NEED HELP DVC DECISION! Time is of the essence!

[Orsino]

I was in a similar situation last year. Buying direct would have allowed me to use points instead of paying cash for my reservation. Doing so would have been a tad bit more expensive but they were close enough to be consider equivalent.

A few points:
(1) We bought resale. Not for the lower price (though that is nice) but because we didn't want to buy sight unseen.
(2) If you buy direct from Disney, see if they can find you an AKV room for THIS vacation. There is no reason you can't use SSR points for an AKV room RIGHT NOW. They were willing to do so for us last year. And from what I gather, they are more willing to juggle things around to close a sale!
(3) "buy where you want to stay" is the mantra of this board, but not everyone agrees with it. It really matters on your vacation times and planning habits. At 7months out all points are equivalent, so if you don't plan more than 7 months before a vacation specific resort points are worthless to you.

 

[dbs1228]

Just had to add that I made an offer on a SSR contract today, 130 points @ 59.00pp. The contract comes with 260 points and another 130 coming Oct 1st. We need 500.00 deposit which is going on our cc tomorrow. With closing cost and MF this contract will cost us 8430.00 which is about 1500.00 LESS then what you are looking to do. We are also getting 30 more points per year along with 190 more points to start with. We are considering renting out 160 of those points which usually goes for 10.00 pp but say we get 8.00pp that is another 1300.00. Take that away from the purchase price now we are down around 7100.00 for 130 points and have 230 points to use towards a vacation between closing and Sept 2012.

Just saying.....

 

[disney11fan]

no such thing as a free lunch. if your asking questions you have answered your own question. wait don't buy .if it's a good deal it will be available at a later time. someone suggested resale or maybe renting points maybe an option. take a deep breathe and step back.


my own advice i don't prepay for vacations. i want to own a real piece of land not a week or two a year.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Ok so I think I have figured it out. We are going to buy 100pts. at SSR and use it on our vacation and all that jazz. We will be growing as a family some day (within the next 5 years) and in order to take care of the AKV issue, I can buy resale AKV for a great price and since we would use the AKV points only to stay at AKV then it would not matter if Disney restricts us to only Disney resorts! I think this works pretty good in my opinion. That way I am not just throwing 1200 out the door and actually applying it towards my disney ownership! I think this is a good plan. Any ideas?

I think it is a good plan. If you are able to apply this money towards your purchase that is covering your downpayment and your trip.

SSR dues are lower, and AKV offers great availability if you dont want CL or Value rooms.

At this point, you are going to spend the money next week, so I would add the cost of this trip to any resale you would buy in the near future, because you had that option.

If you had more time, resale may have worked for you, but applying this money to your long term vacation planning is a good strategy.

As far as the cancellation fee, I dont think that would apply in this situation, but you can clarify that with your guide.

 

[karriemouse]

We all know that DVC ownership is very exciting and tempting but please stop for a moment and do the math.

100 points direct at $99/point will cost you $9,900.

Via resale SSR sells for $65-$70/point so on your 100 points you would pay $6,500-$7,000 and save at least $2,900.

AKV sells for $78/point - a cost of $7,800 and a saving of $2,100.

Both of these options will save you far more than the $850 you would get back on this vacation. (Based on $1,200 back and additional cost of $350.)

On a first purchase you pay closing costs through Disney or through resale so no difference there.

Go on your vacation - visit the resorts and the models - decide where you really want to buy - then decide your best option - and don't make an expensive mistake.

 

[rocketman1321]

Alright so we pulled the trigger. Just got done on the phone a little bit ago and we are officially DVC MEMBERS!!! So we bought in for $990 down and I paid the closing costs and so we are financing about $8900. I know that buying resale is a good deal but because we are leaving so soon I didnt want to just waste the 1200. So instead we are staying at SSR for the 8 days and with food, we are paying about $300 more for the trip plus staying in a Delux Villa. We are going to purchase add on via resale to get a great deal on AKV. I believe that because of the changes Disney is setting forth, the resale market will drop (not much but maybe $10 or so). So we are supper excited and are finally able to call ourselves owners! So I know what everyone has said is truely helpful and the input is great and I appreciate all of it because it did help to back up and take a deep breath and think hard if it is all the right decision. Because we did love staying at SSR and like the atmosphere there much better as a couple, I believe it was right for us. Also, we will have the chance at staying at the cool Treehouse villas as well. When we purchase AKV resale, we will never have less than 200 pts to stay. Plus if we vacation 2 out of every 3 years, we would have enough points to have some pretty great accomodations! Thanks for all of the help and cant wait to have our first stay as owners in a WEEK!

 

[dbs1228]

Congratulations and WELCOME HOME! Let us know how your 1st stay is.

 

[disney11fan]

Alright so we pulled the trigger. Just got done on the phone a little bit ago and we are officially DVC MEMBERS!!! So we bought in for $990 down and I paid the closing costs and so we are financing about $8900. I know that buying resale is a good deal but because we are leaving so soon I didnt want to just waste the 1200. So instead we are staying at SSR for the 8 days and with food, we are paying about $300 more for the trip plus staying in a Delux Villa. We are going to purchase add on via resale to get a great deal on AKV. I believe that because of the changes Disney is setting forth, the resale market will drop (not much but maybe $10 or so). So we are supper excited and are finally able to call ourselves owners! So I know what everyone has said is truely helpful and the input is great and I appreciate all of it because it did help to back up and take a deep breath and think hard if it is all the right decision. Because we did love staying at SSR and like the atmosphere there much better as a couple, I believe it was right for us. Also, we will have the chance at staying at the cool Treehouse villas as well. When we purchase AKV resale, we will never have less than 200 pts to stay. Plus if we vacation 2 out of every 3 years, we would have enough points to have some pretty great accomodations! Thanks for all of the help and cant wait to have our first stay as owners in a WEEK!

at what interest rate and hw long of a period of time. factor that in as well. hope it's not for a long period of time. enjoy your week.

 

[Sandisw]

Alright so we pulled the trigger. Just got done on the phone a little bit ago and we are officially DVC MEMBERS!!! So we bought in for $990 down and I paid the closing costs and so we are financing about $8900. I know that buying resale is a good deal but because we are leaving so soon I didnt want to just waste the 1200. So instead we are staying at SSR for the 8 days and with food, we are paying about $300 more for the trip plus staying in a Delux Villa. We are going to purchase add on via resale to get a great deal on AKV. I believe that because of the changes Disney is setting forth, the resale market will drop (not much but maybe $10 or so). So we are supper excited and are finally able to call ourselves owners! So I know what everyone has said is truely helpful and the input is great and I appreciate all of it because it did help to back up and take a deep breath and think hard if it is all the right decision. Because we did love staying at SSR and like the atmosphere there much better as a couple, I believe it was right for us. Also, we will have the chance at staying at the cool Treehouse villas as well. When we purchase AKV resale, we will never have less than 200 pts to stay. Plus if we vacation 2 out of every 3 years, we would have enough points to have some pretty great accomodations! Thanks for all of the help and cant wait to have our first stay as owners in a WEEK!

Congratulations! I think you have done what any new buyer should do. Seek advice and then make your decision. As mentioned here, there really is no one right decision for everyone and the bottom line dollar amount is not always it.

If you are happy and comfortable with your plan (and you sound like you are), you made a great decision for you.

Just something to note, in case you didn't know, Disney does allow you to put the cost of DVC on your Disney Visa if you own one. You would then get 6 months, 0% interest. I don't know what you used for your deposit, but if you have a Disney Visa, you could use it for that and would still get the 6 months, interest free.

We did this when we added on and ended up putting the entire cost on the card. It was great not to have to pay the money right at the beginning.

 

[tidefan]

One other thing. Before you go out and get that AKV add-on. Check with your SSR points and see what availability is for the times of year you want to go. AKV tends to have availability at most times of the year at 7-months out unless you are looking for something very specific (Concierge, X-mas/NYE, perhaps Value rooms). You may find that you don't need the 11 month window and you could save some $$$ by purchasing more SSR points. You may even find you want those extra SSR points for a THV. It will also make your contract much easier to manage.

Oh yeah, one last thing...

CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME HOME!

 

[Paulie656]

Congratulations and welcome home! We own at both SSR and AKV and love both, for different reasons!

 

[bristodr]

Putting all the excellent financial info aside.....I own at BWV and Vero - BWV was sold out when we went to add-on, I wasn't savvy with the resale boards, and we got a good deal on the Vero add-on pts. This is 10 yrs ago too....much has changed. I have never been to Vero, although I do intend to go one day! We absolutely love our home resort BWV, and I constantly manage my pts to stay there. So, if you know there's one place you really love to go, try to get your pts at that resort, that's my two cents. Good luck!