How did you buy--location, price, or year?

[VanessasMom]

We are interested in purchasing a resale and are torn between buying at the resort we love, picking a resale that is cheapest, or choosing one with the longest "expiration date".

We don't book our vacations 11 months out--typically within the 7 month timeframe or less. We do have a particular dvc location that we alway stay at when we rent. It would be nice to have it longer to pass on to my daughter....decisions, decisions, decisions.

Don't know which way to go, but starting to lean towards cheapest since we don't need the long booking window. What did you do???

 

[DebbieB]

We are interested in purchasing a resale and are torn between buying at the resort we love, picking a resale that is cheapest, or choosing one with the longest "expiration date".

We don't book our vacations 11 months out--typically within the 7 month timeframe or less. We do have a particular dvc location that we alway stay at when we rent. It would be nice to have it longer to pass on to my daughter....decisions, decisions, decisions.

Don't know which way to go, but starting to lean towards cheapest since we don't need the long booking window. What did you do???

Also take into consideration dues. Vero tends to be the cheapest but has the highest dues.

When I bought (1999), the choices were OKW, BWV, HH or Vero. I wanted WDW, so that eliminated HH and Vero. I bought BWV because I wanted the 11 month window and have never regretted it. Love, love, love the boardwalk view!

 

[VanessasMom]

Yes, by cheapest I meant a combination of resale cost and dues. I find OKW to be one of the most economical and also SSR (with the extended date). BWV is our favorite and we love it there, but would be willing to try others as well. OKW and SSR would probably not be our top choice, but does it really matter since we would be reserving in the 7 month window and tend to go in the off seasons? It's such a difficult decision.

 

[nolanboys]

If you can't take advantage of the home resort booking window for the first 5 mo, then your home resort is not as important. We picked SSR because of the low resale cost, low dues, longer contract and the THV work well for our family. You say that you are not going to travel during peak times, but just remember peak DVC times are different. For example, early December is very popular with DVC members because of the low crowds, low points and Christmas decorations. I'm sure you'll find the perfect contract to suit your needs.

 

[disneynutz]

I say buy where you love to stay. You say that you don't care where you stay, that will change. You think that you want a long expiration date, you may be tired of Disney and sell in 10 years. As far as your Daughter goes, who is to say that she will even want your membership.

A lot of things can happen that can change things overnight. You just never know.

Bill

 

[Sammie]

Location

 

[sissy_ib]

They were pushing AKV and BLT when I bought. I wish I had found these boards sooner and known about re-sale! I really wanted BLT but AKV was cheaper so that is what I went with. I am glad I did now after staying at AKV, but I am still looking forward to staying at BLT.

 

[DVC SSR Owner]

We bought resale 200 points via resale at SSR for $55 a point. Paying direct at $95 or now $120 pp seems dumb!

 

[Sandisw]

We bought in 2009 and decided to go with where we love. Matter of fact, we had considered DVC several times but in the end, didn't like the locations as we love MK and wanted to be near it. We almost always stayed at the CR prior to DVC.

We bought BLT and spent about $5000 more to own there than to get an SSR contract resale. We decided, in the end, that it was worth it to ensure that we could book what we wanted. And, by owning there, our chances of getting SV rooms is great.

Now, we can book at 11 months as we go the same time every year since I am a teacher.

While you can't book during the home resort booking period now, there could come a time (or even a year) that you can. If you own elsewhere, you will always be locked out of BWV until the 7 month mark. Are you okay with this?

If you really are, then I would consider price (cost and dues) as a factor. Expiration is nice but IMO it is the least important thing to worry about. The earliest contracts still have 31 years on them--that is a LONG time!!!

Good luck!!!

 

[tomandrobin]

We are interested in purchasing a resale and are torn between buying at the resort we love, picking a resale that is cheapest, or choosing one with the longest "expiration date".

We don't book our vacations 11 months out--typically within the 7 month timeframe or less. We do have a particular dvc location that we alway stay at when we rent. It would be nice to have it longer to pass on to my daughter....decisions, decisions, decisions.

Don't know which way to go, but starting to lean towards cheapest since we don't need the long booking window. What did you do???

Yes, Yes, No

We have bought because of opportunity (cost).

Location is the #1 decision.....Buy where you want to stay!!!

Use year was never a factor.

On more note that is always overlooked.....Maintenance fees. People will get hung up paying $70 pp vs $73 pp for a contract, which on a 200pt resale is $600. But its those maintenance fees over the life of your ownership that costs you the most, even more then your initial buy-in.

 

[DVC SSR Owner]

We did the tour and liked AKV. But, financially resale SSR made more sense.

 

[n2mm]

Here's my breakdown:

SSR = Price (my DH was a CM and got a discount on this purchase)
BWV = Location (standard view rooms)
BLT = Location (standard view rooms)

I fully admit that I am a point miser and love to stretch my points for the longest stay possible. Therefore booking standard view rooms is high on my list and is one of the main reasons for buying at BWV and BLT.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

When we purchased in 2001....we didn't know you could buy "sold out" resorts and bought what DVC was currently selling VWL....while we love it our favorite has always been BWV...after finding these boards....we purchased 2 add ons at BWV's in 2002 & 2003

 

[pmcpmc]

We are interested in purchasing a resale and are torn between buying at the resort we love, picking a resale that is cheapest, or choosing one with the longest "expiration date".

We don't book our vacations 11 months out--typically within the 7 month timeframe or less. We do have a particular dvc location that we alway stay at when we rent. It would be nice to have it longer to pass on to my daughter....decisions, decisions, decisions.

Don't know which way to go, but starting to lean towards cheapest since we don't need the long booking window. What did you do???

LOCATION,LOCATION,LOCATION
we bought at bwv because of its closeness to epcot and hollywood studios
okw because of the size of the rooms and low dues.
ssr for closeness to disney downtown,.

 

[wildernessDad]

Location, location, location.

 

[GoofItUp]

Hmmm...different things for us.

We bought at BCV because we really liked the location and as the boys get older we know we will use SAB.

We are considering an add-on now and are only looking at SSR, though. We are looking at ridiculously low prices and these would be the "try out other resorts" points. I don't want to stay in the same place all the time, so there are for whatevers available whenever we go. So, this time, it's cost.

I can also see a strong case for buying BWV based on location. Those standard view rooms are a great way to stretch points at a great location.

How many points are you looking at buying? Would it be worth splitting it between 2 contracts? One at BWV so you could definitely stay there ever 3rd year plus another at SSR for "cheap" points and trying out other resorts?

 

[yfchen22]

Location is important but it would not factor much if you usually reserve less than 7 months ahead and going during off season. You can find really low price on resales. I say go with the cheapest. As for leaving something for your daughter, there is still 30 plus years of usage, so it depends on how old she is.

 

[krikiter]

Bought for location. Especially with all of the rumors going around about resale points being restricted, it's a better idea than ever to buy where you want to stay. For me, that's VWL.

 

[DizGirl20]

About a year ago we decided to take the plunge. I watched a DVC Holiday Webcast and the next thing you know I'm buying points at AKV. I believe they were offering SSR, AKV and BLT. The AKV theme appealed to us the most and the incentives were better than BLT so that's how we ended up with AKV.

Just a few months ago, we purchased an add-on via resale. I really, really, really wanted a BCV contract. We stayed there this past May and fell in love. BUT for the sake of keeping things simple (and also to have enough points to stay at any level, including concierge) we purchased another AKV contract. I have to admit that as much as I would like a BCV contract the earlier end date is a bit of a negative for us; I want to leave our contracts to our kids some day. I am just hoping that we can get BCV at the 7 month mark. And if we can't, I will always be happy staying at AKV. Or any DVC property for that matter! GOOD LUCK!

 

[kmsimone]

Bought at SSR new to get the max amount of years. Problem is now we would like BLT and are limited by the 7mo window. I would buy where you want to stay. If location doesn't matter go for the least expensive.