Is it possible to "buddy" with another owner?

[stefanospops]

I am seriously considering DVC. I have a 4 yrd old, 2 yr old and 4 month old at the moment and know that my vacations will be at Disney for at least the next 10 years. I would like to thank everyone posting in this forum since it has been a wealth of information!

The one question that keeps coming up for me is where to buy. I accept the mantra of buy where you will be most. The reality is that I like BLT now until the kids get bored of MK. The hardest thing for me to deal with is the knowledge that there will be a period of time when the kids are too old to come with mom and dad to Disney. What then?

I know there is the liklihood that the resort being built in Hawaii will be a DVC resort even if they can't say for certain until closer to the day. I am thinking I really want to have that as my home club because many parents will be in the same boat as me and we will all be fighting to get in at the 7 month point. Same goes for other DVC resorts that I can see my wife and I staying at.

So my question is, I know you can rent points out, but do people every "buddy" up with someone who is at another resort and just swap points from time to time? For example, if I have 200 points at BLT and someone else has 200 at AKL could we just not swap our points one year to give each other the 11 month benefit? Did that make sense?

I suppose my other option is to sell BLT when/if the Hawaii resort becomes available. Thoughts?

 

[vicki_c]

DVCmember.com release clearly states that there will be 480 DVC units at Ko Olina, so I don't think it's not for sure (ok, it says "planned").

I don't know why you would want to swap points with some one every other year - just because you don't own at a resort doesn't mean you can't book there. You just don't get the 4 month advantage of an owner.

Of course, for Hawaii - all bets might be off because it might be very popular, but it's not even built yet, so I wouldn't worry about it if you want to buy now. As you said, you can always buy BLT and sell it later for Hawaii if that's what you want.

Personally, my husband and I can't wait until our kids are grown up and we can vacation at WDW by ourselves! We might want Hawaii a time or two, but we'd be happy with WDW without our kids!

 

[malonefamily]

I know there is the liklihood that the resort being built in Hawaii will be a DVC resort even if they can't say for certain until closer to the day. I am thinking I really want to have that as my home club because many parents will be in the same boat as me and we will all be fighting to get in at the 7 month point. Same goes for other DVC resorts that I can see my wife and I staying at.

My family vacations in Hawaii every year or two, and we love it there. However, we've been all over the islands, and know them fairly well... Oahu is definitely our least favorite of them. We're thrilled to bits with the new DVC coming to the Aloha state, and we'll certainly go sometime soon after it opens, but unless they build one on Maui we're not likely to go there often. (Kauai would be even better, but you can't build anything taller than a palm tree there, not exactly Disney's style! LOL).

Oahu is too much like mainland USA for my tastes... the beaches are pretty crowded, they have traffic, even pollution. It's still a great place, and it sounds like Disney is going to do something special here. Still, I recommend the Kaanapali Beach Hotel in Maui for a better Hawaiian experience generally. (And the KBH is only about $200 a night for a great ocean view room on one of Hawaii's best beaches).

Also, the new Hawaiian DVC sounds sufficiently massive to make 7 month bookings sound entirely realistic to me. Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I highly doubt you'll need home resort priority to get a room in a place that big if you have any flexibility in your plans at all. And finally, I still like my Disney vacations better than my Hawaiian ones.

 

[Dean]

I've been one of those "buy where you want to stay" type people. However, I think the price differential has crossed over to where that's no longer true for those except those that only one want place almost all trips forever and that is a difficult to reserve place (BCV, VWL, ? BLT, ? AKV). Or for many, to buy cheaper and do an add on at the preferred place for part of the trips.

 

[JimMIA]

So my question is, I know you can rent points out, but do people every "buddy" up with someone who is at another resort and just swap points from time to time? For example, if I have 200 points at BLT and someone else has 200 at AKL could we just not swap our points one year to give each other the 11 month benefit? Did that make sense?

Yes, it is possible to do this, but there are serious restrictions. DVC only allows one transfer in or out of your account each Use Year, so you and the other owner would have to time your point transfers to conform to that requirement. You would not be allowed to just exchange points because that would be two transfers for each account -- one out and another in.

The other way to accomplish the same thing is to simply rent ressies back and forth -- you rent a ressie at your home resort for the other family, they rent one for you at their home resort. In that latter sceanario, of course, all of your arrangements would have to be made by the other owner and they would control the ressie until you checked in. It's more work than a simple transfer, but doable.

 

[Crystal_27]

I've been one of those "buy where you want to stay" type people. However, I think the price differential has crossed over to where that's no longer true for those except those that only one want place almost all trips forever and that is a difficult to reserve place (BCV, VWL, ? BLT, ? AKV). Or for many, to buy cheaper and do an add on at the preferred place for part of the trips.

I agree with this. I mean, in this economy, when you can get SSR at almost half of what BLT is going for...it pays to look into resale. That said, as to the OP's question about what to do after the kiddos have outgrown Disney, I will only state that, while we have a DD who is 5, we bought into DVC for ourselves. When she no longer wishes to join us in vacationing at Disney, DH and I will take that opportunity to enjoy Disney without her. That said, I think that you can very easily reach your "break even" point in terms of cost well before 10 years, especially if you buy resale, so if you and your spouse do not wish to continue to vacation at Disney after the children are grown, you can always then sell your contract.

Personally, I would not opt to "buddy up" with another DVC owner. Honestly, even if my best friends in the world owned DVC (they don't; they think that DH and I have officially gone off the Disney deep end) we wouldn't alternate years with them. It just leaves the door open to dispute - -what if you guys cease to be friends; what if one of you loses your job and can't pay for MFs; what if you realize you don't want to go to Disney again; what if ... If you would be happy alternating years, a simple solution would be to buy half as many points as you would need for a stay, and bank them every other year, traveling in the alternating year.

And, I guess in terms of DVC Hawaii, it probably would be wise to wait at least untiil the projected maintenance fees are released. Also, keep in mind that if you buy DVC Hawaii, you will have to buy through Disney (at least initially), so you will have to hit a minimum buy-in of points (currently 160). As to whether or not to sell BLT when (if) DVC Hawaii becomes available, that's all going to depend on what the resale market is doing with BLT as to whether you would recoup your money or not. I think the commissions for resale are fairly high, so you would have to make enough to cover the difference in what you paid through Disney versus what the resale market is doing plus the cost of whatever commission the broker is charging...I wouldn't say that is very likely within the first few years, but you never know.

Either way, best of luck to you as you make your decision about whether or not DVC is right for you and your family.

 

[DVCLiz]

If you would be happy alternating years, a simple solution would be to buy half as many points as you would need for a stay, and bank them every other year, traveling in the alternating year.

I was going to suggest this, too. It gives the complete control of your reservation options to you, instead of having to depend on someone else.

 

[stefanospops]

I guess I didn't pose my question with enough clarity. Either that or I am just having a hard time comprhending the responses.

My thought was not to share points with someone, but seek out another person who may be interested in BLT, if it becomes hard to get. If I have BLT but really want to go to AKL, but both places are difficult to get in at the 7 month mark, then I could offer my hard to book BLT to someone in one year with the expectation that I get their hard to book AKL in the same year. I am not talking about splitting points with someone, but trying to maximize the opportunity to get into a resort at the 11month mark. Does that make sense?

 

[Dean]

I guess I didn't pose my question with enough clarity. Either that or I am just having a hard time comprhending the responses.

My thought was not to share points with someone, but seek out another person who may be interested in BLT, if it becomes hard to get. If I have BLT but really want to go to AKL, but both places are difficult to get in at the 7 month mark, then I could offer my hard to book BLT to someone in one year with the expectation that I get their hard to book AKL in the same year. I am not talking about splitting points with someone, but trying to maximize the opportunity to get into a resort at the 11month mark. Does that make sense?

I assume you're talking about a trade of reservations, not transfer of points though either could work in this situation. There is risk to both parties but it is potentially workable for the right group of people.

 

[Sandisw]

I guess I didn't pose my question with enough clarity. Either that or I am just having a hard time comprhending the responses.

My thought was not to share points with someone, but seek out another person who may be interested in BLT, if it becomes hard to get. If I have BLT but really want to go to AKL, but both places are difficult to get in at the 7 month mark, then I could offer my hard to book BLT to someone in one year with the expectation that I get their hard to book AKL in the same year. I am not talking about splitting points with someone, but trying to maximize the opportunity to get into a resort at the 11month mark. Does that make sense?

Based on this, you would be in a situation where you would be making and "renting" a reservation to someone for a stay at BLT. But, instead of them paying you cash for the reservation, as is typical with rentals, they would "pay" you by renting you a reservation with their points at, say, AKL.

So, yes, it would be possible to do this with another DVC member. I could see it working with friends or family members very well (ie: I buy 200 points at AKL and my sister buys 200 points at BLT and we alternate each year) but not sure it would be a popular option amongst strangers.

As a PP said, as with any "rental", the owner of the points would retain control of the reservation until check in and would be the one who would have to call MS if changes, etc. need to be made.

 

[alice99]

I guess I didn't pose my question with enough clarity. Either that or I am just having a hard time comprhending the responses.

My thought was not to share points with someone, but seek out another person who may be interested in BLT, if it becomes hard to get. If I have BLT but really want to go to AKL, but both places are difficult to get in at the 7 month mark, then I could offer my hard to book BLT to someone in one year with the expectation that I get their hard to book AKL in the same year. I am not talking about splitting points with someone, but trying to maximize the opportunity to get into a resort at the 11month mark. Does that make sense?

Stefano - I have thought of this myself, so I completely understand. I'll be doing this type of trading with my sister in the future.

 

[steve2009]

If you are talking about transfering points to each other, I understand this correctly, you can only transfer in or out once a year. Therefore you could transfer your points one year, and then receive their points the next.

What you could do is make reservations for each other at the 11 month mark, but then it become a trust issue (ie like renting points). The reservation still belongs to the original owner. Unless you travelled at the same week, there is alway a chance one could cancel a reservation (unlikely, but could happen).

Steve

 

[Crystal_27]

I guess I didn't pose my question with enough clarity. Either that or I am just having a hard time comprhending the responses.

My thought was not to share points with someone, but seek out another person who may be interested in BLT, if it becomes hard to get. If I have BLT but really want to go to AKL, but both places are difficult to get in at the 7 month mark, then I could offer my hard to book BLT to someone in one year with the expectation that I get their hard to book AKL in the same year. I am not talking about splitting points with someone, but trying to maximize the opportunity to get into a resort at the 11month mark. Does that make sense?

I honestly can't imagine a situation (unless you wanted AKV conceirge or standard view at BWV during F&W Festival time...and maybe not even then) that you would need to have to partner with someone to take advantage of the 11 month window. I mean, I realize that BLT hasn't yet opened so we don't really know how difficult it is to get into at 7 months, but I personally would just opt for another resort before giving control of my reservation to someone else. That's just me, though...I'm sure with the right people, something like that could be quite beneficial.

 

[crisi]

I've thought that this sort of arrangement would be more popular, but the more I watch people, the more I understand why it isn't.

People tend to value their "home" resort - often they value it more than its intrinsically worth to other people. This creates negotiation issues.

You have to find two people who want what the other has - and are willing to value the transaction equally.

There are only a few units that are in demand and hard to get.

Most people seem willing to settle for "less than perfect" in order to avoid hassle and complications.

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

The hardest thing for me to deal with is the knowledge that there will be a period of time when the kids are too old to come with mom and dad to Disney. What then?

I wouldn't necessarily be sure of that. My 17yo daughter loves Disney, she went with her school at spring break to perform and she and a friend spent their free time with us. She will always want to go if we are going.

However, if you think that you will only use your membership until your kids get to college, I think you would be better off buying one of the newer resorts. These will have more years left on them, therefore giving them more resale value if you decide to sell.

 

[circhead]

I would buy where you want to stay right now.

Getting a reservation at the 7 month mark, though not usually a problem, really depends upon a number of factors.
1. Time of Year - VWL is almost impossible to get at the 7 month mark for Christmas
2. Size of resort BCV and VWL are the smallest.
3. Room size you are looking for. Studios and 1 bdrms are more popular.


BTW - my kids are grown and don't come on vacation with us very often. I have used our points to let my kids go without us and for us to go without them. We have used the points to go to WDW, VB and have even traded outside of DVC - the options available to you are very varied and you will find something you want to do.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[5forDiz]

jmho, I think there will be too many 'issues' that arise with what you're thinking - and likely there will be a disparity in number of points being used for reservations ie, 1 week BLT ressie may use more points then 1 week AKV ressie; and mainly the control of reservation would be huge sticking point for me. I'd think it'd be easier to just buy half amount of points you'd need and bank one year into next so you may vacation at your Home Resort every other year and then during off year have points transferred to you from a member who owns at the DVC resort you wish to stay out so you may book with Home Resort advantage at that resort and then YOU would control the reservation entirely which amounts to less worries vs renting a reservation whereby that member controls the reservation until you check in and can cancel it etc. if unscrupulous.