little difference in direct vs. resale it was worth it.

How do you waive closing costs?

 

[Genie+]

How do you waive closing costs?

Probably meant title insurance.

 

[MattB2G]

How do you waive closing costs?

Sorry, Title Insurance waived.