Help please on purchase of DVC - we are in 10 day window

[Nana2Callie]

We just returned from our annual trip to DW and purchased the DVC points at Key West. My husband was surprisingly agreeable. However, I'm wondering if we would have been better to negotiate a resale contract.

I did ask the salesman about this, but, of course, didn't get a straight answer.

Can an actual owner explain the difference to me and what benefits if any we lose purchasing resale and not direct. The salesmen indicated we would not be members, but only owners. Somehow there was a different.

A very simply explanation is greatly appreciated while I'm still in my window to reconsider. We are serious about being owners, but want to make the smartest deal possible for our scenario.

Thank you,

 

[MamaBelle4]

The difference between resale and direct is the perks, which are not guaranteed and can be revoked at any time.

Oh, and thousands of dollars.

I would pull your contract and purchase resale.

ETA: There is no benefit that direct members have v. resale members that really impacts your membership. Everyone's window is 11 month/7month. Direct members have the same availability as resale and the points are spent the same. If it costs 13 points to stay in a studio for a night for direct, it costs 13 points for resale. The difference is whether you paid $168/point initially or $78/point.

 

[Nana2Callie]

That is what I thought; however, the salesman tried to make it look like a lesser than membership. By perks... I'm assuming that is the discounts that comes with the blue membership card.

 

[pdude81]

You can save a lot of money resale but that depends on your priorities. Did you say that you bought Old Key West points? If so you can likely get them much cheaper through resale, but a lot of the contracts will have a high number of points.

How many points did you buy and what is your home resort?
You say yearly trip, but is it always the same time each year? Sometimes with the AP discount you can do 2 trips within the same one year period and then wait a little longer for the next trip. In this case the AP might save you money over the longer term. However, if you are looking for a lot of points you can pick up a resale contract and do a small direct add-on at the same resort later.

I would suggest doing some research on this forum and others to find out as much as you can about DVC and how you plan to use it over time.

 

[pdude81]

There are cases to be made for direct purchase, but if you're only concerned about the perks and not sure if you will use them, then you might be better off with a resale contract if you can find what you're looking for on the market with points for your next trip.

 

[MamaBelle4]

That is what I thought; however, the salesman tried to make it look like a lesser than membership. By perks... I'm assuming that is the discounts that comes with the blue membership card.

Yes, discounts on merchandise and annual passes along with access to the members lounge at Epcot (which I don't know if they've even extended past the end of this year or not). And access to the previews or parties they offer every so often, but typically do not announce before a couple of weeks out so you really have to be a local to take advantage anyway.

And the perks change. Any of those could be taken away or changed to far less attractive offers.

You didn't say how many points you purchased, but a quick look and I found OKW resale for 270 points at $69/point for $18,630 plus closing.

 

[Nana2Callie]

Agreed on researching more and trying to do as much as I can before the window of reconsideration ends. We purchased Old Key West 125 points at $145 per point. Our longer trip is in May for 10 days, but are looking to add a shorter ship possibly in cooler weather.

 

[MamaBelle4]

Home Resort:
Old Key West

Use Year
Dec

Total Contract Points
150

Price Per Point
$76.00

Total Contract Price
$11,400.00

Yearly Dues
$831.00

Notes
Points Available: 2016 - 0 | 2017 - 150 | 2018 - 150


Please look around. It really, really irks me that your salesman lied to you about not being a member if you buy resale.

 

[pdude81]

The contract above plus a subsequent 25 point add on would cost $3000 less up front and result in 50 more points per year. Granted you won't get any 2016 points from the resale contract, but the savings are vast. The add on gets you all the benefits that they told you were not available to you via resale.

125*145=18125 for 125 points
(150*76)+(25*145) = 15025 for 175 points


I wouldn't necessarily tell the agent that you were going out to buy a resale, just that you weren't comfortable locking up that much money. Then once you pass ROFR you can call that person or another guide if you decide that the perks are worth it to you.

 

[Nana2Callie]

What is ROFR?

And the contract was quoted as a 40 year contract.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Buying 100+ points direct for OKW direct is kinda bananas. It's okay -- you didn't know better. But you're within 10 days.

The "perks" of direct purchase are somewhat ephemeral. What I would do, were I you:

1. Go buy 100 points RESALE. This should be about $80 per point, and $500 closing.

2. Close that contract, get in the system, etc.

3. Call your guide and buy 25 direct points at OKW ($145+closing).

Under your current deal, you paid $18,125+closing for 125 points. Going resale+direct gets you most perks, and will cost you $11,625+closing fees. While you will pay to close two contracts, please believe me that if closing 2 contracts costs you more than $6000 everyone did it horribly wrong, the closing thing!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Resale does not have access to the dining and merchandise discounts. They are nice but not terribly significant in the grand scheme of timeshare ownership.

You wouldn't not have access to the discounted APs but that isn't a perk that everyone uses and might not be important. Really, the difference between direct and resale you could buy quite a few APs with no discounts.

You wouldn't have access to the new member events but who knows who long they'll last and the timing has to work out in the first place that you are even there when they are.

You wouldn't have access to the Epcot member lounge but that only opened towards the middle of last year and is only announced to be open thru the end of this year. I've gone once. Completely forgot about its existence on the last trip.

For perks you would still have access to TOTWL and pool hopping. Still can use Community halls and gyms. Still get your 11 month access to your home resort and 7 month to any other DVC resort. You can trade thru RCI and BVTC although the best value and all I'd recommend buying for is to use it to stay at DVC resorts).

You will call the same member services, still get Welcome Homes if the CMs say it, same housekeeping, same resort amenities, same maintenance fees and so on.

Buying resale for OKW you may pay up to 1/2 less than direct.

At a minimum, you may want to cancel the purchase and investigate DVC more. Make certain it's for you, that OKW resort is the one you want to own (are you aware of the 2042 issue where many contracts will end but some continue and the question of how that will be handled?). You can always call up DVC and say you want to purchase again.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I wouldn't necessarily tell the agent that you were going out to buy a resale, just that you weren't comfortable locking up that much money for only a 25 year contract. Then once you pass ROFR you can call that person or another guide if you decide that the perks are worth it to you.

Any OKW points sold direct are 2057, so don't say that about a 25-year contract. Guide response will just confuse you more!

 

[pdude81]

Any OKW points sold direct are 2057, so don't say that about a 25-year contract. Guide response will just confuse you more!

Good point, I forgot the mix of contracts there, although reportedly she would still have the option of extending the 15 years at the $25pp price and still come out ahead.... the math is not as good. I will fix my post above to cut out the 25/40 confusion.

Ultimately if the AP discount isn't a big deal, a single resale contract might do the trick.

 

[Nana2Callie]

Obviously I need to do a lot more research on the subject so I may have to cancel this contract - oh my the dreaded phone call. I don't want to pay for more than what we need.

I did wonder if the annual pass option as a DVC owner would help offset any discounts we lost not being direct members.

 

[MamaBelle4]

Obviously I need to do a lot more research on the subject so I may have to cancel this contract - oh my the dreaded phone call. I don't want to pay for more than what we need.

I did wonder if the annual pass option as a DVC owner would help offset any discounts we lost not being direct members.

There are other options for discounts that are a bit more time consuming. For example, you can buy discounted Disney cards through target or BJS at 5% off and immediately save a minimum of 5%

 

[Nana2Callie]

One question... what if I changed the current contract to 25 points instead of 125 leaving it a cash deal. Then, just saved the money for the balance of points later (resale) is there a minimum purchase point balance?

Also, I think we wanted Old Key West because we like the location (big fans of Port Orleans) and purchase cost. Obviously I haven't looked at this as clearly as I should either. Big decision... don't want to make the wrong one or one too fast.

 

[pdude81]

AP does give you a lot of those discounts back, but it saves the most money if you can take two trips within the one 12 month period. What you don't get without a direct purchase is the discount on each annual pass, which may or may not make a huge difference to you. The AP can save a good chunk of money each year if you are able to plan 2 trips to fall within the period that pass covers. Then you can let it lapse for a year or so and plan 2 more trips like that again. Honestly since you're not sure exactly how this will play out right now, you are probably best off pulling back and figuring out what the best thing is.

 

[pdude81]

One question... what if I changed the current contract to 25 points instead of 125 leaving it a cash deal. Then, just saved the money for the balance of points later (resale) is there a minimum purchase point balance?

Also, I think we wanted Old Key West because we like the location (big fans of Port Orleans) and purchase cost. Obviously I haven't looked at this as clearly as I should either. Big decision... don't want to make the wrong one or one too fast.

Adding on as I just saw your latest post. I think the minimum there is probably 50 points for someone who isn't already in DVC. However, starting off with a small direct contract isn't a bad way to go either, since you can add on via resale if you like. You just want to figure out how many points overall you want and whether there is a reasonable path to get there. I just don't think they'll let you do 25.... unless maybe you tell them it's 25 or you cancel. Can't hurt, right?

 

[Nana2Callie]

Thanks for all the help here and I'm going to read some more - may run the math again and throw out the 50 option then later add an additional 150. DH thought 150 would suit us better for two trips. Is there a waiting time that before we could purchase the additional points.

Also, one last thing, was that the contract we purchased included 2017 points available and that "seemed" like a big deal with the Feb renewal year.