I need advice, NEW or RESALE?

[Magic Fanatic]

I have been lurking on this board for several months and am giving the DVC serious consideration. My question may be to simplistic in thinking, but here goes. Taking in consideration the obvious difference in available years buy buying through Disney and setting that aside. Why would I not buy a resale? It seems to me that if the right circumstance comes along I can buy more points at a lower price per point. What am I missing here? What is the downside on resales as opposed to buying new? Thanks for your help!

 

[Chuck S]

There are a few "inconveniences" buying resale rather than direct...but overall, it depends upon the individual as to what they are looking for.

Resale buyers generally:

a) pay closing costs, whereas buying direct Disney pays for it.

b)if time is of the essence, you will have access to making ressies almost immediately if you buy through Disney. Resale puchasers must first wait for Disney to review the sale, they have first option of purchasing the resale under the same terms, commonly referred to as ROFR (Right of First Refusal). Also, it can take some time to get into Member Services computer system for resale purchasers, usually 2 weeks after closing on the contract.

c) Resale purchasers have to come up with their own financing, Disney will handle financing if you buy through them.

The advantage to purchasing resale is that you can save money, but not a lot, unlike most other timeshares. Also, you will have your pick of home resorts to choose from, whereas Disney can only sell you what they have "in stock"...you may have to wait quite awhile if you want a home resort other than the one they are currently selling (SSR).

Once the transaction is completed, Disney treats resale members the same as direct members, some other timeshares have "perks" available on to those that buy direct. With DVC you are "full members" no matter how you aquire the points.

 

[FamilyGuy]

Chuck S answered your question exactly.

To sum it up, I would say that if you are paying cash for DVC (and the additional costs of closing (~$400 if I am correct) do not negate most or all of your per point savings, then resale is a fine way to go.

I looked at resale before signing through Disney and it just made sense to me to go through Disney.

 

[CindyTx]

I recently closed on three contracts; two at BWV and one at BCV. I would definitely do the same again. We found good prices and went for it. We passed Disney's Right of First Refusal with no problem.

We did not finance this...but if you must...I think you can do better than what Disney charges you. They make it real easy...but at the consumer's expense. Disney's finance charges (I think around 10%) are outrageous.

We have the same use year (June) on all contracts so we have one member number.

We already have a reservation for Thanksgiving.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

BTW...if you are interested in BCV; it is probably cheaper to go through Disney if you can find points (I think there is a waiting list) since the price of resales at BCV are now at a premium.

Good luck.

 

[DisneyRefugee]

I wanted to buy through Disney for BWV, but bought resale because the price was just so much cheaper.

CindyTx - where are you finding financing that is much lower than Disney's 10%?

 

[MrShiny]

If you finance with a home equity loan, you can usually get better rates (and potentially tax-deductible interest too).

Often times credit cards will even have offers that would cover DVC (depending on your credit line) at much better rates than Disney.

 

[FamilyGuy]

CindyTx - where are you finding financing that is much lower than Disney's 10%?

The lower rates must be as Mr Shiny suggested. Via alternate financing sources.

Actual financing of a timeshare, rates are typically 10% APR and higher.

 

[shellbelle1971]

There is one other small drawback to buying resale...if you're particular about getting exactly a certain number of points (like 372, or 220, or whatever) then you may have trouble, as you can only buy the increments they have available. That said, there is often something that is close enough to what you want.

If you're particular about use year, that can also be a problem. You may have to wait for the right number of points with the right use year at the right home resort to come along.

 

[JimMIA]

There are a few "inconveniences" buying resale rather than direct...but overall, it depends upon the individual as to what they are looking for.

Resale buyers generally:

a) pay closing costs, whereas buying direct Disney pays for it.

Right, and this is typically somewhere in the 3% of total contract price range, so it's not trivial.

b)if time is of the essence, you will have access to making ressies almost immediately if you buy through Disney. Resale puchasers must first wait for Disney to review the sale, they have first option of purchasing the resale under the same terms, commonly referred to as ROFR (Right of First Refusal). Also, it can take some time to get into Member Services computer system for resale purchasers, usually 2 weeks after closing on the contract.

Right again, but you have to look at the whole timeframe. The FULL picture is somewhat worse than this statement sounds.

With Disney direct, you can usually make reservations as soon as you make a deposit. For resale, plan on 8-12 weeks total from making your offer, to acceptance, through ROFR, through the documenatation process and closing, and finally, the 2 weeks after closing to get "in the system" so you can actually use your points. In geologic time, that's nothing, but when you're a new owner waiting to actually get to use your points, it's excruciating.

c) Resale purchasers have to come up with their own financing, Disney will handle financing if you buy through them.

Which -- as I see it -- is a plus if you have the availability of a home equity line. That will usually be less expensive than Disney. If you have to go to a financial institution and borrow solely for DVC, it will undoubtedly be somewhat more expensive than financing through Disney.

The advantage to purchasing resale is that you can save money, but not a lot, unlike most other timeshares.

Naw...c'mon, that's not the right comparison. That's an apples to pizza comparison. The correct comparison is to compare buying DVC from the two available sources -- not do I buy DVC resale or "Joe's Beautiful Forest Cabins" resale?

The advantage to purchasing resale is that you WILL save a considerable amount of money -- or get exactly what you want -- or get a contract loaded with banked points. Or...you shouldn't buy resale. It's a lot simplier and easier to buy direct, and if you're not getting one of the above benefits, you should buy direct. But people get one of the above every day.

 

[Magic Fanatic]

I really appreciate all of the information that everyone has provided. From what I have seen on the point charts and the times of the year we would most likely visit, it looks as though we would want to go into this with 250-275 per year. I realize that yearly maint fees vary by facility, but is there a way to break it down per point. In other words, what is the difference in yearly fees on 200 pts per year as opposed to 250 pts per year. If these are questions that have already been answered (and I am sure they have) just point me in the right direction and I will go there. Thanks for all of the help!

 

[Rebd40]

One potential perk when buying direct is that you can use a credit card to pay and can take advantage of credit card offers. For example,
when I bought SSR last year from Disney, I paid with my Southwest Airlines Visa card and got free plane ticket - which I used for my first trip home! I paid off my balance right away so I didn't pay interest. I wouldn't advise this if you can't pay off the balance but it's something to consider anyway.

 

[smjj]

I can't remember the exact figures but I do remember that resale was much cheaper than buying from Disney at the time. We found, put in an offer and closed in about 30 days, not bad. We purchased a resale for OKW(the only one we wanted) and have been 3 times now and in about 10 days will be back for our 4th visit. The sponsor of this board is who we went through and things could not have gone better for us. Check out their website before you decide...smjj

 

[dianeschlicht]

I really appreciate all of the information that everyone has provided. From what I have seen on the point charts and the times of the year we would most likely visit, it looks as though we would want to go into this with 250-275 per year. I realize that yearly maint fees vary by facility, but is there a way to break it down per point. In other words, what is the difference in yearly fees on 200 pts per year as opposed to 250 pts per year. If these are questions that have already been answered (and I am sure they have) just point me in the right direction and I will go there. Thanks for all of the help!

Here is the "per point" dues costs for the DVC resorts this year:

Year OKW BWV VB VB(sub) HH VWL BCV SSR
2006 4.24 4.69 5.27 4.12 4.34 4.61 4.48 3.98

 

[JimMIA]

I can't remember the exact figures but I do remember that resale was much cheaper than buying from Disney at the time.

That depends on where you are buying. We bought OKW resale, and it was MUCH cheaper than buying direct. We added-on at SSR direct, and that was cheaper (because of the promotion they had) than resale. You'll find some resorts cheaper resale, others the same or cheaper direct.

The sponsor of this board is who we went through and things could not have gone better for us. Check out their website before you decide...smjj

Roger that! We also bought through The Timeshare Store, and they were great to deal with...a real quality outfit, no matter who you talk to.

 

[Boas]

depends on the resort and the timing...

we wanted BVC, and Disney had a wait list. we paid a few $$ extra per point (including closing), but we got 1 year banked points, (plus due to UY) we werw able to get full points for this year and another full set of points 3 months after closing for the next year (not bad)... the owner banked everything properly.

timing worked out... i was not in a hurry to close as quickly as DVC offered.

Also, another bonus for us is we wanted to buy less than 150 pnts to "try" DVC... resale is the only way to get a smaller contract (DVC has a 150 pnt min). We are already talking about adding on (that we will probably buy from direct so we can save on the closing costs for small contract amounts... there is typically a min. charge to close).

i looked at buying DVC Direct, but got just the right deal on re-sale.

PS> we bought from Timeshare Store.

Good luck

 

[cruise-o-matic]

Hey, it's me and you know I can't resist plugging HHI!

For one thing, you live in ATL, so HHI is just a few hours away. With HHI points, you can book summers at HHI and have access to the few studios and 1BRs. Plus, it doesn't matter whether you own SSR or HH, you still can't book BCV/BWV/VWL until 7 months anyway.

You can get HHI for about $75, including closing costs. That's about $18 less per point than SSR.