Renate_do said:
Hi,
Pro:
1. TTS says its 5-10$ cheaper.
SSR is $87 per point from Disney, other resorts are $89 from Disney. Look at the listings and do the math. It's usually at least $5, sometimes more than $10, depending on resort.
2. You can buy other resorts than SSR
You can buy resorts other than SSR from Disney too. It doesn't make any sense to buy a lower priced resort direct, but if you are looking at BCV at $85 + closing, you may be better off buying direct from Disney.
You can sometimes get contracts of fewer than 150 points resale; you have to buy at least 150 from Disney as a new owner.
Contra:
1. how much are the closing costs? (%)
Pick a contract and ask TTS. They'll be happy to tell you. There are minimum closing costs, and then there is a sliding scale. On a $20,000 contract, it's about $600, but TTS can tell you exactly. You may also find contracts where the seller is willing to pay the closing costs.
2. annual fees seems to be higher
Annual fees have nothing to do with
how you buy. They vary from resort to resort - from a low of $3.82 at SSR to a high of $4.87 currently at VB.
3. contracts last till 2043 (SSR = 2052)
It's actually 2042, and SSR is 2054, but that's January of both years, so it is actually 48 years of points vs. 36, not 49/37 as most of us (including myself) usually say.
did anyone do the maths in comparing the 9 more years to use to the cheaper points?
It's 12 extra years, and I would argue those years are important whether you plan to live to 100 or not. I think they will be very material down the road for resales, as well as for use.
I did the math using 300 points bought direct from Disney at SSR at $87 vs. 300 points resale at $75 with full '05 points, none banked or borrowed + closing costs of $600.
I got a lower entry price by $4,200 with resale, but a per point cost of $1.87 SSR vs $2.08 resale, because of the 33% longer duration of the contract - hence more points. When I assumed 300 '04 points available or banked on the resale, the per point cost dropped to $2.03...but you won't find contracts like that every day.
[Edit - Obviously, if you change the assumptions, the results change. For example, if a seller agreed to pay closing costs resale looks a little better. If you are paying $80 instead of $75, resale looks a little less attractive than it looked at $75]
Others may give you different numbers, so you just have to check the logic and the math to see if it makes sense to you.