How long does it usually take to find a good contract?

[DisneyLoverUSA]

I know it is going to vary widely based on certain factors. But I was curious what is the average time range it takes to find a good contract when you have specific things you want out of your contract?

Is it weeks, months, a year? How many brokers did you talk to about watching out for a contract for you when you decided to purchase?

These are the things we want:
1. OKW 150 point contract
2. September or October user year
3. $55 pp or less
4. Loaded contract with at least THIS UY points and possibly some banked. No stripped contract.


Now I KNOW I will not find a contract that has all of those factors. Only in a perfect world. I know we will have to be flexible on a few things in the end.

We really don't want to buy a bigger contract then what we need. We will only need 150 points, so we really don't want to be very flexible on that. We may go as high as 160 or 175 but we will try not to.

We plan on traveling mostly in January and some October, so I have been told an October user year would be best. SO I will go with September or October (but not November or December) If we want things to work better for us as far as when we can cancel and when we have to bank or use points, those 2 user years will be what we need. If I have to take a contract with a June, July or August user year I will, if it is a perfect contract in other ways.

If we get really close to the exact contract we want I know we may have to be flexible on what we pay pp and even possibly just make a full price offer on a contract as not to lose it if it has all the right elements.

We aren't going to buy a stripped contract. We have decided on that pretty firmly. We at least want a contract with this year's points either available or coming soon.

I know there are about 4 main DVC resellers.

Once we have cash in hand and are ready to buy is it smart to put out a feeler with every one of those agencies so they will all be looking for that perfect contract for us?

I know if we aren't really flexible on our expectations it could take a really long time to find what we are looking for.

But what have been YOUR experiences on how long it TOOK YOU to find that perfect contract? And what did you have to be flexible on to buy that contract? Did you buy more points than you wanted? Did you pay full asking price?

Sorry for the long post and numerous questions but you all have been invaluable at what DVC information I do know now. TIA!

 

[juncker]

We were looking for an SSR resale contract with about 150 points fully loaded. We had no preference on use year. It only took a couple of weeks before one popped up for us (160 pts, Dec use year, all prev years points banked). So for us, it didn't take long.

It all gets down to how flexible you are in your criteria. I fully support your only buy a loaded contract. That is worth thousands of dollars. We had our first visit home 3 months later I'd hate to buy a stripped contract and not visit for 2 years. Although not really instant gratification, it sure made me feel better about our purchase.

I think that the Use Year is your most limiting factor as you're eliminating 80-90% of the contracts off the bat. I would start looking at contracts with any use year that match your criteria. That will decrease the time.

Something could pop up tomorrow, or you may go a long time before you find one. I'd suggest you get in touch with one of the resale agencies and tell them what you are looking for. They can then be in contact with you if something that is close comes by. New fully loaded contracts (or low point contracts) can disappear as fast as they pop up.

Good Luck. Patience Grasshopper. It sounds like you have a solid plan. Waiting can be tough, but will be worth it.

Here's some pixie dust hoping that it works out for you soon:

 

[juncker]

Sorry, I should have added that we did pay full asking price as it was fair compared to other contracts. I didn't want to let it get away.

 

[disneybeachprincess]

We asked ourselves many of the same questions before making an offer on a DVC contract...IMO... check the 4 main sellers' website listings & get on their weekly email blasts...you can cancel at any time...that way you know the contracts out there for sale...they also email you the new additions a bit sooner than they are posted...you will find a great variety of prices & if you are lucky to find a seller who is ready or in great need to sell, then it will be a match

We found 2 of the 4 to be very customer friendly & the communciation is excellent. It depends upon your time frame. We were not in a great hurry & were willing to wait until the right price, use year & property became available. We are now in ROFR & awaiting our closing!

We cannot wait to be official DVC owners! From one Disneylover to another: Good luck! Welcome "almost" home!

 

[disneybeachprincess]

Hi Juncker! Can I please get some of that pixie dust too? This ROFR takes forever! LOL!
Thanks!

 

[bmonoski]

It did not take us long at all. In all honesty, we were waiting for a large check that DH was receiving in order to start the process. In the meanwhile, we saw many different contracts we liked. However, once we received that money and could actually start the process, it only took us a couple of days! We are currently in ROFR process. I think you just need to keep an eye out every single day and if you know what you want, then it will come. (the use year restriction would be the only thing that I think might hold you up a bit, but it WILL come along!)

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

I figure that the user year is probably the MAIN THING I am going to have to be flexible on. But from talking to numerous DVC owners on here and being schooled a little bit on user year and what it means, they have been very specific that a FEB user year would be bad for our travel plans so I know March and April aren't great either. But like I said, if a good contract does come along with almost all of our other wants then I would probably buy one with any user year to tell you the truth and just make it work.

SO maybe when I am able to be in a position to make an offer, I will contact a few of the brokers to be on the lookout for what we want and not even limit them to what user year it should be?

 

[disneybeachprincess]

IMHO..since you know the months you don't want for Use Year, give them the ones you do want..happy shopping & good luck! The right contract is out there!

 

[AimKo]

I called the Timeshare Store directly with my wish list and asked if they had anything that fit. They had 2 contracts that worked that had just come in! So I put in an offer and had a contract within a couple days.

I'd say if you didn't see anything that exactly fit your wish list, it wouldn't hurt to call and ask.

Aim

 

[Missyrose]

I figure that the user year is probably the MAIN THING I am going to have to be flexible on. But from talking to numerous DVC owners on here and being schooled a little bit on user year and what it means, they have been very specific that a FEB user year would be bad for our travel plans so I know March and April aren't great either. But like I said, if a good contract does come along with almost all of our other wants then I would probably buy one with any user year to tell you the truth and just make it work.

SO maybe when I am able to be in a position to make an offer, I will contact a few of the brokers to be on the lookout for what we want and not even limit them to what user year it should be?

Unless you have pressing need, I would see if you can find the UY you want for the first few weeks of looking. I know you're very excited about buying in, but it's worth waiting for exactly what you want and what will work best for your travel needs. You'll be surprised by the number of contracts that are put up for sale each week.

If after a month or two you haven't found what you want, then maybe broaden your UY search. Good luck, it took us a couple of weeks to find the right contract (and failed offers on two contracts) and hopefully we should clear ROFR this week!

Patience is your friend in this process, it will keep you from jumping at the wrong thing.

 

[luckyman_apd]

Looking for a DVC contract was like looking for a house for us. When we bought a house, we bought a HUD fixer upper, and the new HUD lists came out weekly. Just the same with DVC, most new listings seemed to come before/after the weekends. Get on ALL the email listings for the 4 main resellers. Also, call each one. I know with 2 of the 4 I was emailed EVERY time a new listing was posted with them BEFORE it hit their main webpage. Tell them what you are looking for resort/pts/UY. It can't hurt, it can only help. And if you know you can't buy today, but in a few months, you will have an idea of what's available and how often listings come and go.

As for us, we were looking for 100 BLT pts with a June UY. March is the earliest we were going to go. I got into a bidding war on the ONLY 100 pt June UY that I saw, and the bids went over my price so I lost out. It was a loaded contract as well, with 100 banked pts. The 100 pt BLT contracts usually sold within a week of being posted, so I had to watch daily for listings. In the end June UY was not posted often, so we jumped on a 125 pt purchase with a June UY with banked pts as well. The whole process for me was about 2 months. We should hear about ROFR by the end of this week.

Good luck.

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

I know 2 of the main resellers are The Timeshare Store and Fidelity. Is the third one dvcbyresale or something like that? And the fourth one the name keeps getting starred out. Is there any way someone can PM the n-a-m-e-s since it won't show up here? Not sure if it will star it out in a Pm too. I would like to sign up for their email lists.

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

Looking for a DVC contract was like looking for a house for us. When we bought a house, we bought a HUD fixer upper, and the new HUD lists came out weekly. Just the same with DVC, most new listings seemed to come before/after the weekends. Get on ALL the email listings for the 4 main resellers. Also, call each one. I know with 2 of the 4 I was emailed EVERY time a new listing was posted with them BEFORE it hit their main webpage. Tell them what you are looking for resort/pts/UY. It can't hurt, it can only help. And if you know you can't buy today, but in a few months, you will have an idea of what's available and how often listings come and go.

As for us, we were looking for 100 BLT pts with a June UY. March is the earliest we were going to go. I got into a bidding war on the ONLY 100 pt June UY that I saw, and the bids went over my price so I lost out. It was a loaded contract as well, with 100 banked pts. The 100 pt BLT contracts usually sold within a week of being posted, so I had to watch daily for listings. In the end June UY was not posted often, so we jumped on a 125 pt purchase with a June UY with banked pts as well. The whole process for me was about 2 months. We should hear about ROFR by the end of this week.

Good luck.

The more I think about it the more I think there is only a few months (November, December and February) that I wouldn't want to be my user year. So that leaves me 5 other months as choices. I hope to be able to find something within those choices.

 

[Missyrose]

I know 2 of the main resellers are The Timeshare Store and Fidelity. Is the third one dvcbyresale or something like that? And the fourth one the name keeps getting starred out. Is there any way someone can PM the n-a-m-e-s since it won't show up here? Not sure if it will star it out in a Pm too. I would like to sign up for their email lists.

Everything about this person's name and company will star out on these boards. Google Resale DVC and you'll find everything you need.

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

Ok nevermind I found it

 

[sgentile914]

Hi,

I am not new to WDW but very new to DVC. It is something my husband want to start saving for. While we will not buy for a year or so, I want to gather as much info as possible...I have a few questions that might seem so silly!

4 main re sellers? So kind of like buying a house? compare 'packages'??

What does user year (UY?) mean? Jan, Feb, Mar?

The $55 per point price, is that the total cost? (minus yearly dues of course) I just got a book from Disney, $31,000 for 200 pts plus dues...so it does not really cost $31, 000?

I know these may seem primitive, we just need a place to start.

Thanks in advance!

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

Hi,

I am not new to WDW but very new to DVC. It is something my husband want to start saving for. While we will not buy for a year or so, I want to gather as much info as possible...I have a few questions that might seem so silly!

4 main re sellers? So kind of like buying a house? compare 'packages'??

What does user year (UY?) mean? Jan, Feb, Mar?

The $55 per point price, is that the total cost? (minus yearly dues of course) I just got a book from Disney, $31,000 for 200 pts plus dues...so it does not really cost $31, 000?

I know these may seem primitive, we just need a place to start.

Thanks in advance!

If you buy directly through Disney it will probably cost you $31,000. If you buy through the resale brokers it will cost you anywhere from $50 per point (OKW and SSR) to $80 or $90 per point (BCV and BLT)

Two of the re-sellers you can mention on here are Timeshare Store... there is a link to them on this board. They sponsor this forum, and Fidelity. You can Google them.

Your user year is the month in which your annual points are deposited to your DVC membership account.

From what ppl have told me on here, you want a user year where your usual months of travel happen EARLY in your user year. Since we will be traveling October and January, October would be a good user year for us.

I don't currently own DVC either. We will be buying later on this year hopefully.

But I have already come across 2 or 3 good contracts we just aren't ready to buy yet.

 

[sgentile914]

Thank you for all of that info!

What about the fact that you can not use resale points on a cruise? I feel like my husband and I would get good use of our points on a 3-4 night?

Can you buy points if you are a few short, say maybe 20-30 points to get a vaca you want?

Thank You!

 

[zavandor]

Thank you for all of that info!

What about the fact that you can not use resale points on a cruise? I feel like my husband and I would get good use of our points on a 3-4 night?

Can you buy points if you are a few short, say maybe 20-30 points to get a vaca you want?

Not being able to book a cruise using points is considered an advantage by someone
Cruises are very expensive on points, you could rent points for a low value and still have money left after paying for the cruise cash.

And with the money saved buying resale, you can book immediately one of more cruises!

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

Thank you for all of that info!

What about the fact that you can not use resale points on a cruise? I feel like my husband and I would get good use of our points on a 3-4 night?

Can you buy points if you are a few short, say maybe 20-30 points to get a vaca you want?

Thank You!

From what I understand, using your DVC points for a cruise is a very bad waste/use of points. For the very high price you pay for buying points directly from Disney you can book a dozen cruises, then buy your DVC points resale for less than half price.

Not to be UN Disney but to tell you the truth, Disney cruises are VERY OVER-PRICED. Call up any other cruise line and you can get a 7 day cruise with excursions for what you will pay for a 3 or 4 day cruise with Disney.

Carnival has 7 day cruises for less than $600 per person with stops in Cozumel, Mexico and Grand Cayman Islands and Jamaica.

You can get a few extra points from Disney if you come up short. You can buy up to 24 one time use points ($15 pp) per year through Disney or if you need more than that you would have to rent some extra points through a broker. But if I am not mistaken, those rental points ALSO cannot be used to book a cruise.