For those who have purchased a resale contract...

[kerri0616]

Hi Members:

I've read quite a bit on these boards about the purchase and closing process through the resale market. Here's my question...

How long did it take your resale agent to find your perfect resale? (Resort you wanted, number of points you wanted, use year...)
I assume the "best" contracts don't even get posted on Timeshare Store's site, but go to someone on a waiting list. We want to purchase 75 points and would love VWL, but realize that is probably hard to come by. We had a great stay at OKW last Xmas and think this would be lovely also. SSR seems to have lots of 150 and 160 pt contracts but I haven't seen many smaller ones. I'm guessing that BC and BW probably don't come up often in these smaller contracts.

The Timeshare Store seems to have the most inventory and they get lots of positive feedback from these boards. I've seen GMAC mentioned, but they don't have much inventory now, based on their website.

Thanks again!
Kerri

 

[Stevegriswold]

Hi Members:

I've read quite a bit on these boards about the purchase and closing process through the resale market. Here's my question...

How long did it take your resale agent to find your perfect resale? (Resort you wanted, number of points you wanted, use year...)
I assume the "best" contracts don't even get posted on Timeshare Store's site, but go to someone on a waiting list. We want to purchase 75 points and would love VWL, but realize that is probably hard to come by. We had a great stay at OKW last Xmas and think this would be lovely also. SSR seems to have lots of 150 and 160 pt contracts but I haven't seen many smaller ones. I'm guessing that BC and BW probably don't come up often in these smaller contracts.

The Timeshare Store seems to have the most inventory and they get lots of positive feedback from these boards. I've seen GMAC mentioned, but they don't have much inventory now, based on their website.

Thanks again!
Kerri

Hi,

We bought two DVC resales just recently after doing research here.

We bought OKW and BCV on resale from GMAC. We did make offers on resales at the Timeshare store also, but they were not excepted by the sellers.

I would call both GMAC and the Timeshare store. GMAC had a great deal more listings avail. that were not on their website. Also it seemed to me the people selling with GMAC were selling at lower prices and willing to deal (pay closing costs, etc.) But the Timeshare store supports these forums and also offers lots of listings.

Also check out the thread in here about DVC ROFR and you will see what people are paying of resales. You can get great deals. We got 60 points OKW for $75 a point and had the seller pay ALL costs (closing costs, fees, etc). We got all 2007 points and all 2008 points. Disney is asking $94 for OKW I believe. Plus we wanted small contracts so we could resale later and did not want the min 160 point contract Disney offers.

The process was quick. We bought BCV and a few weeks later bought OKW. We are going to BCV already in just a few weeks.

 

[LisaS]

Also check out the thread in here about DVC ROFR and you will see what people are paying of resales. You can get great deals. We got 60 points OKW for $75 a point and had the seller pay ALL costs (closing costs, fees, etc). We got all 2007 points and all 2008 points. Disney is asking $94 for OKW I believe. Plus we wanted small contracts so we could resale later and did not want the min 160 point contract Disney offers.

You need to be careful when comparing the resale prices for OKW with Disney's price because Disney is selling OKW with an expiration date of Jan 31, 2057. All of the resale contracts currently on the market have the earlier expiration date of Jan 31, 2042. So Disney's price is higher but the contracts include 15 additional years.

 

[JimMIA]

Also it seemed to me the people selling with GMAC were selling at lower prices and willing to deal (pay closing costs, etc.) But the Timeshare store supports these forums and also offers lots of listings.

Willingness to deal is not necessarily a good thing. Very often the net result is Disney getting a contract at a lower ROFR price, because the buyer bargains themselves out of the contract. It's really sad to see someone outsmart themselves!

The most important consideration in any resale is paying enough to pass ROFR. When I bought resale, I discussed offering $1 lower than the listing price. My agent (TTS, in my case) said one dollar lower would risk ROFR, so I paid the original price. Within 10 days, two other contracts were ROFR'd at the one dollar less price, but mine passed. That's the benefit of using a broker who knows what they are doing.

One factor I would look hard at in a small resale is the "other charges." There are usually closing charges, but some brokers also charge some kind of administrative charge -- which is really just extra profit (they're not doing anything the broker who doesn't charge that fee isn't doing). It really doesn't matter who says they're paying what -- in the end, you are the buyer and you're going to end up paying those charges one way or the other (either through actual payment or by paying a higher price than the seller would have settled for otherwise).

There are variations in these charges from broker to broker, so be sure you know the full picture. Any broker will give you the complete details of all charges; they're required to do so by Florida law.

 

[bblanch]

Hi,

We bought two DVC resales just recently after doing research here.

We bought OKW and BCV on resale from GMAC. We did make offers on resales at the Timeshare store also, but they were not excepted by the sellers.

I would call both GMAC and the Timeshare store. GMAC had a great deal more listings avail. that were not on their website. Also it seemed to me the people selling with GMAC were selling at lower prices and willing to deal (pay closing costs, etc.) But the Timeshare store supports these forums and also offers lots of listings.

Also check out the thread in here about DVC ROFR and you will see what people are paying of resales. You can get great deals. We got 60 points OKW for $75 a point and had the seller pay ALL costs (closing costs, fees, etc). We got all 2007 points and all 2008 points. Disney is asking $94 for OKW I believe. Plus we wanted small contracts so we could resale later and did not want the min 160 point contract Disney offers.

The process was quick. We bought BCV and a few weeks later bought OKW. We are going to BCV already in just a few weeks.

My situation was similar. Wanted a 130-150 BCV contract, most resellers had a few in inventory at the time. Made offers on a couple at Timeshare Store but the owners were firm on asking price. Actually offered more than asking for a contract at another reseller (not GMAC) to make sure it would pass ROFR. I researched ROFR databases on this site and others and had an idea of what was the lowest price I could get passed on this may points. Offer was accepted signed and deposit sent all within a few hours. This was 11/20. Got notice that Disney waived ROFR on 12/07. Signed closing docs on 12/24.

The process was smooth and my agent was wonderful. The Timeshare store were also great to deal with. I just couldn't find the contract @ the price I wanted there.

Just wanted to edit and say that with as small of a contract that you're looking for, you won't have the luxury like I did of being able to shop around different resellers for the best contract/price. You'll probably have to get on a list to be notified when a contract that size becomes available and you'll more than likely have to pay whatever the asking price is because someone else surely will. Small contracts sell at a premium and don't last very long.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

Depends on which resort you want.

We purchased SSR via resale through GMAC. Just as an FYI, I don't think their postings are current on their boards, as the 2 contracts I purchased weren't even on there at the time. Anyway, I told Jackie a point range and what resort. She happened to have two loaded contracts (a 120 with all 2005 and 2006 points banked and all 2007 points coming and a 270 contract with 217 banked 06 points and all 07 points coming - both Aug UY). I made an offer that day on both and both were accepted.

If you're looking at OKW, depending on your circumstances, you may consider going through Dis and paying the difference. Per the OP, you'll pay more (mid-70's versus mid-90's per point), but you'll get 15 additional years.

As for the other resorts, find out what's available through resale and what Dis has available. You may be able to save some by going through resale, but may end up having to wait for inventory either way.

Good luck!!!

 

[mathgeek]

We bought both of our contracts resale through TTS. Both of the contracts are smaller, were listed on the website, and had the UY we wanted. We didn't have to wait at all for them. The longest wait we had was to close on our SSR contract due to some issues with the seller getting the papers notarized. But with both contracts our offers were accepted within a couple of hours of us calling TTS.

I think though that we were extremely lucky in our purchases - finding the resort, # of points we wanted, UY, and a reasonable price. I'm sure if we were to look today we wouldn't be as fortunate.

 

[JimC]

I have done a bit of business with The Timeshare Store, both purchases and sales. I keep going to them because of their honesty and knowledge.

Finding that right contract involves so many variables on both sides of the deal. It can vary because of the contract specifics, time of year, general economic conditions and the like.

The common error I see is giving the cost to acquire or the net proceeds to sell a timeshare too much weight. Don't get me wrong you want a fair deal. But the cost of having a timeshare (operations/maintenance, taxes, capital refurbishment reserves) are multiples of the transaction cost -- assuming you buy and hold for a period of years. Focus on the total long term ownership cost (transaction and "having" costs) and what is important to you in terms of vacation priorities. Then look for a fair deal on a contract that meets your needs from an honest broker who knows the market.

 

[mickeymorse]

Hi Kerri. I emailed TTS and talked to an agent. She didn't have anything in their listings and told me she would let me know as soon as something became available. About 2 weeks later I emailed ********** with my request and received a call later that day with exactly what we were looking for. Seller accepted our offer and now its just a wait and see what Disney does. The price offered has passed ROFR before so I hope it does again. Unfortunately since we are doing this during the holidays, I expect things to be a little more delayed than usual.

Rob

 

[nunzia]

I bought through GMAC, and was a little hesitant because of some negatives I saw posted here. I thought they had tons of resales listed..did you look under the Hot Deals section? The only problem I had with them was the Admin fee which I thought was excessive after the closing fee cost. They also snuck in a higher closing fee than the one quoted on the site. However, that is the company policy. The people I worked with were great. The whole thing went smoothly, I got OKW at 78 a point. ( I don't care about the expiration date since I'm not young enough to care). I only wish I had maybe waited to get a contract with 5 more points, but that was my error. The sellers were firm on the price and I had to pay all closing. It took 2 months from first contact to DVC emailing me a Welcome Home. Very satisfied, although I will purchase all further add ons through Disney if possible.

 

[vwlvette]

You can also check atimeshare.com for their listings, We purchased through them, had a great experiece, Very helpful & friendly. Good luck,
Happy New Year!

 

[Granny]

How long did it take your resale agent to find your perfect resale? (Resort you wanted, number of points you wanted, use year...)

Kerri...took us about 3 days. But that's because we didn't wait for the "perfect resale".

We got very close to the point total we wanted (5 points less) but ended up with a different UY than our original contract bought through Disney. The contract was also stripped a bit which worked out well for us since we didn't need the points right away and reduced our purchase price accordingly.

I think if you are flexible, you can find a contract pretty quickly. If all the stars have to line up on it, you're probably just as well off to purchase directly from Disney to ensure the same UY, no stripped contracts and exactly the number of points you want.

There's no right way to go after it...depends on how patient, flexible or cost focused you are.

 

[Chester's Mum]

I purchased my first contract in July through TTS the sponsor of this board. I did not contact them until I saw the contract I was looking for in their listings (although I had ordered their booklet which was quite informative). My experience with them was great, I paid asking, and also the closing, the original owner had already paid 2007 maintenance fees, but there were no hidden fees, and the closing cost was exactly as stated. I was very happy with the service.

I paid $87 per point for BWV 60 pt contract. I worked well for me because I did not have $16,000 to pay out up front to disney, and I didn't want to wait until I had saved that much. So factoring in the closing costs and priority postage costs for sending the payments, my first contract cost me $93/pt. It took about 2 months to close, but I had some problems with my email, that cost me almost two weeks during that time. I was in the DVC system around September 12 (received an email with my PIN and membership number from disney), booked my first trip almost immediately after that. I did not receive documents from disney and membership card for a few weeks after that.

I have since added on 40 BWV pts through disney, and that is so easy its scary. Called the day after purchase and booked those points (even borrowed next years points) at AKV. So if you can be flexible about the size of the contract, you can always add on another 25 or 30 directly. The cost is not that different when you factor in your closing costs on a small contract.

The listings go in cycles, sometimes there are lots of small contracts, sometimes not. In the past few months I have seen a couple of small contracts for VWL, but they go fast. I find the best thing to is get on the email list for TTS and check their listings every day. When you see the contract you want (assuming you have done your research and have really decided what you want) do not hesitate call them and tell them you want it.

 

[kimberh]

I originally bought from TTS, so now when I want to do a add on, I call my agent at the TTS, I like contract that are not stripped, I tell her what I am looking for, UY and how many points. It may take a few months for it to become available, I can wait. She calls me, I tell her yes or no,(is the $ amount right) we go from there. The last one passed ROFR with in a few days. The whole process is very smooth.

 

[RxforDisney]

We purchased a 75 point BCV contract just last month. I found it through being on the Timeshare Store's email list. I had called just asking questions last summer, not really serious at the time, and they put me on an email list with new listings.