Impulse buy - what questions do I need to ask before my 10 day window expires?

[DopeysGal82]

As soon as I heard about DVC, I knew DH and I would eventually become members. We love to go to Disney World. We usually get APs and try to go twice, once in December and October the following year. We just got back from our Disneymoon and are planning a trip, hopefully with friends for F&W/MNSSHP next year. We were also thinking about taking a short week or long weekend in the Spring for a few days at WDW and a few at US/IoA since I've never been. I also want to go to DL within the next year or two. So, we do have the frequency down, but the thing is we usually stay at Value resorts on an AP discount, so I thought DVC was a few years into our future.

We were at the GF looking at the decorations. I came out of the bathroom and DH was talking to the DVC rep at the hotel. I have been thinking of renting points for our Oct trip to see what it's like and I thought I'd have to do that several times to decide on a resort, so I was pretty impressed that they had an open house with several rooms to view. We decided to go on the tour just for fun, to get the information for the future since we did plan to buy a few years down the line.

We went on the tour and we were really impressed with the rooms. Even the studios are so much nicer than the value hotels we're used to staying in.

They did the sales pitch and DH was VERY gung ho. Apparently when I spoke with him about DVC, he thought it would be more money and had to be paid in cash. I was still pretty nervous, but DH said we can afford it.

We ended up buying a 160 point contract at BLT. In terms of style I actually like SSR better, but we felt the BLT points would be more valuable. In fact, the DVC rep recommended that we book a TP view room for Christmas week and sell it. I thought that sounded pretty good since we have more points than we will probably use this year, especially since we might be staying with friends at SoG.

Is there any information or advice you can give me?

I now see that there's an extensive resale market, but we're comfortable buying through Disney for the flexibility and financing.

TIA!

 

[lisa3635]

First of all Id read as much on Dvc on this forum as possible. Dvc is something that shouldnt be purchased on impulse, you need to understand exactly how it works. Also youd likely be able to save thousands going resale, especially with SSR.

 

[Mtnman44]

Assuming that you didn't have some real need/desire to own at BLT and book there at 11 months, then there is no reason to buy BLT points, especially directly from DVC. By doing so, you likely overpaid by about $70 to $75 per point vs a number of resale DVC contracts available on the market right now.

 

[htmlkid]

Assuming that you didn't have some real need/desire to own at BLT and book there at 11 months, then there is no reason to buy BLT points, especially directly from DVC. By doing so, you likely overpaid by about $70 to $75 per point vs a number of resale DVC contracts available on the market right now.

I agree... I was on a cruise and initially purchased 160 BLT points for $18,500 then during my 10 days I found the resale market and purchased 250 points for $13,500 instead. I saved over $5000 and now own 100 more points the I was going to initially purchase.

I have booked stays at BVW, Wilderness Lodge, BLT, Aulani and AKV with no problem. I can't tell you how happy I am!!!!

 

[JimC]

Having already bought I am unsure what advice you are seeking.

An impulse purchase is how developers sell timeshares. Once you leave the likelihood of buying decreases rapidly. DVC is a fine program but given your normal use of value resorts on an AP discount, it is likely to increase your vacation spending, but you will also receive more value for your money.

Renting points is a very good introduction to DVC. Buying is a significant initial outlay (or debt if you finance the purchase) plus a long term commitment to annually increasing dues and regular DVC vacations. Non-Disney options provide added flexibility, but are not the best use of points. There are many other options, which are equivalent in quality and much less in cost, once you leave Disney property.

The Art of Animation resort opening next May will have a suite option. I think that will attract many guests and is a smart addition to Disney's offerings.

Read these boards and ask lots of questions on how to best use your new membership. Welcome Home

 

[DopeysGal82]

Well, I still have about a week to cancel.

I think I have a good understanding of how DVC works. I spent a lot of time reading, and I do think the tour was pretty comprehensive.

We WILL end up spending more. I'm very used to doing everything as cheaply as possible, but DH was saying he was considering staying at nicer hotels from now on, and when we left Pop this time he said "Never again" about a value resort. I grew up in a family that couldn't afford Disney at all and until recently we were saving for our wedding. DH took a job earlier this year that pays a lot more than his previous job, so I guess we would have started spending more anyway. I'm just so used to booking everything the cheapest way possible, but DH said that if we hadn't spent a fortune on St. Lucia earlier this year, he would have booked at least a moderate.

I don't think I'm 100% comfortable with buying re-sale, so I understand the hit we're taking buying from Disney.

I'm questioning our choice of home resort. I don't know that we'll want to stay at BLT all or most of the time, though we may get spoiled with the monorail access. At the time I think we were thinking about it having better rental value because of the location and low number of rooms. Is that not the case?

I now see from some boards this is frowned upon, but the DVC guys said we could book Christmas or Easter week and then sell it on ebay for several grand. I'm thinking this probably isn't as easy as they are saying it is.

I'm just trying to get opinions. There's a lot competing right now. All of the pixie dust and the joy of owning DVC, and the excitement of thinking of the upscale trips we can plan, and all of the freedom, mixed with a great deal of anxiety on my part about the cost, if we made the right decision about the number of points and home resort, and thinking of all the "what ifs" since before this, we could just skip a vacation if we had a rough year financially, but now we have the payments no matter what,

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I don't think I'm 100% comfortable with buying re-sale, so I understand the hit we're taking buying from Disney.

I'm questioning our choice of home resort. I don't know that we'll want to stay at BLT all or most of the time, though we may get spoiled with the monorail access. At the time I think we were thinking about it having better rental value because of the location and low number of rooms. Is that not the case?

What about purchasing resale leaves you feeling uncomfortable? It really is a huge money saver.

And if you don't have a driving desire to stay at BLT all of the time then I'd recommend purchasing somewhere else. For the most part there has been no indication that renting out a reservation at BLT generates more than renting anywhere else. For quite some time $10-$13/pt has been the norm no matter what the resort with no indication of that changing. It's not to say that with some extra work on your part that you couldn't get more but even if you did it wouldn't amount to much more.

Keep in mind that DVC will be there. It's a long term commitment and cancelling this contract while you give greater consideration or even rent a reservation could easily be recommended. Your guide will be happy to write up a new contract at any time if you still decide it's what would be best for your family.

 

[luckyman_apd]

Well, I still have about a week to cancel.

I think I have a good understanding of how DVC works. I spent a lot of time reading, and I do think the tour was pretty comprehensive.

We WILL end up spending more. I'm very used to doing everything as cheaply as possible, but DH was saying he was considering staying at nicer hotels from now on, and when we left Pop this time he said "Never again" about a value resort. I grew up in a family that couldn't afford Disney at all and until recently we were saving for our wedding. DH took a job earlier this year that pays a lot more than his previous job, so I guess we would have started spending more anyway. I'm just so used to booking everything the cheapest way possible, but DH said that if we hadn't spent a fortune on St. Lucia earlier this year, he would have booked at least a moderate.

I don't think I'm 100% comfortable with buying re-sale, so I understand the hit we're taking buying from Disney.

I'm questioning our choice of home resort. I don't know that we'll want to stay at BLT all or most of the time, though we may get spoiled with the monorail access. At the time I think we were thinking about it having better rental value because of the location and low number of rooms. Is that not the case?

I now see from some boards this is frowned upon, but the DVC guys said we could book Christmas or Easter week and then sell it on ebay for several grand. I'm thinking this probably isn't as easy as they are saying it is.

I'm just trying to get opinions. There's a lot competing right now. All of the pixie dust and the joy of owning DVC, and the excitement of thinking of the upscale trips we can plan, and all of the freedom, mixed with a great deal of anxiety on my part about the cost, if we made the right decision about the number of points and home resort, and thinking of all the "what ifs" since before this, we could just skip a vacation if we had a rough year financially, but now we have the payments no matter what,

It is highly advised to NOT rent from ebay or craigslist as you can be scammed to easy as a renter. It is possible to rent the points you dont use as I have rented. It's how I got introduced to DVC. I actually put an offer on 100 point purchase at BLT today but was outbid. If you don't feel that you will truly use the BLT over SSR, then you can save yourself a lot of money by buying SSR, especially resale. What are your concerns buying resale?

If you plan to go once a year, then it sounds like DVC could be for you. I know the temptation while your there to buy, and they do a good sales pitch, but remember it's a big investment, so spend some time considering it. For me, BLT is a must as my wife wants to stay on the Monorail. We will sacrifice for a smaller room size at a Studio.

Also consider your needs. I do feel that DVC rooms are a much better value....Especially compared to the value resorts. We personally are not fans of the value hotels. I'd much rather stay at a studio than a value resort regular room. So even if over the years, I spend the same money on DVC as I would spend over the years staying at All star resorts, I feel the investment is totally worth it.

We stayed for a week at SSR in a 2 bedroom with our friends who own last June/July. It was fantastic. The resort is HUGE, DTD is close by and we took the boat over frequently. There were 3 pools and all were great for the kids. There were plenty of activities for our kids to do there. We had no problems with the resort itself except one day waiting 30 minutes for a bus to Epcot, but that was an issue that day that could happen anywhere, although my wife was giving me the "I wish we were staying on the monorail" look. Other than my wife's desire for the monorail at BLT, our reason for NOT buying SSR was the ease of booking it. Our friends invited us in mid May for a late June to July trip. They were changing from a 1 Bedroom BLT to a 2 br to bring us along. The only 2 br available was at SSR. I just got the sense that we could always fall back to SSR, but since BLT is my wife's favorite, we should buy there, despite saving a bunch of $ at SSR points. I hope you learn enough to make a decision you are happy with.

 

[crisi]

About half of us have purchased resale - as long as you go through a reputable broker, there isn't anything to be nervous about (and understand that you wanted to pay with cash to cruise anyway).

I'd think that if you aren't comfortable purchasing resale, you really won't like renting your points and discovering you can be held responsible for unpaid bills or damage left behind by your renters. Also, when renting remember that when someone is buying points for $50, they have a lot less to cover to break even, you'll have a pretty high "cost of good sold" And at seven months "points is points" - people aren't getting any more in rentals for BLT than they are for any of the other resorts. I've always though that they should (Epcot resorts over Food and Wine) but its never worked that way.

 

[JimC]

Where you buy depends on what is most important to you. Lowest cost to own is probably SSR. If you want a specific resort or a grand villa during a busy time of year, then owning at that resort greatly increases your chances of securing a reservation because you can book it 11 months out. If you don't care then you book your home resort at 11 months then try to switch at seven months.

 

[taaren]

Don't buy DVC to rent.

If you like SSR better, but are not comfortable with resale (though it is a better deal), even SSR is significantly lower per point direct from Disney ... last time I saw something around here it was $99 per point? Then you'd have home priority booking at SSR for the Treehouse Villas, which are great.

Call your guide, tell him you don't want BLT, prefer SSR, and have him break your contract up into 2 SSR contracts ... if down the road you have to sell its much easier to sell a smaller contract of 80 points (or 100 pts and 60 points, you get the idea) than it would be to sell 160. Save yourself money if you don't particularly want BLT.

We bought direct for our first contract at $96 per point and resale isn't going for a whole lot less than that atm since there's a waiting list for our home resort, though we added on at $16 less per point since Disney was sold out at the time. Both direct and resale have their advantages, though resale is obviously price ...

 

[Sandisw]

Well, I still have about a week to cancel.

I think I have a good understanding of how DVC works. I spent a lot of time reading, and I do think the tour was pretty comprehensive.

We WILL end up spending more. I'm very used to doing everything as cheaply as possible, but DH was saying he was considering staying at nicer hotels from now on, and when we left Pop this time he said "Never again" about a value resort. I grew up in a family that couldn't afford Disney at all and until recently we were saving for our wedding. DH took a job earlier this year that pays a lot more than his previous job, so I guess we would have started spending more anyway. I'm just so used to booking everything the cheapest way possible, but DH said that if we hadn't spent a fortune on St. Lucia earlier this year, he would have booked at least a moderate.

I don't think I'm 100% comfortable with buying re-sale, so I understand the hit we're taking buying from Disney.

I'm questioning our choice of home resort. I don't know that we'll want to stay at BLT all or most of the time, though we may get spoiled with the monorail access. At the time I think we were thinking about it having better rental value because of the location and low number of rooms. Is that not the case?

I now see from some boards this is frowned upon, but the DVC guys said we could book Christmas or Easter week and then sell it on ebay for several grand. I'm thinking this probably isn't as easy as they are saying it is.

I'm just trying to get opinions. There's a lot competing right now. All of the pixie dust and the joy of owning DVC, and the excitement of thinking of the upscale trips we can plan, and all of the freedom, mixed with a great deal of anxiety on my part about the cost, if we made the right decision about the number of points and home resort, and thinking of all the "what ifs" since before this, we could just skip a vacation if we had a rough year financially, but now we have the payments no matter what,

Buy at the resort that you are most comfortable staying at if you could not get reservations elsewhere. The price for BLT as well as the points needed to stay there are more than other resorts.

If you are not tied to having to be there, then you are spending a lot of extra money, even through Disney, that you may not need to.

We own at BLT and paid the higher price to own there because we KNOW we won't be happy if we are anywhere else during our summer trips. We just bought BWV as well so that we can do split stays between our two favorite resorts.

In your case, if you think that SSR may be more your style, and don't want to go the resale route, then you can still buy that through Disney and save money.

DVC is a big purchase and you should buy for one reason and one reason only--to enhance your vacation experience at WDW. At the end of the day, you are buying the right to stay at your home resort and you want to be sure you would be happy if that is the only place you could go.

IMO, if you are having any reservations, put the purchase on hold and take more time to become comfortable with your decision.

 

[DopeysGal82]

Thanks for the honest and well thought out opinions.

I think DVC makes sense for us since we do want to go every year, and if skip a year, we can bank or it seems pretty easy to go through one of the reputable brokers to rent out the points. I also think once you crunch the numbers, you're spending the same amount as you would for a Value or a Moderate and getting so much more, so it does make sense for us in general.

I'm going to sit down with DH and talk both about changing to SSR since it's $40 less per point. Then again, I may love BLT and the monorail and always want to stay there. I like the more laid back decor of SSR, but it seems like you can always get SSR, and not always BLT. It may be worth it to know we can get that theme park view at 11 mos out. It's so hard to know what you will want in 5, 10 or 40 years.

We definitely aren't buying it to make money, but thinking about renting out some of the points at least initially makes me feel better about the money we spent. I'd rather tradeoff some of that money back rather than just having a super nice vacation. To me staying at a Deluxe still feels like something other people do.

Are there any advantages to having BLT as a home resort based on its price? Will I have a better chance of trading for BWV or something? Will I have an easier time renting out the points at 18mos?

At DVC they pitched it as mostly the longer contract, and the theme park view/monorail. I've never stayed at a monorail hotel. I may just get so spoiled by that (esp when I have kids and won't have to deal with folding the stroller to get to and from MK) that BLT turns out to be the best.

Do people mostly stay at their home resorts, generally?

I asked DH where he'd want to stay for our October trip and he said maybe Kidani. I kind of want to stay at our "home" the first time. We have enough for a theme park view. Sounds like heaven!
The other thing I'd love but I understand is hard based on the time of year, would be to stay at BWV.

 

[lilpooh108]

I think you should look at your vacation habits and determine when you travel to WDW the most and where you'd like to stay. Buy BLT if you want to stay at BLT. If you already know that you'll end up trying a bunch of resorts out for the first couple of years and that you don't have a real preference for BLT, why spend the extra money? At the 7 month mark, SSR points are the same as BLT points are the same as BWV points when you call MS to book your stay. In other words, if you don't "need" the home resort advantage for BLT, then it may not be worth the initial higher cost to buy in.

For our first purchase, we looked at the cheapest contract and most manageable dues. We did smaller add-ons at resorts that we knew we liked more. We bought resale, and it was fine.

 

[taaren]

I'm going to sit down with DH and talk both about changing to SSR since it's $40 less per point. Then again, I may love BLT and the monorail and always want to stay there. I like the more laid back decor of SSR, but it seems like you can always get SSR, and not always BLT. It may be worth it to know we can get that theme park view at 11 mos out. It's so hard to know what you will want in 5, 10 or 40 years.
Are there any advantages to having BLT as a home resort based on its price? Will I have a better chance of trading for BWV or something? Will I have an easier time renting out the points at 18mos?
At DVC they pitched it as mostly the longer contract, and the theme park view/monorail. I've never stayed at a monorail hotel. I may just get so spoiled by that (esp when I have kids and won't have to deal with folding the stroller to get to and from MK) that BLT turns out to be the best.
Do people mostly stay at their home resorts, generally?
I asked DH where he'd want to stay for our October trip and he said maybe Kidani. I kind of want to stay at our "home" the first time. We have enough for a theme park view. Sounds like heaven!
The other thing I'd love but I understand is hard based on the time of year, would be to stay at BWV.

It was hard for us to adjust to the luxury as well ... we used to stay at the Best Western which was very close to DLR but basically a motel before we bought DVC, so now when we run out of points and stay at the Marriott Hotel we jokingly call it "slumming it".

BLT gets you home resort priority only at BLT, nowhere else. You'll have just as hard (or easy) getting in at BWV or AKV at the 7 month mark with SSR points.

BLT points are good for slightly longer than SSR (SSR expires 2057?), but substantially longer than the Epcot resorts or OKW (2042). So between BLT & SSR I don't know if that would weigh heavily in my book. If it were between BCV and BLT that might factor in for me ...

BLT points (and BCV) may be able to rent for slightly higher (maybe $1 per point?), but what is more a factor in being able to rent points out at a price premium, tends to be time and planning ... take a look around the rent/trade boards here and you'll see that last-minute reservations/need to use the points by next month goes for less than the points that are good for the next UY since those points are more flexible.

People who really want a particular resort at a particular time tend towards their home resorts. If you want an Epcot resort at Food & Wine or VWL at Xmas, you will need those as a home resort. AKV concierge people seem to agree that one needs to own AKV to have a decent chance at those. Many times of year to get the THV one needs to own at SSR.

Alternately if you're flexible with your dates or comfortable with wait-listing and having a backup reservation at your home resort for peak times of year, many seem to be able to get the resorts they want without owning there.

You sound like a great DVC candidate but it does sound like you're paying a premium for BLT points over another resort that's not really worthwhile since you're already used to busing (sp?) in from the Value resorts. And remember at BLT you'll still have to take the bus to DHS & AK ... if DH would let me I'd add on a small BLT contract resale sight unseen but that's solely an emotional decision based on memories of seeing the Electrical Water Parade at the Contemporary when I was a kid and I really like the modern style of the rooms as compared to the other themes.

And remember - smaller contracts! This is the only time you can "break" them up. Even though I don't plan on selling its one thing I wish I'd done when I had the chance ...

 

[burnsoc]

Are there any advantages to having BLT as a home resort based on its price? Will I have a better chance of trading for BWV or something? Will I have an easier time renting out the points at 18mos?

You can only rent your points out when you can make a reservation for them, so 11 months out is the longest. The only advantage to buying at BLT is if you want the home resort booking window. As previous posters have stated, you won't make a more significant amount of money renting because they're BLT points. I've found most renters want to book within six months of their trip and don't understand that most likely there won't be availability at BLT, BCV and BWV at three months out. You also won't have any better trading chances, at 7 months all points are the same.

 

[bookwormde]

My thoughts are if you bought on impulse, cancel right away, you can always purchse after longer thought.

If you feel for the sales pitch about staying elsewhere, you can by lots of timeshares for $1 which will allow you to do that for only hte maintinace fees. So buy DVC to stay at DVC.

Look at resale, it is a great option and used by most people who do not fall for any of the sales pitches.

If you do not mind "paying up" for perks that you can get in another way for less $ then you can go back and rebuy from DVC after more thought.

 

[Brian Noble]

General advice:

* Buy to use, not to rent. DVC's Return on Investment isn't very good relative to the time it takes to manage the process. For developer purchases, the ROI is actually quite poor.

* Buy points to use *on DVC lodging*, and nothing else. None of the other options are good value vs. just renting your points out---and remember, renting out is already not a great deal, so these options are even worse.

* Buy only if you are comfortable with spending Moderate-room-range rates on your stays for at least the next many years (that's about what the fully-loaded cost of a DVC studio works out to) and you expect do return every year or so for roughly 7-10 years. That's approximately the break-even point.

* Do not finance the purchase. Financing gets you your points earlier, but under most reasonable assumptions, the extra financing costs tip the balance even farther in favor of renting from another owner rather than purchasing it yourself.

* The value of your contract will drop by about 1/3 the minute your rescind period ends. Therefore, IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBT AT ALL, RESCIND. You are up front about the fact that this is an impulse purchase. You can get a similar deal next week, next month, or maybe even next year (modulo a modest price increase). Waiting will help you decide which home resort you *really* want (rather than the one the salesman wanted you to buy), how many points you *really* need (rather than the default 160), and whether or not you *really* want to pay Disney's premium to purchase direct. It will also give you some time to sock away a little more capital to make a purchase, if you choose to do so, reducing your financing costs.

This is only general advice, and everyone's situation is different. Many people have done things differently than I suggest, and are happy about it. But, if it was my money (or, my friends asking me for advice) this is what I'd think about.

 

[DVCismyhappyplace]

I agree with the previous posters. You should always purchase at the resort you want to stay at. BLT is beautiful but if you prefer SSR, you should buy there. The cost of ownership at SSR is substantially less.

As far as the longer contract goes - I think it's a 6 year difference (2054 v 2060). Think of it in these terms, would you rather be paying MFs 43 years from now or 49 years from now. How old will you be then? Will you still want to go to Disney (or be able to physically) then? Will your income allow you to pay the MFs each year?

Owning DVC (or any timeshare) is a long-term commitment and you should enter into it with no doubts. If you are questioning whether or not to exercise your right to back out, I would do so at this time. DVC will always be there and you should take your time to think out all of the benefits and ramifications of ownership.

 

[DopeysGal82]

Hubby keeps telling me don't worry about it, we can afford it, and it's going to be great to have priority on such a great location. Actually the salesman was pushing 100 points at SSR. Maybe because we're younger, or because he sensed my nervousness, he pitched the cheaper option.


Are there any downsides to splitting it into two contracts?

How does points rental work? I have been reading on the board you can only transfer points in or out per use year, so does that mean that if I decide to rent out points, and then change my mind, I can't turn around and rent points from someone else if I run a few short?

Can you still borrow from a future year if you have rented out points?