Looking to buy direct - 50 points (after 10 years waiting)

[Wakey]

Buy resale, buy SSR, AKL or OKW and buy more than 50 points. Don’t drink the benefits Kool Aid. You can always add on 75 points later if you really want benefits.

 

[MickyLynn]

One last thing, and check with your guide, but when we bought they said you get a better financing rate if you've been a member in good standing for a year. If that clock starts with a resale account as well as direct, it would be another reason to buy a small resale contract first. There's no reason to pay more in interest if you don't have to.

 

[karen4546]

You can’t buy just 50 points direct. And if the resorts are full then they can’t work any magic to get you in for December. They aren’t going to cancel someone else’s reservation to set up your first trip.

They worked some magic for me when i bought in May of this year. We wanted to use the 2018 points we got when we bought direct (AKV) for a trip in September. We wanted BWV or BCV in September and EVERYTHING was booked. 3 calls later and we have 2 studios books at BEach Club villas for September 2019. The "welcome home" Magic worked for us.

ETA OP do not deplete your bank account. If you truly want to buy then buy 100 points direct. Tons of people finance that. I don't think the payments would be that much. you could put a down payment and finance. I know people will say don't finance, but some people have to finance. Like in our case, we could buy a new car with cash, but why shell out $35000-$50000 when we can finance for 3 years? I am sure someone on here can tell you how much the monthly payment would be. I would pay the maintenance fees in full though. So at least that is done. Then in a few years you can add on resale. these are my opinions. good luck OP

 

[crvetter]

Yes you can buy direct for 50 points (older resorts only, min is 75 for Riviera)

Your guide is allowing 50 points for all older resorts as a new member? This is pretty much hit or miss if DVC will allow it but “officially” it’s 100 points at all resorts, including DRR, except HHI/VB which are 75, OKW/SSR which are 50. Not that they won’t waive these to get a sale in some cases.

As for the three resorts you are considering OKW is probably the most economical because of the 2057 expiration, price per point, and cheapest point chart with no views (though standard at AK is close if not equal).

As for the finances I know you really want to buy now so you should do a full consideration of your financial situation. Look at what the trip you would be doing in December cost (try to be true to what you’d pay) remove that from the purchase price and add in MF for 2019 into it. I would also absolutely make it a condition of the sale that they get you a room but beware that the first 2 weeks of December are the absolute busiest so a studio room is going to be extremely hard to come by but they might have something so worth the ask. They get these rooms from the cash side of the business.

As for your situation allowing you to stretch now but not later you could always “fake” buy into DVC now by putting the cash into a savings account and try not to touch it but if a true emergency comes up you’ll have the cash; though if you can swing it you’ll rebuild your emergency fund and know that DVC is possible.

If you went resale for the resorts you are interested in just be aware that OKW on resale not all expire in 2057. Most expire in 2042. You’ll likely find for a small contract at this resort that expires in 2057 is going to be much closer in cost to direct that the others but still cheaper (though do consider if the points have been used on the resale contract, direct always has all current points).

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Going every other year, the member extras are worthless.

You just bought a house, you may need a car, and you want to have a kid? Do you know what kids cost? You either sacrifice an income or pay a second mortgage for care.

Do. Not. Buy. A luxury timeshare.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I’m glad you are seeing past your excitement and looking at the reality. It honestly sounds like you can’t really afford DVC right now. Something might come up with the house, your car might die, or your wife might get pregnant earlier than you thought. If that happens and you spent all your money on dVC, then what? A Disney trip is more than a room, it is transportation costs food and tickets. Can you afford that if you buy DVC?

I get wanting it and never seeing a chance to get it. But life changes and you may get your chance sooner than you think. Now is just not that time.

 

[Katie L]

Going every other year, the member extras are worthless.

You just bought a house, you may need a car, and you want to have a kid? Do you know what kids cost? You either sacrifice an income or pay a second mortgage for care.

Do. Not. Buy. A luxury timeshare.

Or more than a second mortgage.... lol (except not lol.... more like WAHHHHHHHHHH!)

 

[crisi]

Please, please, please don't buy. If money is tight now, when kids arrive expect to not know how you are going to stretch groceries for an entire week. Do you have $100 or more per month for diapers? (And if you use cloth, expect your water and energy bills to go up nearly as much). Formula if the breast feeding doesn't work out (it sometimes doesn't). The endless money as they outgrow clothes and shoes as fast as you can buy them. Money in the budget for dance and t-ball. Carseats, and then carseats when they outgrow that car seat (its usually three carseats over the life of a child - six if you put one in each adults car). It doesn't sound like it. If you have a kid next year, in a mere four years you'll be buying extra park tickets. My kids are in college now, but the jump from "this is almost free to bring our kids" to "four adult park passes please" happened FAST and was VERY EXPENSIVE.

Unless you are looking at your future and saying "I'm going to have a kid in a year or so, but my husband will also be graduating from med school as a cardiologist, so I'm expecting our income to change" you will only put yourself in a bad situation.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

I don't think it's as much about your savings as your income vs expenses. (Some people just don't prioritize savings - and the OP just bought a house which is maybe why the savings is down).

So, how much "extra" do you have from your income every month? Are there easy things to cut if you get in a bind? Are your credit cards paid in full every month? How much will you spend on this trip if you DON'T buy DVC? How much can you save from now til December? Is your job secure?

If your income truly supports the purchase (you have plenty of disposable income every month) but your savings is just a little low, some thoughts....

SSR will be $8000 plus closing. Let's say you were going to spend $2500 no matter what for a WDW trip.... get creative on the $6000 remaining. Don't touch your savings.

Do you have a Chase Disney Visa? Get one. You get 0% interest for 6 months, they can spread out your initial down payment and final payment a bit and you will have 7-8 months to pay your balance.

Let's say you manage to pay off $2500 in that time. You're down to $3500. Personally, my Capital One card is constantly sending me 0% for 18 months offers on balance transfers. There is a 2% fee. That's $70 to finance which is nothing IMO. You will have earned that on your Disney Visa with the initial purchase. $3500 over 18 months is about $200/mo. Will that be easy for you and still allow you to put some money away every month?

We also experienced a large financial hit right after buying DVC (and annual passes for all), but for us that just meant we put the brakes on some home improvements we'd planned. Honestly, we experienced layoffs multiple times in our marriage. The hits keep coming and we keep swinging back. We did save upfront for most things when our income was lower, but now I tend to use "creative financing" for a lot of things to avoid price increases and because I know our budget has some wiggle room.

Here we are a few months out from our 2nd DVC trip with zero current ticket expenses, the room expenses are covered by a small monthly fee I don't even notice and while we have officially depleted our airline miles for the first time in 7 years, for this trip, that was free, too. We've got $800 in rewards on our Disney Visa, so food will be very minimal. Probably no more than our regular weekly food budget.

It is really a great feeling to not be stressing about how much this trip will cost!

No regrets. Wish we'd done it when the kids were little. Can't tell you how much $ we wasted on trips by NOT having DVC 15 years ago.

All that said, if you are living paycheck to paycheck....Don't do it!!!

Don't you like how you asked for opinion on resort choice, too and only got financial advice? lol We all mean well!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

So, how much "extra" do you have from your income every month? Are there easy things to cut if you get in a bind? Are your credit cards paid in full every month?

I would also be sure to budget for home expenses. Maintenance should be budgeted to 1-2% of the home's purchase price, annually. This should really be set aside ongoing, as many maintenance items account for the whole 1-2% (or more!).

Owning DVC won't be a big comfort when your hot water heater goes and no one can rinse their hair in lukewarm water or better.

 

[SG131]

I would also be sure to budget for home expenses. Maintenance should be budgeted to 1-2% of the home's purchase price, annually. This should really be set aside ongoing, as many maintenance items account for the whole 1-2% (or more!).

Owning DVC won't be a big comfort when your hot water heater goes and no one can rinse their hair in lukewarm water or better.

Or your heat dies at 10pm the night before Thanksgiving, when the high for the next day is in the 20s!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Or within a 60 day span you have to replace an air conditioning coil ($1900) in the house, struts on the suv ($1800), radiator and temperature gage on the sedan ($900), wisdom teeth out for junior ($1600– that’s with insurance btw), variety of summer camps for 2 youngest kids ($1200). Great way to start a summer!!! And pay for 5 annual gold passes plus 5 not so scary party tickets for 2 upcoming wdw dvc trips! Luckily annuals bought before increase (glass half full— lol).

 

[jlb727]

I was with you, OP, until you said you were planning to have a child in the next couple of years. It’s really hard to explain how much children and home ownership cost until you experience it yourself. The only reason we were able to buy (resale, let alone direct) is because my son is going into elementary school and our child care costs will be almost eliminated. Also, we finally paid off his unexpected eye surgery. In addition, we have lived in our house 5 years and have already had to replace 4 appliances, the air conditioning coil, part of the furnace and the roof. And our house is 13 years old. Now that all of those major expenses are behind us and we have built up the kids’ college funds and our own retirement savings, we were finally ready/able to purchase DVC. I’d wait. I know it’s hard, but I really would (and I did).

 

[crisi]

Or within a 60 day span you have to replace an air conditioning coil ($1900) in the house, struts on the suv ($1800), radiator and temperature gage on the sedan ($900), wisdom teeth out for junior ($1600– that’s with insurance btw), variety of summer camps for 2 youngest kids ($1200). Great way to start a summer!!! And pay for 5 annual gold passes plus 5 not so scary party tickets for 2 upcoming wdw dvc trips! Luckily annuals bought before increase (glass half full— lol).

We have two trees that had to come down ($6000) and a daughter who discovered a cardiac issue at college ($5k and counting). Oh, and did I mention college at $45k a year after her scholarship? My son is going public colleges, so that is only $12k a year, but no scholarship. My daughter's summer job fell through, so I'm employing her in my business, which works great - but does mean my business is less profitable for the Summer since I don't really need her - I'm employing her to take some of my own workload (but she needs the job on her resume, and some spending money.) And with parents "that age" my husband just helped out his mother to the tune of $5k, because social security doesn't stretch to cover things like visiting your sister or fixing the brakes on her car.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

We have two trees that had to come down ($6000) and a daughter who discovered a cardiac issue at college ($5k and counting). Oh, and did I mention college at $45k a year after her scholarship? My son is going public colleges, so that is only $12k a year, but no scholarship. My daughter's summer job fell through, so I'm employing her in my business, which works great - but does mean my business is less profitable for the Summer since I don't really need her - I'm employing her to take some of my own workload (but she needs the job on her resume, and some spending money.) And with parents "that age" my husband just helped out his mother to the tune of $5k, because social security doesn't stretch to cover things like visiting your sister or fixing the brakes on her car.

You have me beat! It all adds up so quickly. We are hoping to have less things pop up for the rest of the year.

 

[Best Aunt]

We have two trees that had to come down ($6000) ...

I got a price quote this week for removing two large bushes. $1,000.

You don't think of these things when you buy a house.

 

[MickeyMouse3!]

Wow thanks so much for everyone's responses!
Sorry if I miss some things here.
Yes you can buy direct for 50 points (older resorts only, min is 75 for Riviera)
How often i go, I'd love nothing more than to be able to go every year, even if it's not a full week, or to go every other year is fine. I've done many trips with my wife but only 2 days in the parks (value resorts) and one Disney springs day, because that's all we could afford at the time
In terms of resale, financially it makes sense, but I do have concerns. To me, part of the whole thing with being a member is to really feel part of it, and having a membership card to show for it. I'd love to go to Riviera and whatever new resorts they offer in the coming years and I cant do that with resale. I do get it financially though, it makes a lot more sense. Ideally get 75 points direct for benefits then add on a resale account for future points (very long term)
I also would 100% not be able to book for December through resale. I see it sounds slim to still get my welcome home trip booked if buying direct, but my DVC agent did say he could call and try to find a room for me and hold it before committing to buying.
Finances speaking, it does seem like a bad time, but it seems I never will have an opportune time, as I expect child 1 within the next couple years and my car is getting up there. Once those happen, it just seems like itll continued to be pushed back. This has been my dream since my initial tour, to truly feel part of the magic as a member and seeing how much I'd save longterm. So I feel if I hold off now, itll be holding off for another 5, 10, or maybe even ever.
And bumber, sorry to hear all that... I hope things are going better for you now
I do take all your suggestions into consideration and maybe I should reconsider resale for now and accept I cant use it this upcoming trip.
But thank you again guys, sounds like I should hold off, at least on direct unfortunately but I get it and was just getting too excited again =/

We bought 150 points at AKL thru resale as our first contract. We bought another 75 points direct (minimum at the time) at SSR a couple years later. When we first bought, we thought the 150 points would give us a couple of weeks per year (at different times) in a studio. We learned very quickly that studios book faster than 1 or 2 bedroom villas. This limited our options and also meant more points may be needed or fewer trips. The 75 points were purchased for the benefits/perks, but mainly to increase the odds of us getting a room during what is sure to become some busier times at WDW. This was also going to be our bank and borrow contract. I should note that other than not getting access to some of the lounges or using points for cruises and Adventures by Disney, we never felt like we weren't a DVC member as a resale buyer. Like many have stated, don't break your bank just to become members. We waited nearly 20 years before making our first purchase. Ironically, Disney was just starting to sell AKL when we first thought about DVC but financially, we couldn't justify it at the time. Keep in mind that it will cost more and more points to stay at a DVC resort in the future. If your plans are to buy more points later, those points will also cost more cash later. If you are going to buy now, I would suggest buying the points you need for the future, now.

 

[kboo]

I like how this thread has turned into a thread about home improvement costs!

See my signature ... I've been going to Disney since I was a kid. We have rented points, gotten "cheap" cash discounted rooms, basically hunted for bargains for years. After we had kids, we realized we wanted to go a lot more often, but did not feel like we wanted to lock up so much money until we were assured our DD1 was in a good public school (child care costs went down SIGNIFICANTLY, and at least costs for her education are predictable for the next many years). I don't know what you and your partner do, but this was on private practice lawyer and doctor salaries. I get the impatience, but waiting might be the right choice here.