How do folks upgrade?

[MBTigger]

I bought SSR during the start of covid, when there was a limitation on the supply of contracts.

Now I am debating if I should sell my SSR and buy AKV ( My favorite resort that I have visited besides Beach Club) But more importantly, I wonder HOW people go about this. Do you buy the new contract prior to selling the old? Do you sell the old contract before buying a new one? If you finance is it easy to pay off early? Do you keep BOTH contracts and rent points?....

Just thinking about stuff....

 

[sndral]

A lot of people own at more than one resort - I own at two. A lot of people have SSR points & use them to book other resorts at 7 months. Have you tried using your SSR points to stay at AKV - it your goal is to stay at AKV & you go at times when AKV is available at 7 months, there’s no need to sell/buy really & SSR has lower MFs.
If you’ve had trouble getting AKV w/ your SSR points at 7 months & you’d at least break even if you sold your SSR & bought AKV instead, then I’d think about listing the SSR & starting to make offers on AKV.
But, personally I’d keep those SSR points for awhile & stay at a couple of different resorts - you may find that you prefer other resorts once you spend more time at them.
If you are paying off a loan on a contract I doubt that you’d get enough rental income from it to make your loan payments & pay your MFs, so I wouldn’t consider keeping & renting a contract that I still owed a significant amount of money on.

 

[The Jackal]

Never sell, just keep on buying and go more often. I’m joking. If AKV is where you want to stay, I would say sell SSR then buy AKV. If you have a trip planned already you can make a deal to sell SSR but it cannot close until after your trip.

 

[Marionnette]

I bought SSR during the start of covid, when there was a limitation on the supply of contracts.

Now I am debating if I should sell my SSR and buy AKV ( My favorite resort that I have visited besides Beach Club) But more importantly, I wonder HOW people go about this. Do you buy the new contract prior to selling the old? Do you sell the old contract before buying a new one? If you finance is it easy to pay off early? Do you keep BOTH contracts and rent points?....

Just thinking about stuff....

I don't think that I would sell if I were in your situation. It's unlikely that you would recover what you spent for the contract after you pay commissions and other fees.

My advice is to give your contract some time. Learn the ins and outs and the nuances of ownership. AKV is generally not difficult to book at 7 months unless you want value or club level studios. If you're still questioning your decision to buy SSR after a few years of using those points, then explore the idea of selling.

 

[Sandisw]

I have bought and sold quite a few times. I have done it differently each time. It all depended on where I was buying…direct or resale…and the proceeds from the sale.

Most times I put it up for sale first, got a buyer and then bought the new ones.

I sold BLT this year..having only bought in 2020..because I didn’t like have restricted points from RIV As soon as my buyer was secured I put in my offer on a RIV resale. They closed pretty close to each other but I had the funds to pay for one without worrying.

Going direct was easier because I could spread out my payments on my Disney Visa so I bought while my contract was for sale.

Good luck!

 

[crisi]

I don't think that I would sell if I were in your situation. It's unlikely that you would recover what you spent for the contract after you pay commissions and other fees.

My advice is to give your contract some time. Learn the ins and outs and the nuances of ownership. AKV is generally not difficult to book at 7 months unless you want value or club level studios. If you're still questioning your decision to buy SSR after a few years of using those points, then explore the idea of selling.

Yeah, in addition to the money you'd lose in buying and selling, dues at VAKL are more expensive, and VAKL is usually not difficult at seven months. I'd just keep doing the seven month booking. And value and club level studios can be difficult to get even if you are booking eleven months out.

 

[RoseGold]

You have to pay taxes on the gain of your SSR. Closing costs can be significant in a discussion like this.

I'd never buy DVC if I had to finance. It flips the math. Even if you could afford it, DVC will never mathematically beat staying at a Cars suite at AoA. This is a luxury product, that I don't think you should ever finance.

 

[Jwaire]

I'd never buy DVC if I had to finance. It flips the math. Even if you could afford it, DVC will never mathematically beat staying at a Cars suite at AoA. This is a luxury product, that I don't think you should ever finance.

To each their own, but I disagree. I purchased a 100 point Polynesian contract last year for $30-40 per point less than it's currently going for and paid it off within 14 months. So, while I agree you shouldn't finance it over the long haul, if you can pay it off within a reasonable amount of time—it's doable—especially if you took advantage of last year's resale pricing.

 

[Sandisw]

To each their own, but I disagree. I purchased a 100 point Polynesian contract last year for $30-40 per point less than it's currently going for and paid it off within 14 months. So, while I agree you shouldn't finance it over the long haul, if you can pay it off within a reasonable amount of time—it's doable—especially if you took advantage of last year's resale pricing.

Have to agree with you. It really all depends on where one wants to stay and future plans. When we first bought in, we used financing numbers as part of the picture and we were still spending less per year with the "monthly" payment then what we had been spending to stay at the Contemporary. We tried other places, and it wasn't the same.

We didn't end up financing, but would have not hesitated to do so! There is no question you can do Disney cheaper than DVC, but that is true even for a cash buyer.

 

[kniquy]

You need to ask yourself a few questions - what room categories do you like to stay in? how many points do you need? Have you actually tried staying at AK on your SSR points?

Often AK is pretty easy to book as it is such a large resort, that does exclude the value rooms as owners even have a hard time booking. So you probably would have no problem booking AK with your SSR points. SSR is a great option as the MF are so low.

You are a very new owner and there are somethings that you do learn as you own longer. Many people feel they don't have enough points and want to add on. What you could do at this point in time is buy the AK contract and keep the SSR if you can swing the financials. Then you could rent out your "extra" points. But we kind of did this. We bought AK but fell in love with Poly so we added on at Poly. I told myself I would rent out the "extra" points but instead we just use them.

It is kind of a waste that you just bought, had to pay the closing costs etc and then you will sell and just have to do it all over again. You will probably end up paying more for the AK points, pay more for the MF when in the end you could actually book AK with your bargain SSR points.

To me it doesn't make much sense to sell just to re-buy a year after getting in. Plus what resort you love can and does change for various reasons in your personal needs. We used our AK/Poly points to stay at OKW. I LOVED the rooms, so spacious and the resort is very nice, but i was able to stay there on my points. I didn't have to buy there. We also stayed at BC which we realized didn't live up to the hype that I always heard about.

I'd give it a little more time of owning before making a change.

 

[cedricandsophie]

in 2019 we sold a 150 point wilderness contract and a AK contract for 100 points. we had them for quite a while. We made quite a bit of money and bought 220 points at OKW. But we had already purchased the OKW points while our other points were on the market. We have never financed so i know we are lucky to pay cash. obviously your decision depends on what you paid, how much you can sell for and what you want tobuy, at what cost. And whether or not you can afford to pay cash Because financing costs a great deal.

 

[crisi]

To each their own, but I disagree. I purchased a 100 point Polynesian contract last year for $30-40 per point less than it's currently going for and paid it off within 14 months. So, while I agree you shouldn't finance it over the long haul, if you can pay it off within a reasonable amount of time—it's doable—especially if you took advantage of last year's resale pricing.

I agree there are good reasons to finance, but your success story is a matter of timing, and no one can predict if prices will go up that significantly (I was betting on a Covid crash in prices myself). In 2007 and early 2008 the market was going up, up, up, and a lot of people used your logic to buy with financing, only to end up selling at a loss with their loan underwater when they lost jobs. Weigh risk if you do finance so that if, during the term of the loan, prices crash, you will be able to keep your DVC even if you lose your job - or at least that you aren't likely to be underwater on the loan with no savings to pay it off. A short term loan (or paying a longer term loan off early) decreases that risk. So does having money saved that you just would rather leave liquid. So does having recession proof employment

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

As with all DVC Q’s, your answer will be a personal one… but it definitely depends on your needs (financials, UY, direct or resale, etc)… I personally have added on thus far, but I do plan to make a trade if the *perfect* contract comes up. In my case, I would make sure I pass ROFR on the new contract before listing my points for sale… but that is a luxury (& I would only do it if it would financially benefit me).

 

[Leight19]

I own at akv and okw and would say if you have any level of flexibility in when you travel it should be fairly easy to book akv at the 7 month window. The only exception here would be the value and club level rooms but general advice is do not buy akv assuming you can get those rooms as they are often not available.

I bought akv for the value studios and am generally happy as I have flexible schedule so had good luck booking them. However, we now have another kid so when we become party of 5 in 3 years the value room becomes 2br for us. When I do the math a standard 2br with ssr points is not much more expensive then a 2br value with akv points (the biggest savings is seen in the value studio). Given I generally can book standard views at 7mo window I think owning ssr to stay at akv is currently a great strategy and would not sell contract just to switch to akv if I were you.

 

[JCGal]

I have owned at SSR since 2007 and can say that in all those years and many trips to WDW and Disneyland, I have only stayed at SSR twice. I am fortunate enough to be able to travel during the less crowded times and have never really had any trouble getting something I want at another resort in that 7 month window.

I agree with the others in regards to selling your points, at least for awhile, you may find that u will be able to book can where u want at 7 months out. Also, it’s really kind of fun experiencing all the different DVC places at WDW.

 

[MBTigger]

To each their own, but I disagree. I purchased a 100 point Polynesian contract last year for $30-40 per point less than it's currently going for and paid it off within 14 months. So, while I agree you shouldn't finance it over the long haul, if you can pay it off within a reasonable amount of time—it's doable—especially if you took advantage of last year's resale pricing.

This is kind of the idea. Find a good deal on a contract I would prefer (thinking AKV right now) and finance it, then pay it off once my SSR contract is sold. There may be financing fees involved, but I am starting to think I may want the 11 month advantage for AKV....

 

[sethschroeder]

Way more to it but for me I would.

Buy AKV with a new use year.
Transfer every point I could from the SSR contract.
Sell the stripped SSR contract.
Either use or rent out the SSR points I transferred.

This only works with a different UY though. Also wouldn't work direct since Disney won't sell you a new UY if you are a current owner although having an additonal member on your contract or removing a someone might be a work around to get a 2nd membership number which is what you are after.

 

[Sandisw]

Way more to it but for me I would.

Buy AKV with a new use year.
Transfer every point I could from the SSR contract.
Sell the stripped SSR contract.
Either use or rent out the SSR points I transferred.

This only works with a different UY though. Also wouldn't work direct since Disney won't sell you a new UY if you are a current owner although having an additonal member on your contract or removing a someone might be a work around to get a 2nd membership number which is what you are after.

They will sell you a new UY as long as you buy the required minimum.

So, anyone wanting 150 or more won’t have an issue getting Disney to sell it to them. They might ask why but that’s it.

They just won’t let you get that new membership for less points.

 

[wfjny]

What I love about the DVC buying process (especially if purchasing direct), is that there is no pressure. What better way to say your product is superior then to basically say, we do not need to push you to buy it. So, yeah, took me about a year to finally pull the trigger. In 2009, we bought 250 points at BLT. Twelve years in, and I can still sell the points for more than I paid. I have basically used 25% of the “product” and it is still worth more than what I paid for it.

Financing is the thing that can turn a great investment into a poor one. We did finance our purchase, but paid it off within a year. So, yeah, I basically paid 10% more than the “sale” price. But all of that was figured out before I walked in to actually do the purchase. Spreadsheets galore...

Has it “worked out” for us. I would say so. But many things have changed. For about 8 of the last 12 years we have had annual passes. At times, DVC had some great deals. Twice I remember purchasing vouchers for AP that were $300 off. That represented a $1,500 savings, which basically paid our dues. Two years after purchase, we moved from NY to NC. Did not see that coming. Funny how life changes. But from our WDW point of view, it changed the trip from a long car ride (and half way family visit) or airline flight to an 8 hour drive. The number of trips per year increased. We mixed in some cheaper or "free on points" offsite stays. As my children grew older those DVC points went further. The family of 5 became a family of 4, and now the trips are normally just 3 of us.

Disney does seem to be in an upward spiral when it comes to their pricing. That may (will) impact how we “do” Disney as time marches on. Their price increases (admission, food, etc.) are increasing at a much faster pace than my entertainment budget.

Things are about to change again with the family. My oldest daughter and son-in-law just informed us a couple of weeks ago we are about to be grand-parents. So, I am assuming that soon as my youngest goes off to college, there will probably be at least 3 of us continuing to go, just the youngest will be much younger. Funny how life changes.

My point (yeah, there actually was one), always good to think about what you want. But remember your lives will change, hopefully for the better. Just think about what you want now, and how that may change as life marches on. Selling and buying different may be an answer, but like make a mix tape (yeah, I am that old), remember you lose a little with each copy. You may want to do that process once or twice as your needs change, but you probably do not want to make than an annual event…