New purchase benefit vs. resale - also old members would you buy new at $80.

[Bella2000]

Okay - missed the best incentives and now looking at $80./point (don't even ask )

With the exception of wanting BCV would some one please explain the benefit to new purchase vs. $65. resale. I'm wondering what I am missing in Disney financing examples I received - the % I'm seeing are outrageous. I thought I read/saw 10.75 on a thread or something like that for 7 year a few months ago and I'm seeing 13 and 14% now. Even the 1 year is showing 9.25-10.25 which to me is way high for what you are putting down. What am I not factoring? Did the interest rates go up as well as the point price? Yikes

 

[Deb & Bill]

You might be able to do Magical Beginnings with Disney and sell back your first year's points for $5 each to lower your down payment. Disney offers financing. You may have to get your own financing if you buy a resale. No closing cost with Disney. You can negotiate the closing costs on a resale, but the buyer usually pays them. You can use a credit card for the purchase or the down payment with Disney. Probably can't do this with resale.

Disney financing may differ with the amount you put down or your credit rating. Talk to a guide to find out what it would cost you.

 

[CarolMN]

IMHO, the most important consideration should be the home resort. DVC is a long term financial commitment. Even if you get a very good deal via resale, I think you will be unhappy with your purchase if you cannot stay where you want to be when you want to be there. If you really want to stay mostly at the BCV, the 11 month window will be very important to ensure that you can stay there when you want to go.

My advice is to look into resale only if you want one of the sold out resorts (OKW, VWL or BWV) or really don't care which resort you visit. Don't buy HHI or VB if you really want to stay mostly at WDW. All of the DVC resorts are great places to stay, but they have different things to offer.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Richyams]

IMHO, the most important consideration should be the home resort. DVC is a long term financial commitment. Even if you get a very good deal via resale, I think you will be unhappy with your purchase if you cannot stay where you want to be when you want to be there. If you really want to stay mostly at the BCV, the 11 month window will be very important to ensure that you can stay there when you want to go.


My advice is to look into resale only if you want one of the sold out resorts (OKW, VWL or BWV) or really don't care which resort you visit. Don't buy HHI or VB if you really want to stay mostly at WDW. All of the DVC resorts are great places to stay, but they have different things to offer.

Good luck with your decision!

Thats it.

$5, $10 or even $15 or more per point savings is not worth your choice of home resort. There really is almost no other consideration. Maybe deciding one resale has more value than another, but the paramount consideration is home resort.

 

[Granny]

As others have stated, the favorite location should determine where you buy. Beyond that, there are a couple other advantages to buying from Disney.

First, you can determine exactly how many points you will buy. While this might not seem a big deal, if you buy too many or too few points because that's all that's available for a resale, then you'll find yourself overpaying or looking for more points.

Also, while it's not a huge deal, you can have more choice of use year when buying from Disney. If you primarily vacation in the summer and the $65 resale has a August use month then you've put yourself in somewhat of a tough position. Almost everyone will have late cancellations sometime in the next 40 years. A use year that closely follows common vacation timing can make for a hard time in using the cancelled points.

When we bought VWL, there were several VWL resales on the market. Granted, they did not feature a $15 per point differential, but because of the above reasons I bought through DVC.

 

[Bella2000]

A couple more questions/clarification please. I do plan to touch base again with the sales person - "guide" however I like to hear non sales replies from all of you.

The Magical Beginnings $5.00 point buy back didn't seem like a good deal since dues payment of 3.78 is still required. Not great margin - rather bank them.

I assumed (you know what they say about that), that I would see the best option listed for lower % rate on the document I received - direct payment, 20%(50%) more down, less than 10 year etc. I was really surprised that the difference of rates was not as significant as it should be (IMHO). What did I request incorrectly - do I need to say I need to see this specific scenerio 1,2,3 to get best rate from them.

I "get it" re the Home Resort so when I was pitched VB or HH I said "no thanks". I did have a question to recent buyers of BCV -was there a discussion on proration/retro points? Sales mentioned something using Feb date and retro/prorate. At the time, I needed to process all of the data but to me it sounds like he was referring to use year. If Feb use year since the resort opens in July...I will call to clarify but those who bought if use year is before opening which they all are currently wouldn't that mean retro or prorate thing would need to occur or else you would have loss of negotiation of 4 months. Am I understanding this correctly?

Last question it could be a new topic but for you long term members will you buy and add on at $80. AND more imporrtant would you have purchased NEW at $80.

Thanks!!

 

[Mattsmom]

We bought last month at BCV. We paid $75 a point. We had a chose of incentive. Free stay at WDW resorts (# of night based on # of points bought) or $5 off per point. We didn't have to give back any points for the $5 off. So in effect we paid $70 per point.

We have an April use year. Maintenance fees are prorated. We will pay 5 months (I think) for 2002. This is based on the resort not being open all year. Use year wouldn't change this unless you had one after the resort opened.

 

[yesdisneyfool]

IMHO, we waited and the price is now up to $80 (we got original @$67 & addon @$75). Remember, hind sight. Only you can tell if this is the right time. As this board has stated over & over "I wished I'd done it sooner". Good luck with your decision. Oh, we are planning an addon in 5 years so I guest we'll be paying more than $80. (change to childless couple and will want to share even more with family and friends)

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

The problem with your question(s) is it really depends on your personal vacation habits.

The first question you have to answer is Do you care where you stay when you go to Disney? And in what way do you care?

- If you just KNOW you will want to be at Beach Club and will be jealous that you can't go to Stormalong Bay...AND you know you can't pick off season times to travel...then pay the $80 per point...but look for alternative financing options. Let Disney give you the initial financing if its easier & then find something else...interest rates are generally still low.

- If on the other hand you just KNOW you want to be close to a specific themepark then start looking for a VWL resale if its Magic Kingdom you want or BWV if its EPCOT... Keep a steady eye on sales of BCV because you don't want to be locked out of it because you were looking for a BWV resale.

- Finally the answer to your other question. At $80 per point with resales running at $65 I would have bought resale and not from Disney. When I purchased VWL the ultimate cost difference was so small...perhaps a dollar or two that it didn't make sense to bother. I believe the advertised prices were just a touch higher than where they are now (ranging from $65 to $68 per point for BWV). A $15 gap and add in the oportunity to negotiate it lower AND being able to get VWL or BWV...no it wouldn't be worth it to me. I couldn't care less about Stormalong Bay and I can travel any time of the year so I am flexible. My feeling would be that I could get more points with a resale for the same money or I could pick up a 50 point add-on from Disney with the money I saved on the resale (provided I bought the same amount of points I would have from Disney).

 

[Chuck S]

Given the choice of resorts now available (there was only OKW when we purchased) the deciding factor for me would be buying where you want to stay. I love OKW, and probably would not buy into BCV - not because of the price but because I really like the location of OKW, and the room layouts, vs. the resorts that are closer to EPCOT...although I might be tempted by VWL. Home resort booking window should be your primary concern, if you've already decided to purchase, along with the Disney Magical Beginnings, financing and closing costs. It is definately a personal decision that you need to be comfortable with.

 

[crisi]

I'm someone who didn't do it sooner and am glad we waited.

We purchased a resale and closed in May. Waiting allowed me to pay cash - so I wasn't at all worried about what Disney (or anyone else) would charge me in interest (O.K. I did have a draw against my home equity for about two weeks before the bonus check arrived). Hate interest. Hate debt.

Waiting will also allow you to watch the resale market for the contract to appear with the right number of points at the right resort with a good use year for you.

However, when you do need to move, a resale may not be a good choice. You only have the availability of the market, so you may end up settling for something you don't want. The sale may take longer than anticipated, or the seller may back out. And, you may not end up saving that much money - especially if you can't wait for the right contract to come up with a seller willing to negotiate to the right price.

Its still a value at $80. Not the "steal" those early adopters got when they signed up at OKW a decade ago, but not all of us were in the position or had the need a decade ago.

 

[erikthewise]

I agree about the Disney financing rates being too high. So don't use it!

Best alternative -- a home equity line of credit (that's not already burdened with debt). They are currently running between 4% and 5% and there may be tax savings if you itemize.

Of course being wealthy enough to pay cash is also a good alternative.

 

[Bella2000]

thanks to everyone again on the great insight -

Initially we were thinking BCV to put down 50% and finance for a year paying off sooner until I saw the Disney financing. That threw me for a loop for a couple of days but that being said I'm over it (the loop I mean ).

 

[sgtpet]

If I were you and you don't care if you buy at BCV or not, then I would purchase a resale. $80 pp seems to be very steep. Will they go to $85 pp by Christmas?

 

[Shontell_Crawford]

It sounds like you've gotten quite a few different "takes", but I wanted to add one more opinion. As an agent, and a HH owner, I have talked to hundreds of people who own a home resort different from their "favorite".

If you typically travel during holidays, I highly recommend you buy at your favorite location, regardless of direct or resale. If you don't travel during holidays, buy where you can get the best deal and don't forget about maintenance fees and taxes! OKW is usually the best "deal" going because of the larger property, longer availability and the dues are lowest.

Just food for thought. Regardless of where you'll buy, you'll love being a member!

All the best,
Shontell

 

[invalid_char]

Another factor to consider is how many points you plan to purchase. Certainly someone who is buying a 150 point contract will be much less effected by the differential than some lucky person who is planning on buying a 1000 point contract.

In our case, we initially bought 300 points (would have liked to do 400 or 500, but money got tight and we don't finance) so we will need to do a 100 point add-on in the next year or so to get where we want to be. In this case, we will have effectively lost $1000 or more, but that would still be a small price to pay to keep our points where we wish to stay.

Our initial purchase would now cost us $3000 more. My family does love the location, laid-back nature, and pool at BCV and when you amortize that $3000 over the number of vacations you will be taking (assuming you keep your contract for its lifetime) it is still not a lot of money.

So I guess I mostly agree with the other posters in that you need to determine how much of a preference you have for BCV over the other DVC resorts. Then, based on the number of points you plan to buy and the number of vacations you will be taking over the life of your contract, determine *roughly* ( I know this can get complicated due to financing, opportunity costs, etc...) how much more you will be spending per vacation and whether that amount is worth staying at BCV vs. another resort.

And most of all, don't kick yourself if you buy BCV. Think of how you'll feel if you hesitate and then pay $85 per point!

Whatever your decision, good luck!

 

[DeeP]

When I first bought my DVC membership BWV had just been built and since there were no resales available yet at that resort and that was definitely where I wanted my membership I had no choice but to buy from Disney. I did not finance my purchase so Disneys rates were not an issue. I will admit I felt more comfortable buying from Disney because they are a known company and I did not personally know anyone who had ever even bought a DVC membership let alone a resale DVC membership. Over the years I have met others and also have a very good friend that bought a resale DVC membership and they have all been very happy. Now I would consider buying a resale but the one thing that still appeals to me with buying through Disney is I can get the same use year but I can no longer get BWV so really it is six of one and half a dozen of another! So in a long winded way, what I am trying to say is there are pros and cons to both buying from Disney and buying a resale. First you need to decide which resort you want and then start looking at the resales and see if you can get something that will save you money vs buying over Disney. If you decide you prefer the Epcot resort area, IMHO either BWV or BCV are basically the same with the exception of the use of Stormalong Bay with a BCV membership, so maybe you can find something cheaper with a BWV membership resale vs a BCV through Disney. OKW resales seem to be the ones listed the most(from the WDW DVC resorts) and at usually quite good prices but if that resort is not your preference then do not buy a membership there just for the price, because as others have said you have many years left to use this membership and you should buy where you want to stay. Good luck!

 

[FLIKFAN]

Correct me if I'm wrong. A 200 pt resale at $65 per point comes to $13000. You generally have to pay the maint. fees to the seller at 3.92/pt ( BWV) which comes to $784. Add $500 closing costs. That is $14284 or $71.42 per point. When you pay $75 per point to disney, don't you get to slide on your dues the first year? If this is correct, you save $700. Not an awful lot of savings for sweating and waiting for the transaction to go through. Put this on a gm card for a month and get 5% (650) off your next Chevy. To justify a resale on price you have to do much better than $65.

Given all that, I bought a resale. But I wanted BWV. Not because I dislike the other resorts (They are all cool.) but it probably has one of the best resales and it is the most likely place that my friends and family would like to stay if I took them.

 

[Regina]

We joied when it was either $50.00 or $51.00 a point, (this "old-timer's memory is on overload), and we added on VWL directly with Disney at $70.00 a point, Magical Beginnings.

I'm sure that resales are fine, we just like the ease, speed and convenience of dealing with Disney directly. We got the same use year as our OKW membership, and the exact amount of points that we wanted.

 

[wdeversole]

Although the finance rate through Disney seems very high - it is competitive for a loan secured by a time share interest. These loans have always had high interest rates.

I would also recommend a home equity loan, if feasible for you.