Need some advice - Should I sell?

[glamdring269]

(I put a little too much detail in the original post so it was removed. If you previously posted advice I didn't see it so please feel free to chime in again... definitely appreciate it!)

We bought a small contract a little over a year ago at VWL and are now realizing that maybe that wasn't the right choice. It's not because we don't like DVC, we actually do like DVC. But I'm starting to wonder if I should have paid more attention to the 'buy where you want to stay but if you don't care buy SSR' advice.

Right now I'm trying to decide if we should sell our current contract and buy an SSR instead. Or perhaps an AKV contract. Why would we do this?

1) End of life. 2042 vs. the much later expiration years of SSR or AKV. We're in our mid-30s so the extra years may actually matter.

2) We're ok with staying pretty much anywhere. But with that being said we typically go during F&W and I did not see much issue with availability pretty much anywhere in Oct 2014. In fact, I was able to get 5 nights in a studio at BWV at the 7 month mark.

3) Proximity to Epcot is nice but not required. We stayed at AKV in Oct 2013 and loved it. Did not even really notice the distance to Epcot when heading back to the resort at night.

I'm not convinced we actually need to do this. Just looking for advice from some of you who have been doing this for awhile, have (or had) multiple contracts, etc. If my first choice wasn't a great decision I definitely don't want to make it worse by following up with a second poor decision!

Appreciate it!

 

[rlovew]

Unless you stand to make a significant amount of money after closing costs and the 10% sales fee I see no reason to sell those points for SSR or AKV- both of those resorts are easy to get into and if you paid a slight premium for VWL and don't need the priority it won't hurt to keep it and not lose more money selling. I would say keep it and if you want something more later than buy a new contract to fill out what you have.

 

[lovin'fl]

If it's a smaller contract you will get top dollar for it and maybe more than what you paid. I agree with you on expiration. We are 41 and didn't think anything of expiration when we bought OKW points in 2006 (we were 32 then). I don't agree with you on the getting anything at the 7 month widow for F&W. You may have been lucky last year but it's typically hard to get BCV and BWV from Sept through New Year's (not impossible but not easy)...and BLT, VGF and VWL are also tough.

 

[Dean]

(I put a little too much detail in the original post so it was removed. If you previously posted advice I didn't see it so please feel free to chime in again... definitely appreciate it!)

We bought a small contract a little over a year ago at VWL and are now realizing that maybe that wasn't the right choice. It's not because we don't like DVC, we actually do like DVC. But I'm starting to wonder if I should have paid more attention to the 'buy where you want to stay but if you don't care buy SSR' advice.

Right now I'm trying to decide if we should sell our current contract and buy an SSR instead. Or perhaps an AKV contract. Why would we do this?

1) End of life. 2042 vs. the much later expiration years of SSR or AKV. We're in our mid-30s so the extra years may actually matter.

2) We're ok with staying pretty much anywhere. But with that being said we typically go during F&W and I did not see much issue with availability pretty much anywhere in Oct 2014. In fact, I was able to get 5 nights in a studio at BWV at the 7 month mark.

3) Proximity to Epcot is nice but not required. We stayed at AKV in Oct 2013 and loved it. Did not even really notice the distance to Epcot when heading back to the resort at night.

I'm not convinced we actually need to do this. Just looking for advice from some of you who have been doing this for awhile, have (or had) multiple contracts, etc. If my first choice wasn't a great decision I definitely don't want to make it worse by following up with a second poor decision!

Appreciate it!

I see no reason to do anything at this point. Even if you never plan to stay there again, I wouldn't sell and buy again unless one is either downsizing dramatically in terms of resort price and/or number of points. And you really don't gain anything to speak of. 2042 is a long time away, if DVC is still a viable option at the time for you or in general, you can always rent or buy something else as you get much closer. An extension is always possible, if not likely, as well. And you really won't net enough money from the sale or MF savings to justify the process or aggravation. You can always get into SSR or AKV with reasonable planning. Basically you don't save money, reduce risk or gain any options with a SSR contract and for AKV you likely lose money long term and pick up the value and concierge options which only make sense if they're important to you and you'll use them routinely.

 

[CarolMN]

I agree with Dean.

Given what you have posted, there is no compelling reason for you to sell and repurchase. You will just lose money in the sell/buy transaction (you have to pay commission to the broker) and if you purchase SSR, you won't get a meaningful booking advantage in return. SSR is virtually always available at 7 months.

A quick look shows that there is currently between a $2pp & $3pp difference in listing prices between SSR & VWL and you'd pay between $700 & $800 in commission to sell plus closing costs of a few hundred dollars. So on a 100 point contract, you'd maybe "save" about $300 on the exchange and pay out around $1000 in commissions and closing costs. The difference in dues is $86/year on a 100 point contract and only $43/year on a 50 point contract. At that rate, it will take a long time to make up your initial loss.

2042 is still about 27 years away. That's a long time and people's families, circumstances and vacation preferences change over time. You may sell long before the end of the contract. Personally, I wouldn't pay now for a benefit that may or may not materialize for me 25+ years from now.

As you find you need or want more points, that's the time to consider a different resort.

My advice: Don't sell to re-buy unless you find you absolutely NEED the 11 month booking advantage.

 

[paults]

just use the 11 month window to book VWL and then try to switch at 7 months for somewhere else.

 

[bellablue2]

or rent those vwl points through a broker...vwl is considered a premium resort and brokers pay $13+ in the priority window.

i would never sell vwl to buy ssr.

 

[bigtony777]

As others have said, unless it is a larger contract, just hold and add on elsewhere if you need more points. If you consistently travel for F&W, I would highly recommend looking at BWV or BCV if you are going to add points. BWV is a little less and you can get the standard rooms for less points so I think it is one of the best resorts in all of DVC. I think you got lucky with your 7 month booking and will find it difficult to replicate that in the future.

 

[cmrdgrs]

Unless you stand to make a significant amount of money after closing costs and the 10% sales fee I see no reason to sell those points for SSR or AKV- both of those resorts are easy to get into and if you paid a slight premium for VWL and don't need the priority it won't hurt to keep it and not lose more money selling. I would say keep it and if you want something more later than buy a new contract to fill out what you have.

I agree with this poster. AND the one thing to think about (IMO) is the rent-ability of your points too. David's pays a premium ($13pp) for VWL points in the 11th month window. The day might come you can't travel and you find yourself with too many points, knowing you can use a service like David's is nice (or you can always rent yourself). This would be my biggest reason for not selling my VWL.

SSR will not garner you anything special in the rental market, even if you don't see yourself renting, it is nice to know you have a small advantage if you ever need to. VWL points are more valuable (so to speak) over VWL (IMO).

 

[davedmaine]

(I put a little too much detail in the original post so it was removed. If you previously posted advice I didn't see it so please feel free to chime in again... definitely appreciate it!) We bought a small contract a little over a year ago at VWL and are now realizing that maybe that wasn't the right choice. It's not because we don't like DVC, we actually do like DVC. But I'm starting to wonder if I should have paid more attention to the 'buy where you want to stay but if you don't care buy SSR' advice. Right now I'm trying to decide if we should sell our current contract and buy an SSR instead. Or perhaps an AKV contract. Why would we do this? 1) End of life. 2042 vs. the much later expiration years of SSR or AKV. We're in our mid-30s so the extra years may actually matter. 2) We're ok with staying pretty much anywhere. But with that being said we typically go during F&W and I did not see much issue with availability pretty much anywhere in Oct 2014. In fact, I was able to get 5 nights in a studio at BWV at the 7 month mark. 3) Proximity to Epcot is nice but not required. We stayed at AKV in Oct 2013 and loved it. Did not even really notice the distance to Epcot when heading back to the resort at night. I'm not convinced we actually need to do this. Just looking for advice from some of you who have been doing this for awhile, have (or had) multiple contracts, etc. If my first choice wasn't a great decision I definitely don't want to make it worse by following up with a second poor decision! Appreciate it!

You got very, very lucky with that F&W booking