First-time buyer looking for advice

[mattw0640]

Hi everyone! We're looking at making our first DVC purchase, maybe 100 points through a company that sells resale. Do you have any advice to share with a first-timer? Important things to know, or things that you wish someone told you?

Thank you!

 

[Sandisw]

Be sure it’s the resort you want to be at if you can’t trade out to other resorts.

UY is important. Having a UY prior to your typical travel times simply allows you a little extra protection if you have to cancel or change the trip,

When you travel during the first 8 months of a UY, you can still bank the points if something happens and you cancel more than 31 days out. Or, if using points that will expire, it gives you time to resche duke the trip.

UY doesn’t play a role in when you can book. And, of course, you know that resale points purchased now can not be used to book RIV or any future resorts DVD builds…unless you buy RIV, and then those can only be used at RIV…no trading.

 

[Matty B13]

First make sure you know what UY means, what resort you want to stay at, and what banking and borrowing mean as well. It will probably take you 3 to 5 days of reading post on Disboards to figure this all out. Since you just joined today, please please to make sure to read through all the threads in the DVC section first before making an offer on any resale contract. The biggest mistake we made when first purchasing was not understanding what UY means and how it affects your vacation planning. Buying resale DVC contracts take between 2 to 3 months, so first take at least a few days to read through all the threads and ask questions. Sandisw is a great resource along with a lot of the other regular posters on Disboards, and will answer any question you post.... almost immediately. Don't be afraid to ask any question, even if you think it is silly.

 

[VdoesDisney]

1. Home Resort
- If you plan last minute buy for value, if you plan far in advance buy where you want to stay
- Understand contract lengths, are you ok with a 2042 expiration date? Or do you want to hold a contract into 2060+?
2. Use Year - as stated above, pick a UY that works with your travel patterns, ideally you’ll want to minimize traveling after your banking deadline
3. Number of points - how big is your family? Are studios a realistic option? If not buy enough points for 1 bedrooms or larger
4. Look across multiple DVC resale sites, deals pop up if you are willing to monitor multiple sites daily
5. Go for a loaded contract, stripped contracts are typically a bad deal (loaded meaning it has banked points, stripped meaning it doesn’t have points for this or even next UYs)
6. Understand the resale restrictions, for the most part the biggest restriction is not being able to use your points at Riviera, but you will also not have access to discounts, especial events, and trading into cruises/experience (which is a terrible point value), this may or may not matter to you but you’ll need to understand them before deciding to buy resale.

 

[cbyrne1174]

Weeklong studio stays are usually only available at OKW, SSR and AKV at the 7 month mark, so buy where you want to stay. Also, research other resale systems like Wyndham and Marriott and see if they might be the better option for you. DVC is only if you want to go to WDW every year for at least a decade. Other systems have AWESOME amenities (like water parks) at their Orlando locations, but also have awesome other locations if you don't want to go to Orlando every year. They also are 1/10th the price when buying resale.

I own Wyndham, Marriott and DVC. I get so much more enjoyment as an adult with my Wyndham and Marriott. The DVC is for the kid. For example, I just scored a 2 bedroom ocean front room at Marriott's Frenchman's cove in St. Thomas in June for $1100 for the whole week via Interval International (retail is $800/night). I could have traded into a 1 bedroom at SSR instead of St Thomas via Interval International, but I'd rather go spend a week in St. Thomas than stay at SSR. Also, my Marriott membership only costed me $1800 vs the $8000 my 50 DVC points costed.

 

[Epcot Forever Forever]

Change your mind immediately if you don’t:

• Plan to pay cash (no loans!)
• Plan your trips a year in advance
• Have at least a little flexibility in dates
• Keep your travel plans exactly as originally planned at least 90% of the time
• Understand that you will not get the lowest point room type at any resort you don’t own (and at BWV, CCV, AKV, VGF, and RIV, may not always get the lowest point room type even if you do own even if you do everything perfect)

That’s my advice. Also everything everyone said above.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

• Plan to pay cash (no loans!)

I think this is good general advice and I do the same, but I also think many (if not most) DVC buyers finance. In some circumstances it can be not-so-bad if you pay it off pretty fast, you may still come out ahead given the price pp increases.

For instance, my mother bought at RVA when DH and I were doing so also. I think she had big case of FOMO... we told her to get only as much as she could pay right then but didn't listen, got double in order to get to the better incentives at the time. Also, at that time there was a $1500 off offer if using a Disney Visa for at least the down payment. She paid it off in 1.5 years and paid about $1600 in interest in the end--the Disney Visa offer alone covered most of that, but the higher ppp also would have made it costlier in the end. So I guess she showed us.

 

[BeachClub2014]

I would offer a slight variation to the oft-repeated advice of "buy where you want to stay." Although sound in logic, it's a rather inflexible mantra. What if the price range of the resort in which someone prefers to stay is out of their comfortable price range? They shouldn't necessarily avoid becoming a DVC member because they can't, or won't, buy points at the resort where they prefer to stay.

I suggest that one should buy points at a resort that they are willing to stay in and are comfortable with the purchase price.

 

[RoseGold]

Do your math. Definitely possible DVC will not break even against very good options, which don’t require commitment, like value or Swolphin.

The amenities like laundry are in a lot of hotels —Art of animation and swolphin. You don’t have to buy into a five figure timeshare to do this.

The math is so tight on renting points right now, I think that’s a better option in a lot of scenarios. No commitment, any home resort, no money locked in.

 

[Epcot Forever Forever]

Do your math. Definitely possible DVC will not break even against very good options, which don’t require commitment, like value or Swolphin.

The amenities like laundry are in a lot of hotels —Art of animation and swolphin. You don’t have to buy into a five figure timeshare to do this.

The math is so tight on renting points right now, I think that’s a better option in a lot of scenarios. No commitment, any home resort, no money locked in.

Well said. I still think that DVC only truly makes sense for ~5-10% of people who start looking at it as an option, and it’s important for people in the other 90-95% to understand that not owning DVC doesn’t make you a bad Disney fan!

 

[Marionnette]

I agree with @RoseGold. Take the time to do some back of the envelope calculations. DVC was a good value 10 years ago when I bought BWV resale for $61 per point. Now, prices have skyrocketed, DVC isn't the product it was years ago, booking even your home resort can be difficult at times and they've attempted some pretty shady things with the points charts recently that they've had to walk back.

You might still decide that DVC is a good fit and value for you. And if so, take your time to find the right contract.

 

[VdoesDisney]

I mostly agree that apples to apples renting or Swolphin may be better options today but, say you buy a 2050+ contract in 2022, rental prices and cash rates will continue to go up over the next 10, 20, 30 years, while your DVC point cost was locked in today. MFs will definitely continue to increase but if history serves as an indicator, the year over year increase will still be far below that of cash stays or rentals.

The point remains true though, new buyers should very carefully look at the math and make sure it works for them, for a lot of people who say in moderate or value resorts, don’t travel to WDW yearly, and don’t see themselves continuing to travel to WDW over decades DVC may not be a good fit.

 

[abner1776]

I know it can be hard to plan your Disney vacations for years in advance, but be sure to choose a UY(use year) that works with when you want to vacation at Disney. If you think that the Xmas holidays will be your vacation time, then do not choose a FEB UY but rather choose an OCT UY. Why ?

Say you have a FEB UY and you have planned a huge fam vacation for Christmas vacation week. Suddenly it's mid October(still outside the 60 day cancellation limit) and you find that you have to cancel your vacation. You breath easy knowing that you cancelled early enough to avoid the points falling into the dreaded "holding" class, but now you realize that you have missed your ability to bank those points cause the banking window on FEB UY closed on 9/30. So, you are stuck trying to find a room prior to the end of January, otherwise those points go "poof" at the end of January.

If instead you had chosen an OCT UY, you could cancel in mid Oct and be able to still use those points on a future vacation AND have the ability to bank those points into the following year.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

There are lots of YouTube playlists that explain DVC ins and outs quite well. Make sure you've done your research and are very familiar before purchasing.

 

[Her Dotness]

Ummmm, my suggestion would be forget it unless you can buy another 50-100 points in a year or two.

100 points won't get you much of a stay at all but for a few resorts.

That's the big mistake we made 5 years ago, thinking 100 points was anywhere near enough for resorts where we'd really want to stay.

ETA: Here's crucial information--this year's points charts. https://dvcfan.com/2020/12/07/2022-disney-vacation-club-points-charts/

These tell you how many points your proposed stay will require. I think you'll see pretty quickly how very limited your options will be with only 100 points.

Also, you can find the charts for 2023 by clicking on DVC on the toolbar at the top of this screen, then on DVC Points Charts on its toolbar.

 

[mattw0640]

Thank you VERY MUCH, everyone!!! Two quick questions:

• If I understand correctly, resale only gets you the original 14 DVC resorts—it doesn't include hotels like Contemporary or Port Orleans. Is that correct?
• Is it possible to get Boardwalk as your home resort if you buy direct?

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Thank you VERY MUCH, everyone!!! Two quick questions:

• If I understand correctly, resale only gets you the original 14 DVC resorts—it doesn't include hotels like Contemporary or Port Orleans. Is that correct?
• Is it possible to get Boardwalk as your home resort if you buy direct?

Contemporary is not part of DVC. The connected Bay Lake Tower is, and you can stay there with resale points. Usually Lake View 1BRs are available at 7 months. Port Orleans likewise is not DVC. None of the moderate resorts are DVC (either of the Port Orleans, Caribbean Beach, nor Coronado Springs) and neither are any of the value resorts.
You can have Boardwalk Villas (half of Boarwalk is villas/DVC, and the other half is the Inn/hotel for cash guests) as your home resort by purchasing a Boardwalk Villas contract, either resale or direct. Note the expiration is 2042.

 

[Hoppy-tn]

You can buy boardwalk direct as home resort.
it is $230 a point for boardwalk. 150 point minimum you have to buy through direct.

 

[chalee94]

Thank you VERY MUCH, everyone!!! Two quick questions:

• If I understand correctly, resale only gets you the original 14 DVC resorts—it doesn't include hotels like Contemporary or Port Orleans. Is that correct?
• Is it possible to get Boardwalk as your home resort if you buy direct?

1) resale doesn't get you Riviera. Or the new DL resort or (most likely) BWV or BCV in 2042 assuming those resorts are resold after the current contracts expire.

Make sure that you understand the difference between DVC villas and Disney hotels. Even though direct buyers have some access to Disney hotels, the point costs are much much higher than for DVC studios. Not worth it.

2) As stated, yes, but it still expires in 2042.

 

[VdoesDisney]

Thank you VERY MUCH, everyone!!! Two quick questions:

• If I understand correctly, resale only gets you the original 14 DVC resorts—it doesn't include hotels like Contemporary or Port Orleans. Is that correct?
• Is it possible to get Boardwalk as your home resort if you buy direct?

BWV is one of my home resorts, I absolutely love it but TBH I would never buy it direct, you just can’t make the math work out with direct pricing, it’s already a challenge with resale but it can work, direct makes it unreasonable because of the 2042 expiration date and price per point.